Hold water…
The 2026–27 program
This year’s squad.
Nine rowers and two coxswains on the Tennessee River out of the William Raoul Rowing Center — Hooch on home water this fall, then the spring run to SIRA and ACRA.
Returning
Back from Oak Ridge. Now they set the standard.
Three of the four who raced UTC’s 2026 ACRA M4x to a photo-finish third in the B final are back for year two.
Returning · 2026 ACRA M4x
Connor Richardson
Class of 2027 · Hanau, Germany
Applied Leadership · U.S. Army active duty
First pulled an oar on April 6, 2026 — the day after Easter, about six weeks before ACRA.
Returning · 2026 ACRA M4x
Tyler Burkett
Class of 2027 · Red Lion, PA
Applied Leadership · U.S. Army active duty
First day in a boat: April 6, 2026. Six weeks of training later, he raced the B final at nationals.
Returning · 2026 ACRA M4x
Jay Pollard
Class of 2027 · Kingston, NY
Applied Leadership · U.S. Army active duty
Started rowing April 6, 2026. Rowed bow in the ACRA M4x — the seat that feels every wobble first.
ACRA prepScrimmage at Oak Ridge — May 2, 2026.
New this year
Six new rowers in the boathouse.
New to the squad for 2026–27. Bios and portraits fill in as the season goes.
2026–27
Paxton Anderson
Class of 2027 · Chattanooga, TN
Mechanical Engineering
2026–27
Ben Pesterfield
2026–27
Joshua Newburry
2026–27
Lucas Cupples
2026–27
Luke Schomburg
2026–27
Merrit DeVries
Program leadership
Coaches & staff.
Head Coach
Abraham Mako
Came up through Chattanooga Junior Rowing and co-founded Chattanooga State Rowing before transferring to UTC, where he helped restart the program in Fall 2025 and stroked the 2026 ACRA M4x. Head coach of UTC Rowing for 2026–27.
More ways to get in touch →
Alumni Relations Director
Michael Kinsey
Head coach from the Fall 2025 restart through the 2026 ACRA M4x. Now leads alumni relations — the alumni roster, stories and photos from every era, and named giving. A UTC mechatronics graduate, he is now a boatman for University of Wisconsin Rowing.
Share a story or photo →
Faculty sponsor
Dr. Joel Harden
Assistant Professor, Health & Human Performance
Coordinator of UTC’s HHP Sports Lab, where students and community athletes get personalized performance testing through the College of Health, Education and Professional Studies. Agreed to advise the rowing program in May 2026, formalizing the club’s academic standing.
On the calendar
Where the boats go next.
Year two starts at home: the Head of the Hooch in November, then the spring circuit through TIRC, SIRA, and back to ACRA.
Completed May 16, 2026
ACRA Championships
Melton Hill Lake · Oak Ridge, TN
Entries
M4x — 3rd in the B Final (7:37.900, photo finish 0.562s over Virginia RA). First UTC team boat at ACRA in eight years.
November 7–8, 2026
Head of the Hooch
Chattanooga, TN
Entries
UTC boats on home water, plus alumni boat(s)
Spring 2027
TIRC — Tennessee Indoor Rowing Championships
Tennessee
Entries
UTC entries plus an alumni event
Spring 2027
SIRA Championship
Southeast Intercollegiate Rowing Association
Entries
UTC entries
Spring 2027
ACRA Championships
TBD
Entries
UTC entries
Spring dates firm up as regatta calendars publish.
Help the crew
ACRA is in the books. Hooch is next.
The boat goes where alumni take it.
Travel, water fees, the next boat, racks at the boathouse — every piece of the rebuild rides on the people who came before this crew.