Coach Bios

Bryan Tylander
Head Coach, Director of Rowing, and Varsity Men’s Coach

Bryan Tylander began his rowing career as a coxswain at West Potomac HS in 1987. After a growth spurt he moved to rowing as a lightweight. In his senior year, his lightweight 4+ won States (then called NoVAs) and was named Washington Post All-Met Honorable Mention. He rowed for 4 years as a lightweight at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, KS, and was named Oarsman of the Year his senior season. Upon graduation, he remained at the university where he served as the Freshman/Novice coach for two years.

In 1997 Coach Tylander accepted a job as the Head Coach/Varsity Men’s Coach at Wilson HS (now Jackson-Reed), a District of Columbia public school. He was awarded the Washington Post All-Met Men’s Coach of the Year award in his 1st season. Two years later he switched to coaching the Varsity Girls where his 1st 8 won the National Capital Championship (now WMIRA’s) in 2007. In addition, during the summers he coached the junior men’s program at Thompson’s Boat Center (TBC) in D.C. in 1998, the US Mid-Atlantic Junior Development Squad in 1999 (that won the Boys 8 at the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta), and the junior men’s program at Potomac Boat Club in 2000 and 2001. This past summer he coached the Women’s U17 squad at TBC racing.

After taking a year off from coaching to spend more time with his wife and young children, Coach Tylander accepted a job training the freshman/novice girls at West Springfield HS in the fall of 2009, where he coached three of the next four years. Currently, during the day when not responding to crew emails, he is teaching AP Statistics and Prob/Stat at Woodson High School. He is also currently the president of the VASRA coaches association.

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Kristina Mickey
Women’s Varsity Coach 

Kris Mickey started her rowing career at Woodson. In 1993 and 1994, she was part of the women’s quad earned the gold at the Virginia Scholastic regatta and SRAA regatta. While at Woodson she was selected to attend the Olympic festival selection camp and trained at the New York Athletic Club (NYAC) in the summer of 1993. She attended the Olympic festival in San Antonio, Texas, winning the bronze medal in the women’s junior double.  She was recruited and earned a scholarship to row for Mercyhurst University. As a freshman, she stroked the varsity eight at the Head of the Charles and was a varsity rower from 1994-1998.  She was captain for two years from 1996-1998

After college, Coach Mickey moved to Philly and volunteered at the University of Pennsylvania coaching the lightweight men. In 2002, she returned to Woodson to coach the varsity men’s team. From 2010-2011, she coached the the Fairfax High school varsity 4+ men who won at states and qualified to SRAA Nationals in Saratoga, New York. 

Her love for coaching led to a return to the coaching scene in 2017. Coach Mickey was an assistant coach at Robinson Secondary School for the varsity women from 2016 to 2018. In 2018, the Robinson women’s 2V8 finished third at Virginia Scholastic Regatta. In 2019-2021, she came back to her home team, Woodson, to coach the women’s 1^st 8 and Jr8. In 2020 the 1V placed 2nd at States while the Jr8 finished 4^th in the nation at SRAA. 

In 2021, Coach Mickey took a respite from Woodson to become the Head Women’s Lightweight Coach at Georgetown University. Not one to stray for too long, she returned to Woodson as the Women’s Varsity Coach in 2022.

During the day, Coach Mickey is a teacher. She has been teaching for 25 years, and has spent 21 of those years with Fairfax County Schools. She is currently a 3^rd grade AAP teacher for Oak View Elementary School. In the high school off-season, Coach Mickey coaches for Resilient Rowing as one of the girls high-performance coaches. 

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Joe Hester
Men’s Novice Coach

While attending the US Coast Guard Academy from 1984-1988, he rowed fours and eights in the men’s lightweight program, earning gold and silver medals in Lightweight Eights at Dad Vail championships.  While on active duty, he rowed on San Francisco Bay as part of the Coast Guard’s whaleboat team; both boats and rowers were much heavier. 

Starting as crew Dad to daughter Katy (WTW lightweight, 2021), he volunteered as a launch driver, US Rowing Assistant Referee, and the Virginia State Rowing Association (VASRA) Team representative. Coach Joe rows with the Occoquan Boat Club in a single.  In the coach’s launch, he is often accompanied by Sea Sea, the Hester family’s Portuguese Water Dog.  Coach Joe has worked with novice crews for a couple years, and they’ve done well, earning medals at States. This year’s novices are shaping up smartly as well! Most recently, the Woodson men’s Novice 8+ won silver in the 2023 Virginia State Rowing Championship. The Men’s Freshmen 8+ won silver in 2024, qualifying them to compete at the Scholastic Rowing Association (SRAA) Nationals.

In the Academy, Coach Joe rowed both Port or Starboard sides, usually in the “engine room.” He always wore socks in the boat, but lived barefoot on the beach. As a lightweight, he ate anything and everything he could get his hands on after a race. Coach Joe recalls one of his favorite rowing memories: “It was a long, cold race in Philadelphia, the Head of the Schuylkill River. We were rowing well, and our coxswain called out, “Harvard, make way!” They did not, so after a couple calls to them, the coxswain ordered a power 10. We felt a shudder in the boat and I thought we caught a crab, but later the coxswain reported our oar slapped the Harvard coxswain in the head. Harvard got out of the way and we rowed through.”

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Ron Lim
Women’s Novice Coach

Ron Lim rowed at TC Williams from 1976 to 1978. After an undefeated season playing tennis as a freshman, he had a horrible season including two 0-9 losses. A bunch of friends, who were rowing, urged him to see if the rowing coaches would take him. As Coach Lim says, ‘thank goodness, they said yes.’ In 1978, the team had both a Varsity 8 and a Varsity 4. Lim was in the Varsity 4 that placed second at Regional, third at Stotesbury and 5th at Nationals, often rowing against teams who rowed their top 4 in Varsity 4.

From there, Lim went to James Madison University and graduated with a BS in Special Education Teaching. In 2015, he retired from his role leading the Recycling and Waste Department at George Mason University where he oversaw a program employing challenged adults on all three GMU campuses.

Coach Lim has had a long coaching career and has successfully coached many winning teams, to include: one regional championship, 6 Virginia state championships, one silver, three bronze, and four finalists at the Stotesbury Cup Regatta, and one silver, three bronze, and 4 finalists at SRAA Nationals. Most recently, the Woodson’s Novice Women’s 8+ won the Virginia State Championship in 2023 and 2024.

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Lindsay Bowen
Women’s Assistant Coach

Lindsay Bowen started her rowing career at Woodson as a freshman in 2006. She stroked the novice 8 during this season and took first at the Ted Phoenix Regatta. She continued rowing for the remainder of her high school career, throughout which she was a member of the top boat each year. During junior year, her boat took first in States and sixth in both Stotes and Nationals. That same year, her boat won the Washington-Post All-Met Best Boat. She also received the power-to-weight award two years in a row. 

She was recruited by George Mason University, where she studied Music Education. She received scholarships for both her musical and rowing skills. She was initially placed in the 2V boat, but she was moved up to the 1V before the end of her first year. She continued to row in the 1V for the rest of her time at Mason. She raced in all seats, but she competed most frequently in the bow. She has held records at Mason for the lightweight 2K, deadlift, hang clean, and squat.  

Coach Lindsay graduated in 2014 and got a job with FCPS teaching elementary school band. In addition to coaching, she has rowed with a master’s program and loves the idea of getting back in a boat!

Her most recent coaching achievement, among many, is Woodson’s 3V 8+ finishing first at the 2023 and 2024 Virginia State Rowing Championships.

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Coach Aiden Ortiz
Men’s Assistant Coach

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