Coaches

 

John Kaitz (Head Coach)

John Kaitz has been a coach for over 30 years.

His philosophy is simple: mindful preparation with a disciplined work ethic is the key to success. His coaching philosophy has proven successful in the world of rowing, with over 30 National Championships, and a World Championship, in multiple events with Masters Rowing alone at Marin Rowing Association.

  • John started his coaching career at the University of California, Santa Barbara. In his first season there, he took a group of young athletes who had never rowed before and turned them into Pac-10 champions. Two of his rowers went on to finish that first season as National Champions in the I.R.A. Open 4- a varsity event - which he coached. His second year there, his team won the Pac-10 title again, in the lightweight event.

    John’s collegiate coaching experience also includes UCLA and Stanford, but he has always had a fondness for Marin Rowing Association. In 2014, he returned to Marin to coach elite rower Matt Brown. John prepared Matt for the Olympic Trials, and Matt turned that preparation into an unfathomable feat, crossing the Atlantic with three other rowers in world record time.

    John is also an elite trainer. His clients include Jonny Moseley, Michelle Roark, and Michelle O’Keefe. He trained Jonny for the 2002 Olympics, and Michelle Roark for the 2006 and 2010 Olympics. Other clients include Gregory Peck (yes, that one), Cecilia Peck (actor, director), Stephan Jenkins (Third Eye Blind).

    John got his Masters Degree from University of San Francisco in Sports and Fitness Management in 1997.

    John rowed, and played football, at the University of California, Berkeley, while getting his BA degree in Sports Management/Kinesiology in 1988.

    John is a father to Mariah and Chaz, his best accomplishments to date, other than getting Milda, his wife, to marry him.

Chaz Kaitz (Assistant Coach)

Chaz Kaitz started coaching with USC Fall 2022. He is excited and honored to help coach this crew. Kaitz comes to USC with 5 years of competitive experience at Pacific Rowing Club, as well as, assistant coaching for Kaitz Performance training rowing camps at Marin Rowing Association and Pacific Rowing Club.

As a rower, he sat in multiple seats, however, it was from the stroke seat that learned to be a leader, which enables him to be more effective as a coach. Kaitz earned a gold medal in single sculling at the U15 & U16 Southwest Regional Championships in summer of 2015 and 2016. Being a single sculler requires courage, self-confidence, responsibility and self-reliance. Coach Kaitz plans to take these skills and apply them coaching to help take the USC Men’s Crew to the next level.

Outside of crew, Kaitz is certified as an EMT and is studying Fire Science to become a Firefighter. In 2021, he earned an AA at the College of San Mateo.

Evan Falstrup (Assistant Coach)

Evan Falstrup started his rowing career at USC in 2018, and has since dedicated himself to the sport. He served as novice captain his first year, stroking the novice 8 throughout the fall and spring seasons. He was a founding member of the team crew house, which helped retain most of the team’s athletes during the pandemic. He served as team captain his senior year, also breaking the team's longstanding 2k erg record.

He then carried his USC spirit on a journey to Oxford Brookes University in the UK, earning his Master’s degree while rowing full time as a student athlete. He was hired as a rowing coach at the University of Oxford for 2 years, with his first ever novice men’s 8+ winning the IWLB regatta. He was also in the winning University 4+ crew at the 2023 Henley Royal Regatta.

Now back at USC, Evan aspires to nurture his core rowing team's potential and elevate it to new heights. He also aims to chase his own Olympic dreams, training for a spot on the esteemed USRowing team.