Coaches

Srikanth Schelbert

Men’s Varsity Coach

Sri first joined the sport of rowing in 2011 when deciding to look for a new sport after nine years of soccer. Weighing under 100lbs at the time, he first joined as a coxswain at the beginning of his time in high school. After a couple years of training, he made a transition to rowing, training in sweep and sculling. Attending Pitt, he rowed all four years competing in the top level crew for 2.5 of those years where he placed 5th in ‘A’ Finals and 1st in petite finals at the Dad Vail regatta. 

He started coaching in 2017 where he coached a local high school team to success with multiple podium finishes and recruitment offers to college teams. During this time he also passed his level 2 coaching exam. After two years of high school coaching he transitioned to coaching Pitt’s varsity men in 2019 where he continues to coach today. 

Sri graduated with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in chemical engineering and currently works as a hardware engineer during the day.

Zachary Sebastian

Men’s Varsity Coach

Zachary rowed at Canisius High School in Buffalo, NY for four years before coming to the University of Pittsburgh to continue his rowing career. At Canisius, Zachary won a gold medal at SRRA National Championships in the Senior 4+, and qualified for Youth Nationals that same year. While on Pitt crew, Zachary qualified for Grand Finals in the Varsity and Junior Varsity 4+ at Dad Vails, and he won medals at various other collegiate races. After his fourth year on Pitt crew, Zachary injured his back and decided to become a novice men’s coach to give back to a team that gave him so much as an undergrad at Pitt. Zachary coached the 2021-2022 novice men’s team through his final year at the University of Pittsburgh, and hopes to continue coaching the men’s team as a varsity coach for the 2022-2023 year.

Apoorva Singh

Women’s Varsity Coach

Apoorva joined the University of Pittsburgh's rowing team as a novice during his freshman year, and continued rowing until his senior year on varsity. He was the men’s captain his junior year, and on the board various other years. Rowing became an important part of Apoorva’s lifestyle here at Pitt. He developed many important friendships, relations, and skills that transformed his overall college experience. Now, Apoorva has the wonderful opportunity to coach the varsity women after a successful novice women’s season, and wishes to use what he learned to foster an environment based on dedication and hard work.

Benjamin ASton

Women’s Varsity Coach

Ben joined the Pitt rowing team his freshman year in 2015. He rowed for all 4 year of college, winning numerous titles on the water.

He began coaching for Pitt in winter of 2019, when he started as a novice women’s coach. Though the pandemic deprived him of his first coaching season, Ben has followed his original squad up into the varsity ranks. Since then, he has focused on building a strong technical and fitness base with his rowers.

In the coming seasons, Ben is looking forward to building momentum from the lessons he learned on the team.

He hopes to establish a winning paradigm on Pitt Crew and pass that on to future generations of rowers.

MATTHEW GUO

Women’s Novice Coach

Matt joined the Pitt rowing team his freshman year in 2018. He rowed for all 4 year of college, winning numerous titles on the water.

He began coaching for Pitt in fall of 2022, when he started as a novice women’s coach. He is excited to coach the novice women as he believes novice year is where you build a strong base in technique. Technique was Matt’s strong suit when he rowed and he hopes to share his knowledge with the novices.

BREANNA BURNS

Men’s Novice Coach