Coaching
OUR Coaching Team
NICK DAWE
Rowing Manager & Head Coach
Entering his fifth year at West End for the 2023/2024 season, Nick Dawe is a former two-time Senior World Rowing Championship rower for the United States in the Lightweight 8+ and Lightweight 4-. As an athlete, Nick has also earned gold medals at the Head of the Charles, Royal Canadian Henley, USRowing National Championships, and USRowing Youth National Championships and competed in the Henley Royal Regatta. As a coach, Nick has worked with both men and women at every level of the sport with skills ranging from from novice to high performance. Nick’s coaching experience includes two years at the high school level, six years at the NCAA Division 1 level including five years as a lead recruiter, eight years as head coach at the club level, and three years as a USRowing High Performance coach.
Nick has helped develop over twenty athletes to Junior, Under-23, Senior, Pan-American, and Olympic teams. Nick coached on the USRowing Under-23 team staff in 2017 & 2019 as the Men’s Lightweight 1x coach producing the USA’s only gold medal at the 2019 Under-23 World Rowing Championships. After his 4- crew qualified in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2018, Nick was named as lead sweep coach for the 2019 USOC Pan American Games team.
Nick’s education includes two Ivy League university degrees with a B.A. from Dartmouth College and a Master’s degree in Applied Exercise Physiology from Columbia University, Teachers College in New York City.
George Lawn
Assistant Club Coach
George joins the West End Rowing Club for the 2023-24 season. George has spent the last 3 years coaching at numerous University of Cambridge Colleges and Cantabrigian Rowing Club. He has run college programs, most recently coaching the most successful college of 2023, winning the Pegasus Cup during May Bumps.
George was also head coach for the Junior Boy's Program at Cantabrigian Rowing Club, achieving success in multiple categories, including 6th place in the country at the national schools regatta in 2022..
Tania Donnianni
Assistant Club Coach
Rowing has always been a part of Tania's life for as long as she can remember. Her father, Peter Delaney, was an Olympic rower turned coach for Wellington rowing club, rowing was part of every summer weekend and holiday growing up.
Tania rowed from 1984 – 1994 for school and club, St Mary's Wellington, Wellington Rowing club, and Canterbury rowing club. During that time she represented representing NZ in 4 international squads 1990 juniors, 1991 W8+ Vienna world champs, 1992 & 1994 U23 trans-Tasman series. Recently, she received the Legacy medal from Rowing New Zealand – her highest honour in the sport.
Upon retiring from competitive rowing, due to injury; Tania took up coaching for various crews including Canterbury Uni and Wellington School crews. Later making the move north to Auckland where she joined West End and coached crews ranging from novice to senior.
Tania has competed as a masters rower, representing West End from 2014-2019 in the World Masters games and numerous legion regattas and masters' champs. She has also served on the WERC Board and BCR Committee.
In her day job, Tania runs Gym Kids, with her husband Pablo. They have 3 lovely children Lucia (Bara) Matias (SPC) and Sofia soon to also be a Baradene girl.
Tania says: "I'm delighted to be a member of both the Baradene and West End coaching teams this year. I'm here to be our athletes' 'eyes' on the water and help them develop their understanding of how to move a boat and maximize their performance." – Kia Kaha