Our Coaches

  • Head Coach

    Peter brings quite the resume to Illinois. He learned to row and then rowed competitively for the University of Toronto and trained with the Canadian National Development Rowing Team.

    Peter has coached in three countries, Canada, Italy and the USA. As a dual citizen of Canada and Italy, he was able to coach an international program for high school students in Gavirate, Italy. he has also coached as an assistant at the Don Rowing Club in Mississauga, Ontario. He then coached at the Gorge Narrows Rowing Club in beautiful downtown Victoria, B.C., were he was the Head Coach of the various programs from high school to Master competitive. He also ran a training camp for high school rowers and Masters rowers in Sag Harbor, New York last year.

  • Assistant Coach.

    Maura Maguire walked on to the University of Minnesota Women’s Rowing Team as an unexperienced rower her freshman year of college. She spent four years rowing for their D1 NCAA team while pursuing a bachelor’s degree in English. Now, Maura is attending the University of Illinois for a masters in Library and Information Science and assisting Illini Rowing as a coach. We are so grateful to have such a dedicated and hardworking person to help out the team.

Assistant coaches

  • Zainie, the newest addition to Illini Rowing's coaching staff, is no stranger to Clinton Lake. She began her rowing career at Illinois as a coxswain in 2019 and navigated the waters all four years, learning and loving the nuances of the sport. Beginning her tenure during a coach-less semester, Zainie and her boat became each other's guides, forging bonds of gratitude with her teammates that would endure through graduations and a pandemic. Zainie’s introduction to the sport engraved a love for it like no other and she continued to embed herself into the DNA of Illini Rowing. In her time, Zainie served as the Women's Team Secretary (2020-2021), Women's Team President (2021-2022), and the Varsity Men's coxswain. Zainie’s roots with Illinois Rowing run deep and she says it was a privilege to guide the team through the uncharted territory of the COVID-19 era.
    With her profound admiration for the sport and firsthand experience with Illini Rowing, Zainie is excited to pay her experience forward and trade in the ninth seat for one in the launch.