Kelly Evans Reviews

Kelly Evans is by far the worst coach I have ever had. She is tyrannical, manipulative, and toxic. She never sticks to her word; in fact, her MO is to just deny that a conversation even happened. She has huge mean girl energy and pits girls against each other. She ignores data, plays favorites, and builds slow lineups. She has no technical rowing background, and she can’t create an effective training plan to save her life. When you offer feedback, suggestions, or any kind of advice, she feels threatened - and makes you pay for it. She isolates athletes who dare to speak up for themselves and their teammates and publicly shames them. This must be because she knows, deep down, that she is extremely unqualified for her job. And yet, she has no desire to grow for the sake of the team. I don’t really think she cares about the women’s team, anyway. She treats her job like a fun hobby she gets to do with her best friends and husband and doesn’t think, or really even care, about the impact that her decisions and behavior have on her athletes’ lives. She has broken so many remarkable athletes in her wake, and it is sad. She is sad. Hopefully she is on the way out so the next generation can stand a chance.

Worst experience ever with a coach. Do not go to Harvard to row for Radcliffe until they replace Kelly Evans. I cannot stress enough that she did not know what she is doing. She made my four years at Harvard completely disappointing. Rowing used to be such a huge part of my life, and I really looked forward to a real college rowing experience. It was an experience … just not a good one. Athletes quitting, getting injured, pitted against each other. Lineup decisions made with her favorites. Training was horrible. Race plans were nonexistent. The whole thing was toxic because of her and because Liz let her run the show. We could never figure figure out how she got the job. She didn’t even seem interested in doing it or getting better. What a waste. It felt like she actually disliked us. Unprofessional.