Tim Franck – Head Coach
Coach: Varsity Juniors; Competitive Masters
E-Mail: coachtim@stlouisrowingclub.com
Tim joined the St. Louis Rowing Club (SLRC) as Head Coach in August 2005. He personally coaches the SLRC’s Competitive Adult Program (Masters) and the SLRC Varsity Juniors. In addition to his other responsibilities as Head Coach, he recruits for the SLRC Competitive Youth Rowing Program and has grown the Youth Program from 30 kids to over 150 young athletes from a variety of schools throughout the greater St. Louis area. Tim is also an executive committee member of the Midwest Junior Rowing Association and is USRowing Level 3 Coaching Certified.
During his 17 years as Head Coach, the SLRC Juniors have won 46 Midwest Championships and finished in the top 10 at Youth Nationals dozens of times. His Masters crews have won many National Championship medals, including gold in 2019.
Tim’s Varsity rowers have been recruited to row at many prestigious colleges, including: Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Williams, Brown, UPenn, Cal-Berkeley, Dartmouth, Notre Dame, Michigan, US Naval Academy, MIT, Indiana, UNC, Tulsa, Tennessee, Clemson, SMU, Alabama, Kansas, Hamilton, Wisconsin, Northeastern, Oklahoma, UMiami, and others.
Prior to joining the SLRC: Tim learned to row at the Cincinnati Junior Rowing Club (CJRC), where, as a senior, he stroked the boys’ eight to victory at the National Championships. That experience was followed with a rowing scholarship to Northeastern University, a perennial power in men’s D1 rowing. Following NU, Tim returned to Cincinnati and spent five years as the Novice Boys’ coach with CJRC, where his crews won 93% of their races.
Jillian Behrens – Lead Coach
Coach: Lead Varsity Girls
Email: CoachJillian@StLouisRowingClub.com
Jillian began rowing at SLRC during her senior year of high school. That year she was the stroke seat of the Varsity 4+ that placed fifth at Junior Nationals, after she broke the club records in both the 5k and the 10k. She was then recruited to row for UC Berkeley, where her team won the 2018 NCAA Division 1 Team Championship her freshman year. She won a silver medal at the Pac-12 Championships in the 3rd Varsity 8+ for Cal in 2018, and a bronze medal in the Varsity 4+ in 2019. She also participated in the NCAA Championships for Cal in 2019. Unfortunately, due to COVID, she did not have the chance to compete her junior year, and her senior year was limited. She graduated from Berkeley in May of 2021.
John Duncan – Assistant Coach
Coach: Middle School; Adult Sculling
E-Mail: coachjohn@stlouisrowingclub.com
John was born and raised in St. Louis, where he attended Ladue Horton Watkins High School. John went on to graduate the University of British Columbia with a undergraduate degree in business, specializing in human resources and logistics, in the spring of 2018. He currently work as a financial professional for Synergy Wealth Solutions. During high school, he was a competitive junior rower from 2010 – 2014 under the tutelage of former junior coach, and current Washington University of St. Louis coach, Andrew Black. During this time, John raced as a lightweight rower, medaling in events such as the lightweight 8+ and lightweight 4+ at the Midwest Junior Regional Championships. His lightweight career reached its highest peak in 2013, as he placed 5th at the Junior National Championships in the lightweight 4+.
Charnsin Tulyasathien – Assistant Coach
Coach: Adult Recreational
E-Mail: coachcharnsin@st.louisrowing.com
Charnsin started his rowing and coaching career with SLRC. He started rowing his Junior year of high school and coaching learn-to-row the following summer. After rowing at the University of Pennsylvania, Charnsin coached the Master’s and Learn-to-Row programs at the Thompson Boat Club in Washington, DC. Upon returning to St. Louis for graduate school, Charnsin coached the SLRC Jrs. Novice Men. He then returned to Virginia and coached the Varsity Men for Lake Braddock High School.
Outside of rowing, Charnsin is a Product Director at Enterprise Holdings, married, and spends his free time driving his daughter to her various activities.
Charlie Lebens – Assistant Coach
Coach: Adult Intermediates
E-Mail: coachcharlie@stlouisrowingclub.com
Charlie began rowing with the St. Louis Rowing Club in 2010 as a novice and returned for the next three years as a member of the varsity boys’ team. As a varsity rower, Charlie earned several medals at the Midwest Junior Regional Championships and the first-ever gold medal at USRowing Youth National Championships for SLRC in the coxed four. In that year and the next, Charlie and the varsity four remained undefeated against 200+ consecutive opponents, earning gold at every regatta until winning silver at Regionals in 2014. In his senior year on the team, Charlie helped bring the boys’ open-weight eight to its highest-yet position at Youth Nationals, missing the grand finals by under a tenth of a second.
After graduating from Whitfield and leaving SLRC, Charlie was recruited to row for the Heavyweight Crew at Dartmouth where he continued to row for four years under the direction of US Olympic Gold-Medalist, Wyatt Allen. While at Dartmouth, Charlie medaled the coxed four at the Head of the Charles Regatta and sat stroke seat in the coxed four at the Division I IRA National Championships during his sophomore, junior, and senior years. He graduated from Dartmouth with a major in Economics and a minor in Education in spring of 2018 and later returned to St. Louis for work.
As a coach, Charlie held a position as a counselor/assistant coach for the Evergreen Rowing Camp, Dartmouth’s summer youth development program. Additionally, Charlie has volunteer-coached several of SLRC’s junior programs during summers and extended breaks while in college. Alongside a fantastic group of coaches, Charlie looks forward to an exciting and productive year at SLRC.
Dean Hooks – Assistant Coach
Coach: Adult Novice Sculling; Varsity Junior Boys, Assist.
E-Mail: coachdean@stlouisrowingclub.com
Dean has always enjoyed athletics ranging from waterskiing to cycling to competitive running. He bought an erg for cross training and after a few million meters became interested in on-the-water rowing. Dean has rowed with the Competitive Masters for a number of years and, along with some very hard-working crewmates, has medaled at all the crew’s regional regattas, as well as, the Masters Nationals. He believes developing a feel for the boat is one of the most valuable skills a rower can attain.
Dean has seen how participation in athletics has made a positive influence on people of all skill ranges and sees coaching as a way to contribute to developing athletes. He is also a coach for the St. Louis Warriors indoor track team which, like SLRC, draws athletes from high schools across the region.
Dean holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, a Masters in Electrical Engineering from The University of Illinois and a graduate certification in Artificial Intelligence and Expert Systems from Washington University.
Tom Albert – Assistant Coach
Coach: Varsity Juniors
Email: Equipment@StLouisRowingClub.com
Tom began rowing at Williams College and returned to the sport with SLRC’s Competitive Masters in 2015. He won gold medals in SLRC boats at the Head of the Hooch, Head of the Rock, and Music City Regattas, and won the Master’s National Championship with the SLRC Men’s Four in 2017. He serves in assistant coaching roles with both varsity boys and girls at SLRC, as well as competing with the Master’s team.
Tom also supports SLRC as the lead for boathouse equipment maintenance and formerly served on SLRC’s Board of Directors as club Captain.
Emma Lawrie – Assistant Coach
Coach: Assistant Varsity Girls
Email: CoachEmma@StLouisRowingClub.com
Emma started rowing in 2015 as a novice for Indiana University. She won a Big Ten Medal in the women’s 4 at Big Ten Championships and participated in 2 NCAA championships for Indiana in 2017 and 2018. During her off season summers, Emma trained at Indianapolis Rowing Club and in 2017 the Princeton National Rowing Association. She won the U23 Women’s Pair at the Independence Day Regatta on the Schuylkill and came in 5th in Women’s pair at club nationals that summer.