At the start of the 2023 to 2024 school year, in steps newly appointed Head Coach, Mark Davis. Announced by Athletic Director Sam Reed on July 12th, Davis takes over as head of the co-ed rowing program at Seattle Prep after the departure of the former program head, Tom Kellet.
Early in his life growing up in New England, Davis knew rowing was his sport: “I fell in love with it day one. I still remember to this day the first practice. I remember being out on the water and then I remember the early days when things finally started to click in the boat…at the sound of the water going past the hull.”
However, coaching rowing wasn’t what he had in mind for his dream career. Davis considered coaching as a job on the side, wanting to use his degree in U.S. history to become a teacher.
Davis reflected back on getting an opportunity to be a coach at Colby College and an experience that hooked him: “I remember one day at practice; it was early in the fall and the water was really flat and it was just beautiful. They rowed on this beautiful lake up there in Maine and I was like, I can’t believe they’re paying me to do this.”
Primed with a wealth of coaching experience at a number of universities throughout the country, notably at Colby College, University of Texas, UC San Diego, and George Washington University, Davis now joins the team looking to get back into coaching after taking a break, moving from D.C. to the PNW : “I realized I really missed it. I really miss having these relationships with athletes, getting to know people and watching them grow.”
Transitioning from coaching collegiate rowing to coaching high school rowing, Davis understands that there is much to learn, noting that “people have different levels or different expectations of what they want to get out of being on the team” and that for him, “it’s trying to figure out where everybody is and meet them where they are and help them become the best they can be.”
Davis noted that in his time with Seattle Prep, he is inspired by the team’s “great energy. I enjoy being down at practice and having that excitement and going out and watching people challenge themselves.”
Davis outlined his hope for members of the team later on in their lives: “What I want is for the people that grow here, when they look back at their time growing up at Prep, whether it’s five years from now or ten years from now, they’ll understand that this experience helped shape them into the person they are right now in a positive way, that rowing helped define who they are as a person.”
Davis also outlined standards and expectations for the team, noting that “I just want everybody who rows here to feel a sense of pride of being on this team,” everybody to feel that “they’re part of that process,” and that “we can’t do it unless everybody’s bought in and everybody’s helping the team get faster.”
As he continues to grow in his time with the program, Davis also noted some challenges he has faced: “I think the biggest challenge here is me adjusting to people’s different commitment levels and [the team’s] big roster.”
However, Davis is hopeful for the program and looks forward to growing the program to new heights.
Head Coach Davis’s goal is simple.
