Coach Alex Martin (left) poses with the King Crew team during spring training in Florida.

King School is excited to announce that Alex Martin will be the King Crew Head Coach and Program Director. Martin began working with the team in winter and is determined to lead the program into a competitive spring rowing season.  

“I’m excited to get back into coaching and to get a taste of the sport at an interscholastic level,” Martin said.

Coach Martin's successful career as a rower and coach led him to King. A standout and captain of the Rye High School Crew Team, Martin committed to Ithaca College, where he rowed at the varsity level from 2013-2017. After graduating from Ithaca, Martin pursued a graduate degree in international hospitality at Oxford Brookes University in the United Kingdom, where he rowed for the school’s boat club. Martin then returned to the United States and took on the position of Assistant Director and Coach in his hometown at RowAmerica Rye. He coached at both the masters and junior program levels, overseeing a team of 50 boys and girls in his role. 

Martin brings patience, knowledge, and a clear and consistent communication style to coaching. He worked with several coaches as an athlete, and he knows what works. He said he would draw from his rowing experience and use compassion and empathy to build the team’s confidence, especially during his first year at the helm. 

“I think it has helped a lot, having gone through the same experience,” Martin said. “It makes me relatable to my rowers, having gone through the same hoops and hurdles they are going through.”

Martin is excited to put his coaching skills to use during the team’s first regatta of the calendar year this weekend. The rowing team, composed of 15 boys and four girls, will compete in separate competitions this weekend during the Mercer Sprints event in New Jersey. The races will vary from 2000 to 5000 meters, with some athletes scheduled to compete in two races. The number of competitors on each rowing boat will vary between 2 and 4, depending on the race.  While the race will be a first for many of his athletes, Coach Martin is confident that his rowers are ready to compete after several weeks of dedicated training out of the RowAmerica Greenwich boathouse. Regardless of the results this weekend, Coach Martin is optimistic about the potential and possibilities within the King Crew program. 

Coach Martin said he believes that King’s Crew program has just begun to test its potential. With a unified team that believes in one another, Coach Martin said the team has what it takes to compete successfully.

“With a unique group of students, a supportive athletic department, and tremendous athletic facilities, King has a lot going for itself,” he said. “I’m confident that things will continue to evolve with our crew team as well.”