ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Rob Friedrich, the Tom & Candy Knudson Director of the Navy Rowing and head coach of the heavyweight team, announced on Tuesday that Alex Kincaid has joined the heavyweight's coaching staff. Additionally, Ethan Shoemaker, the Mids' second-year assistant coach, has been promoted to the recruiting coordinator position for the program.
 
A talented competitor and coach from the Maryland-D.C. area, Kincaid served as a coxswain for four years with the heavyweight team at Washington College before joining the coaching ranks as a rowing coach with DeMatha Catholic High School and most recently as the head coach at Catholic University.
 
"We are very excited to have Alex on staff here at Hubbard Hall," remarked Friedrich. "He brings a wealth of knowledge about rowing and leadership to the team, which will be instrumental in guiding our rowers to be better Midshipmen and student-athletes."
 
Kincaid immediately jumped into the realm of coaching following his graduation from Washington College in 2019 as an assistant coach with the Catholic University and DeMatha Catholic High School programs in the fall of 2019. While at Catholic, he supported both the men's and women's teams. When coaching at DeMatha, he coached the varsity men and developed a coaching rotation to maximize the strengths of the team's coaches and advance the skills of the athletes, as well as structured a training plan for the varsity and novice programs for the fall, winter and spring seasons.
 
In January of 2020, he was elevated to coach of the men's rowing team at Catholic. During his three seasons at the helm of the Cardinals, Kincaid helped his squad navigate two seasons that were severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic before leading the program to new heights during the 2021-22 season as they raced at the Head of the Charles for the first time, as well as placed third at the 2022 Knecht Cup and sixth at the 2022 Mid-Atlantic Rowing Conference Championship. Kincaid and Catholic concluded their 2022 campaign with their first-ever berth to the IRA National Championships as the varsity four garnered a spot in that respective classification. Under his guidance, Declan Waters earned a nod on the 2022 IRCA All-American Second Team.
 
As a collegiate competitor, Kincaid was a two-year team captain and 2019 All-Mid-Atlantic Rowing Conference (MARC) selection at Washington College. He was also a two-time team MVP selection. Additionally, Kincaid was a three-time Academic All-MARC selection and recipient of the 2018 Elizabeth "Bo" Blanchard Memorial Sportmanship Award.

During his high school career at DeMatha, Kincaid was a two-year varsity team captain and earned All-Met honorable mention accolades.

"The tradition of rowing at Hubbard Hall and the standard of excellence both on and off the water at the Naval Academy is unparalleled across collegiate rowing," said Kincaid.  "I'm thrilled to be part of the staff here and looking forward to working with an incredibly talented group of Midshipmen."
 
He graduated from Washington College in 2019 with a B.A. in Philosophy and later attained a Master's of Science in Leadership and Management in 2022.
 
In addition to Kincaid joining the heavyweight staff, Friedrich announced on Tuesday, that second-year assistant coach Ethan Shoemaker has been promoted to lead assistant and recruiting coordinator. After joining the Navy heavyweight rowing program in August of 2021, Shoemaker took the reins of the Mids' lower boats and helped guide the fifth varsity crew to victories over Princeton and Harvard, while the sixth varsity collected gold at the 2022 Eastern Sprints.
 
"I'm very happy to elevate Ethan to the role of first assistant and recruiting coordinator," said Friedrich. "He was a fantastic coach and mentor to our athletes last year, making them better on the water and as teammates for each other. He has already made a huge impression on our future recruiting classes."