Our Coaches
Chris Barlow - Founder and Coach
Chris is a USA Canoe Kayak Olympian who competed in the K4 1000m in 1992 in Barcelona, Spain. Chris is certified as an ICF Level 3 Sprint Coach as well as a USA Canoe/Kayak Level 3 High Performance Coach. Chris founded the team in 1997 as a way to give back to the sport he loves.
He found his true passion in coaching young paddlers and athletes from beginners to USA National Teams. Chris has been Team Leader for the USA National Team at Junior & Senior World Championships, Pan Am Games and helped coach athletes to multiple USA National Youth Olympic & Olympic Teams. He was awarded USA Coach of the Year in 2010 & 2014 and was awarded the 2018 Havens Leadership Award, and the 2019 Athletes in Excellence Award from the Foundation for Global Sports Development. This award recognizes high-performance athletes who have also dedicated themselves to community service and mentorship.
Coach Joe - Head Canoe Coach
Coach Joseph is a USA Canoe Kayak Olympian, competing in the men’s single canoe 1000 meter race at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. He has been involved in the sport of sprint canoe for nearly 50 years as a national team athlete or a canoe coach.
Coach Joseph is certified as an International Canoe Federation Level 1 Coach and has coached athletes to multiple national championships, national teams, international regattas and medal winning performances. His passion for women’s canoe continues to drive the sport here in the USA!
Nate Errez - Head Coach. Senior Team Development
I started kayaking when I was 12 and have been involved in the sport ever since. Over the years, I had the chance to race at the junior, U23, and senior national team levels, including competing at the 2019 Pan American Games and the Senior World Championships in 2019 and 2022. Those experiences gave me a solid foundation in training, racing, and being part of a high-performance team.
These days, I coach the senior racing team at SDCKT and enjoy helping athletes improve and get more out of their time on the water. I’ve shifted my own training focus toward surf ski and ocean racing, which has been a fun way to stay competitive while exploring a different side of paddling.
Outside of kayaking, I like keeping things simple — spending time with my fiancée, Julia, and our dog, Sage, and working on house projects when I’m not at the boathouse.
Clarke Graves - Paddle Academy & Membership Coordinator
Clarke’s primary goal as Paddle Academy Coordinator is to create a lifelong passion of paddling for kids. To generate water safety proficiency for themselves, as well as others, in all water environments. And to create camaraderie and support for the members. This will help them grow as paddlers, athletes and teammates. So that they can succeed at any competitive level they choose, and be ambassadors of the sport.
Clarke brings with him a passion for all things paddling related. He has paddled and competitively raced in surf-ski, outrigger canoe, prone, stand up paddle board (SUP), and dragon boat, Clarke has enjoyed individual craft, as well as team craft, for 17 years throughout California and Hawaii in flat water, open ocean and downwind settings. He has also worked with local paddlers running weekly workouts to help others improve their performance. Clarke’s true passion however is with exploration, and over the course of 10 adventurous years, recently completed he final segment of paddling the entire California coastline.
Lia Sowers - Intermediate Development Coach Im a second year student at San Diego State University for Mechanical Engineering. I have been with SDCKT since 2020 and started in the junior program, training and eventually competing at OHR, Junior Worlds, and Pan-American Champs. As a coach for development at SDCKT I’m looking to continue to bring young athletes onto the world stage, and if that’s not their goal, make sure they become a confident and strong waterman/woman!