2023 Masters Summer Sculling Camp

About Our Coaches

Michael Orzolek is a coach at Vesper and has been involved in rowing since 2004. As an athlete he has won several Dad Vail medals, 6 National Championships, and raced for the USA U23 Team in the Light Single. Michael holds a B.S. in Sports Medicine from Mercyhurst University and M.S. in Exercise Science and Nutrition with a concentration in Human Performance from Sacred Heart University. He is also a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). Michael has coached at the high school, college and elite levels, and had success at each stop along the way. In 2016 he was the head coach for the Conshohocken Rowing Center U23 program, where he coached the US men’s U23 2x at the U23 World Rowing Championships in the Netherlands. Michael started coaching at Vesper in the summer of 2021 where he worked with the U23 squad to win US Nationals in the men’s U23 lwt4+. Most recently he coached the US Lightweight Women’s 2- to a Silver at the 2022 World Rowing Championships. In addition to his coaching duties, Michael is also working in Philadelphia as a personal trainer. 

John Leekley learned to row at Washington College in the 90’s after it was clear the NBA wouldn’t be calling on draft night. His coaching experience before Vesper includes time with all levels of the sport, and extends from Washington, DC, to the Eastern Shore of Maryland and up to New England. He spent nine years at Washington College where he earned six Coach of the Year awards, five Mid-Atlantic Rowing Conference Championships and took the team to the IRA National Championships for the first time in 20 years. An experienced Master’s coach, he worked at the Naval Academy’s Master’s Women’s Camp for 9 years and has run training sessions for Masters athletes through his career. He is a certified personal trainer, has an MBA from Babson College and MA from Georgetown, and has won several dozen medals at Masters Nationals rowing with various clubs.