Hold water…
The 2026 program
This year’s boat.
On the Tennessee River out of the William Raoul Rowing Center, training toward ACRA.
The crew
Bow to stroke. Four seats, one boat.
UTC’s 2026 ACRA M4x. Bios will fill in as the season rolls on — check back after Oak Ridge.
Stroke · 4 seat
Abraham Mako
Class of 2027 · Chattanooga, TN
Political Science & Public Service: Public Law
The program's most experienced rower and the stroke seat of the M4x. Came up through Chattanooga Junior Rowing, then co-founded Chattanooga State Rowing with Jack Cawood before transferring to UTC and helping resurrect the program here in Fall 2025. Sets the rate the other three follow.
3 seat
Conner 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.
2 seat
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 before nationals.
Bow · 1 seat
Jay Pollard
Class of 2027 · Kingston, NY
Applied Leadership · U.S. Army active duty
Started rowing April 6, 2026. Anchors the bow and balances the boat from the seat that feels every wobble first.
Joining the program
Coming in this fall.
Athletes confirmed for 2026–27 who aren’t in the ACRA boat. They start over the summer and join the squad full-time in the fall.
Fall 2026
Paxton Anderson
Class of 2027 · Chattanooga, TN
Mechanical Engineering
Joins the squad over summer and fall 2026.
Program leadership
Coaches & staff.
Head Coach
Michael Kinsey
Has been on the launch at Chattanooga Rowing since 2022, mentored under Bill Zack, and spent his last two summers coaching at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center in Vermont. Founder of Radl and a UTC mechatronics graduate (December 2025). Spent time at UTSI — the University of Tennessee Space Institute — researching deposition onto carbon fiber for hypersonic travel, outside his mechatronics coursework.
Also coaches at Chattanooga State, out of the same boathouse.
kinseymi@radl.solutions(423) 602-4277
More ways to get in touch →
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 as the M4x heads to ACRA.
On the calendar
Where the boat goes next.
ACRA first. Then a full year of racing — Hooch in the fall, the spring circuit through TIRC, SIRA, and back to ACRA.
May 17, 2026
ACRA Championships
Melton Hill Lake · Oak Ridge, TN
Entries
Men's M4x — the immediate target. Racing a 4x on loan from Vespoli; UTC's own Empacher is sidelined.
Fall 2026
Head of the Hooch
Chattanooga, TN
Entries
UTC boats, including 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
Dates beyond ACRA 2026 firm up as regatta calendars publish.
Help the crew
ACRA is one week out.
The boat goes where alumni take it.
Travel, the Vespoli loaner, the Empacher repair, racks at the boathouse — every piece of the rebuild rides on the people who came before this crew.