2026 Frostbite Coaches
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Mark Parrish (SCKC) started paddling at the Ventura Olympic Canoe Club, where he helped win several age-group and overall Nationals club titles. He went on to race on the Junior and Senior National Teams, including the Junior Pan American Championships, 4 Olympic Festivals, and US Olympic Team Trials. Mark has won over 50 national championship medals in both canoe and kayak, and in every age category from Bantam to Masters. As a coach at the Seattle Canoe and Kayak Club, he has helped coach several Junior athletes go on to be successful Seniors and Olympians. He was the Team Leader for the 2003 Pan American Games and the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Most recently, he has been working with the Senior National team athletes who train on Green Lake, including the 2 athletes of the US Olympic Kayak Team who made the Final A in Paris. |
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Michele Eray is a Beijing 2008 Olympian in sprint kayak. She competed in K-4 and K-2 for South Africa, finishing seventh in the K-4 500 m. She has also competed at the elite level in surf life saving, surfski and marathon kayak racing. She has competed in nine marathon world championships and took the bronze in K2 in 2007. In surf ski, she won the 2013 world championships and was in 2nd in 2015. She is a high performance surfski and sprint coach and Olympic coach (Three Oceans LLC) and is currently the ACA Sprint High Performance Director. |
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Maggie Hogan is a 2016 Olympian in sprint kayak, representing the United States at the Rio Olympics. She has competed at 23 World Championships across five different paddling sports, including sprint kayak, surfski and other paddle disciplines. A bronze medalist in K-1 1000 m at the 2015 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, Maggie brings extensive elite racing experience and technical expertise to her work with athletes. She is part of the Three Oceans LLC team, supporting paddlers through expert coaching, equipment and technical guidance. |
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Ryan Grady is a canoe athlete from Gig Harbor. He started competing international as a junior and has competed at Olympic Hopes, Junior and U23 World Championships. He is a current member of the US National Team and competed in the 2026 Senior World and Pan American Championships in C1 and C2. |
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Greg Barton (SCKC) won two gold medals in sprint kayak in the 1988 Seoul Olympics and was an Olympic bronze medallist in 1984 and 1992 in the K1 1000m. In 1987 he was a double world champion in the K1 in 1000m and 10,000m and won world championships in the 10,000m in 1985 and 1991. He also won multiple U.S. Canoe Association marathon (20km+) championships from 1982 through 1994. He is still actively competing in citizen surfski and sprint races across the PNW. His company, Epic Kayaks, designs and produces Olympic sprint kayaks, paddles and surf skis. |
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Dan Henderson (Cascade) is head coach for the Cascade Canoe and Kayak Racing Team. He was a member of the USA Sprint Canoe/Kayak Team 1982-88 and won bronze medals in canoe at the 1983 and 1987 PanAm Championships. Dan raced and trained in Hungary from 1981-85. He was the SCKC head coach 1989-93, the US National Development Coach 1993-96, and Cascade Canoe & Kayak Racing Team head coach 1997 to present. He was the US World Championship Team Leader in 1995 and 2003, Jr World Championship Team Coach in 1993, OHR Team Leader in 2008, and the Jr Worlds Women's Kayak and OHR Men's Kayak Coach in 2019. In addition to coaching, he teaches ICF/ACA Level 1 & 2 Coach Certification courses and co-authored the ICF Level 1 Coaching Manual, 1st Ed. |
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Girts Beitlers (SCKC) began his paddling career as a sprint kayaker in Latvia before coming to the US and joining the University of Washington rowing team, where he helped win the 1994 national championship in the junior varsity eight. After decades away from kayak racing, he returned to the sport in 2023. In 2026, he competed at both the ICF Masters Canoe Sprint and Marathon World Championships, earning two silver medals in K4 and a silver and bronze in mixed K2 at the Sprint World Championships, while also racing in K1 and K2 at the Marathon World Championships. He is a juniors coach for SCKC. |
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Eli Holmes (SCKC) is a masters coach at SCKC and has helped organize the Frostbite camp since 2017. She has competed in many Nationals and in the Canoe/Kayak Marathon World Championships in 2023, 2025 & 2026, winning silver in K2 in 2026. She is an active citizen racer and likes to paddle sprint kayak, surf skis, marathon canoe, outrigger canoe, and sea kayaks. |
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Dimitri Melynk (Gig Harbor) is an ICF Level 3 certified coach who specializes in strength and conditioning. He has extensive experience in barbell coaching, strength programming, and injury rehabilitation. Originally from Hawaii, Dimitri grew up immersed in the ocean and paddled outrigger canoe before moving to Gig Harbor in 2013. Since joining GHCKRT in 2022, he has developed sport-specific strength and conditioning programs for paddlers, helping athletes build strength, mobility, and power to support their performance on the water. |
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Weston Hester is a canoe athlete from Gig Harbor who began competing nationally as a youth, winning multiple events at the 2019 ACA Sprint National Championships. He represented the United States at the 2021 Olympic Hopes Regatta and Junior & U23 Canoe Sprint World Championships, competing in C1 and C2 events. In 2022, he again qualified for the Olympic Hopes Regatta, earning his place with a first-place finish in C1 500m at the U.S. selection trials. |
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Bryan McCollum (Gig Harbor). |
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Clay Anderson (Gig Harbor). |