meet the coaches.

Our paid, professional coaches bring years of experience to the team. They are trained to not only coach rowing techniques, but also on keeping the rowers safe and complying with US Rowing requirements. 

Head Coach & Program Director Justin Richardson
Varsity Boys’ Coach Helen Cassellius
Lead Novice Coach Drew Allen

All of our coaches have the following certifications:

US Rowing Certified Coach
CPR/AED/First Aid Certification, Red Cross
Boat & Water Safety Certification, Minnesota DNR
CDC Concussion Training

Our Locations.

Bryant Lake – Three Rivers Park District

The on-water training site for Twin Cities Youth Rowing is Bryant Lake Regional Park, a part of the Three Rivers Park District. It is located in the triangle formed by Hwy 494, Hwy 62 and Hwy 212 providing a convenient location for junior rowers from all over the Twin Cities metro area. The park offers many useful resources for TCYR, including an 1800 meter lake for rowing, trails for land training, and an expansive dock to accommodate rowing shells. In addition to the beach and dock area Bryant Lake Regional Park offers safety park patrols, ample parking, restrooms, concessions and a swimming beach.

Twin Cities Youth Rowing Boathouse

The headquarters of our land-based operations is the TCYR Boathouse which is located about 5 miles from Bryant Lake.  The Boathouse features a spacious training area, repair bay, spare parts storage, office space and ample parking.  The Boathouse also hosts all TCYR meetings and presentations throughout the year.

During the winter months, the Boathouse allows TCYR to inspect the boats and complete any necessary repairs.

  • Since 2008, we’ve had rowers from over 36 metro area schools: Academy of Holy Angels

    • Benilde St. Margaret’s

    • Bloomington Jefferson High School

    • Breck

    • Chanhassen High School

    • Chesterton Academy

    • Deephaven Academy

    • DeLaSalle High School

    • Eagle Ridge Academy

    • East Ridge High School

    • Eastview High School

    • E.P. Central Middle School

    • Eden Prairie High School

    • Edina High School

    • Fair Downtown

    • Highland Park Senior High

    • Hopkins High School

    • Hopkins West Junior High

    • International School of Minnesota

    • Lake Country School

    • Maple Grove Junior High School

    • Minnehaha Academy

    • Minnetonka High School

    • Prior Lake High School

    • Providence Academy

    • Riverside Military Academy

    • Southwest Christian High School

    • St. Paul Academy

    • St. Charles Borromeo

    • St. Louis Park High School

    • Southview Middle School

    • The Blake School

    • Valley View Middle School

    • Visitation

    • Wayzata Central Middle School

    • Wayzata High School

since 2008.

Twin Cities Youth Rowing Club is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the sport of rowing within the youth community in the Twin Cities metro area.

TCYR is a member of: -USRowing (national governing organization) -Midwest Junior Rowing Association (regional championship conference)

TCYR offers a rewarding experience for rowers of all abilities, including a very competitive varsity and a novice program. The team offers the opportunity to sweep row, the prominent discipline of American scholastic rowing, at both the high school and collegiate levels. Varsity rowers compete against other top club programs from all over the Midwestern United States in 2,000 meter races in the spring and summer seasons. In the fall, rowers compete in several longer head races throughout the Midwest (Milwaukee River Challenge, Head of the Mississippi, and Head of the Rock,) before going on to the premiere head race in the world – The Head of the Charles. The Novice Team is made up of athletes with no prior rowing experience. Novices are taught sweep rowing and compete against similarly experienced rowers from other clubs in the spring, summer, and fall seasons.

Since our team inception in 2008, our Men’s and Women’s Varsity and Novice teams have won numerous medals at regattas all over the Midwest region, including the largest fall regatta in the Midwest: the Head of the Rock. Our alumni are rowing at premiere colleges all across the country, from the club level to Division 1.

On the national scene, the team has made great strides over the years. We received our first entries into the prestigious Head of the Charles regatta in 2011 . The women’s four has continuously re-qualified each year. Starting in June of 2012, three of our rowers were named to the Junior National Team and attended the Women’s High Performance Camp in New London, Connecticut, where they trained and raced with some of the top junior rowers from around the country. Since then, many of our rowers have continued to qualify for the Junior National Teams.