The Masters Coaching Team

Mayrene T. Earle, Founder
In nearly 35 years as a coach and physical educator, MastersCoaching founder Mayrene Earle has developed a deep toolbox of skills, drills and coaching solutions that she uses to elicit the best from rowers of all levels. Mayrene’s keen understanding of rowing dynamics, coupled with her intuitive grasp of how individuals learn, creates a powerful learning experience. On the water and off, Mayrene’s positive, playful and insightful coaching style empowers rowers to build on their strengths -- individually and as a team.Before launching MastersCoaching in 2002, Mayrene was Assistant Professor/Head Coach, Women’s Crew, at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she successfully coached gifted students to compete in one of the toughest leagues in the country. She is co-founder of ROWoman, one of the first U.S. rowing camps for masters women, and has coached crew at Northeastern University in Boston and Wellesley College in Wellesley, Mass.Mayrene contributes a monthly column to the USRowing association’s newsletter. She holds a USRA Level II Coaching Certification and a member of the U.S. Rowing Association. When she is not coaching, Mayrene can often be found riding around Cape Cod on her bicycle.

Julie Gesch, Coxswain
Julie has been an integral part of MastersCoaching since Spring 2003, when she coxed at the first MastersCoaching camp in Cocoa Beach, Fla. Julie’s skills as a coxswain are a huge factor in the competitive success of MastersCoaching and a key ingredient in MastersCoaching camps. Her quick intelligence, sharp eye and natural coaching style make every row a learning experience. Julie began rowing and coxing in 1994 at Annie Wright School in Tacoma, Wash. She coxed for the MIT Women’s Rowing Team from 1996 to 2000 and was elected Most Inspirational Player for the 1999-2000 season. From 2000 to 2003, Julie coxed for the Competitive Women’s team at Community Rowing Inc. (CRI) in Boston. While there, her crews won both the Women’s Senior 4+ and Senior 8+ at the USRowing National Championships, as well as numerous events at USRowing Masters National regattas. Julie says she “loves to spend her vacations following Mayrene to clinics and races across the planet.” She lives with her husband John in San Francisco, where she works as a researcher in neurobiology at the University of California – San Francisco.
 

Tom Kiefer, Coach
Olympian Tom Kiefer coaches at MastersCoaching camps and clinics for men and women of all levels. Tom’s coaching style is a perfect fit for MastersCoaching. He is skilled at creating easy-to-understand visuals that allow rowers to make changes easily and at explaining technical insights and suggestions from an experiential point of view.Tom’s rowing experience includes six years with the U.S. National Team. He has won three bronze medals in World Championships and in 1986 won a gold at the Goodwill Games in Moscow. Tom’s crowning achievement came in 1984 at the 23^rd Olympic Games in Los Angeles, where he won a silver medal, missing out on the gold by one second. As a student, Tom was a superstar at Northeastern University, where he stepped into the stroke seat of the freshman boat and rowed it to its only Eastern Sprint title. He moved into the varsity eight as a sophomore and remained there for three years. Tom earned his degree from Northeastern in physical education. He lives in the Boston area with his family.

Chelsea Pemberton, Coach
Chelsea is a talented athlete with superior technical skills and strong motivational capabilities. As the newest and youngest member of the MastersCoaching staff, Chelsea brings a fresh perspective to our team, as well as a terrific sense of humor and love for the sport of rowing. She has been rowing for 12 years. As a high school rower, Chelsea won the Junior 4+ at Scholastic Nationals; she also was a member of Junior National Team and was invited to Junior National Team Selection Camp twice. In college, Chelsea’s accomplishments as a rower were recognized by the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA), which three times named her to its All-American teams.
Chelsea has won two gold medals at the Head of the Charles, once as a high school athlete and once as a varsity rower with the University of Tennessee. Most recently she stroked the MastersCoaching Women’s C8+ to an open water victory at the 2008 Masters Nationals.
Currently, Chelsea is the Assistant Coach at the University of Alabama.

Gretchen Schmelzer, Sports Psychologist
A longtime friend of MastersCoaching, Gretchen Schmelzer, PhD, is a licensed psychologist with a specialty in sport psychology. An accomplished rower – she is a two-time National Champion – Gretchen works with individuals, teams and organizations to help them achieve the results they want. She works as a sport psychologist with athletes of all age groups and all levels, from juniors to masters and from novices to National and Olympic team athletes and coaches. Gretchen’s approach to sport psychology and teamwork is practical, positive and effective. Her interventions are based both on the latest research and 15 years of experience. She has led training workshops in mindfulness meditation at Harvard Medical School and has presented at the Association of the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology. She is widely published on topics related to sport psychology and performance enhancement. Gretchen also has a private psychotherapy practice in Natick, Mass., and is a senior consultant with Teleos Leadership Institute. She received her doctorate in Counseling Psychology from Northeastern University, and her Master of Science in Athletic Counseling Psychology from Springfield College.

Contact Gretchen at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 508-647-6283 to learn more about her sports psychology counseling services for both individuals and groups.









Marlene Royle, Coach
Marlene works with MastersCoaching athletes to give them an edge in their winter training and race preparation. Marlene has specialized in coaching and training masters athletes for nearly 30 years. Through Roylerow Performance Training Programs, which she founded in 1999, she trains rowers individually, designing workouts and providing email support. Roylerow.com was the first online coaching service for rowing. Marlene’s background includes 20 years coaching at the Craftsbury Sculling Center in Vermont, where she served as associate director from 2004 to 2006. She was head coach at the Florida Rowing Center from 2005 to 2009. As a competitor, Marlene has won major titles in sculling and sweep rowing, including a US National Championship and a Head of the Charles title. In 2000, at age 37, she set two world records on the Concept2 Indoor Rower. A registered occupational therapist, she is educated in physiology and strength training. Her books include: Tip of the Blade: Notes on Rowing and Skillful Rowing. Her column Upstream appears monthly in Rowing News. 

Contact Marlene at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .