The mission of Blair Crew is to facilitate instruction in the sport of rowing, and to promote physical fitness, teamwork and competition among students.
Colin Silvers, Head Women’s Coach
Colin Silvers started rowing in the winter of 2012 for Gonzaga College High School after competing in cross-country for the fall. He continued to row for Gonzaga throughout high school. Colin was selected as a senior to the bow seat of the First Varsity Eight, which won Stotesbury and went 5th overall at the US Rowing Youth National Championships, being the only scholastic program in the grand finals that year. Colin was named to the 2016 Washington Post All Metropolitan team.
After Gonzaga, Colin rowed for the University of Maryland men’s team, where he stroked the First Varsity Eight his freshman year. During his time at Maryland, the club grew from a developing team to one of the best clubs on the East Coast, before the season was cut short due to Covid-19. Colin also rowed for TBC and PBC Men’s Sweep during college, traveling domestically and internationally to compete.
Colin started his coaching career in the Fall of 2020 at Blair Crew, where he oversaw the novice group (shoutout to the “mediocre novices”). “One of the highlights of my coaching career was seeing the Women’s Novice 4+ win WMIRA 2021 by a landslide margin. However, even better than that is seeing the consistent, individual improvement of each and every rower I coach.”
Aside from coaching, Colin currently works as a QA Software Engineer in Georgetown. In his free time, he enjoys hanging out with friends and family, gaming and programming computer games.
Louis Krupnick, Head Men’s Coach
Louis “Lou” Krupnick is not new to Blair Crew! Recently retired as an architect, Coach Lou, US Rowing Level Two-certified, previously coached for Blair Crew in 2015 and has now come full circle with his return as the Blair Crew Men’s Head Coach. He currently is an Assistant Coach with WeCanRow, a non-profit rowing club for breast cancer survivors. Lou has rowed since his college days, where he was a varsity rower & co-captain at the University of Tennessee in sweeps and singles and was the co-chairman of the first Head of the Tennessee regatta. He placed third in the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association championships in singles. Lou’s other interests include sailing and wood working. He was the former Deputy Commander of the CAP Senior Squadron stationed at Montgomery County Airpark. Lou is looking forward to developing the men’s crew team, but more importantly ensuring that all rowers are contributing to the overall mission of Blair Crew.
Kevin Garvis, Assistant Coach
Kevin stroked for George Washington University’s Division 1 team after rowing for Gonzaga College High School. During his seven year rowing career, he competed in a multitude of regattas which took him to places like California, Boston, Florida, and England. Since graduating, he has worked as an assistant coach for Gonzaga College High School, helping with their novice program. He currently works as a “V2X research and development test engineer at Leidos learning to troubleshoot, setting up, and use X2X equipment for self-driving cars.
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