Penn AC Gold Coaches
Paul Coomes - Director of Penn AC Gold
Paul's journey in rowing started 33 years ago, where he and 14 other students helped start up a small club rowing program at the University of Dayton. His 3+ years of rowing at Dayton could be termed forgettable in terms of results on the water, but his biggest victory came in helping to build a sustainable rowing program that was both competitive and respected not only within the rowing community but also by the University. When he graduated, he volunteered to coach Dayton’s men’s team and discovered his true passion in life – coaching. For three years, he led a Dayton men’s rowing team that experienced significant growth and improved results.
A move to Philadelphia in the fall of 1998 and a chance encounter led to Paul being hired as the Head Coach for Conestoga High School’s yet-to-be-started rowing team. While he had no experience coaching junior athletes, he was excited to have the opportunity to build a new program in what he considers to be rowing nirvana, Philadelphia and Boathouse Row. During his 18 years coaching Conestoga, he built the Club into one of the most respected rowing organizations in the region and the team into a scholastic sculling powerhouse, coaching crews to 21 Stotesbury Cup titles, 25 Scholastic National Championships and multiple gold, silver, and bronze medals at the USRowing Youth National Championships. He was named the 2007 Schuylkill Navy Coach of the Year, the 2014 American Junior Coaching Conference Girls Sculling Coach of the Year, and in what he considers to be the highlight of his coaching career, his girls 4x won the Schools/Junior 4x at the 2006 Women’s Henley Regatta.
His summers and falls as Conestoga’s coach were spent helping his wife start and grow PA Rowing Camps, a summer program dedicated to teaching adults and juniors to row, as well as coaching crews of various levels for several clubs along Boathouse Row, including Penn AC, Undine Barge Club, Bachelors Barge Club, and Crescent Boat Club. Numerous crews under his guidance found success at the junior, intermediate, senior, and elite level. He served as the coach for the US Lightweight Men’s 1x at the 2009 World Championships in Poland. While at Undine, the Club won the Colgan Cup and the Marion D. Ventura Women’s Points Trophy in 2001. His crews also won the Head of the Charles in 2000, 2001, and 2003, the Canadian Henley in 2002 and multiple Club National Championships between 2000 and 2003.
Paul is a degreed engineer and when not involved in the sport of rowing has worked in various professional roles, including project management, product development and innovation management. Paul resides in the East Falls section of Philadelphia with his wife, Amy Giddings, and their three children.
Will Scully - Junior Men’s Head Coach/Recruiting Coordinator:
Will Scully comes to Penn AC from just down the road in Pottstown, PA at The Hill School, where he is the Head Boys Rowing Coach as well as a dorm parent and instructor of physics and mathematics.
Will began his rowing career in 2008 as a junior at Simsbury High School in Simsbury, CT. After graduating high school, Will continued his rowing career at Trinity College, in Hartford CT, where he won two New England Championships and one ECAC Championship, and helped Trinity secure the New England’s Points Trophy three years in a row. After his junior year, he was part of a crew that competed at the Henley Royal Regatta and was elected captain for his senior year.
Following his graduation, Will came to Philadelphia to continue rowing for the U23 program at Penn AC, and represented them at U23 Trials, Club Nationals and Canadian Henley. In search of more rowing and adventure, Will moved to Sydney, Australia, where he joined Mosman Rowing Club and trained with members of the Australian U23 and Senior National teams. He competed at the Sydney International Rowing Regatta, earning himself a finals spot in the Open 4x and Open 2x.
Upon returning home, Will took on volunteer coaching positions at Simsbury High School and Trinity, and served as the JV coach at Middletown High School until moving to The Hill School in 2016. Under Will, the Hill boys won the 2018 Stotesbury Cup Junior 4+ event and finished 4th in the 2019 Senior 4+.
Aside from coaching and teaching, Will is an avid musician and hiker and enjoys spending as much time outside as he possibly can.
Sierra Williams - Junior Women's Head Coach/Recruiting Coordinator:
Sierra began rowing in 2012 at Mount Baker Crew in Seattle, WA. She competitively swam and played basketball before beginning her rowing journey. After 5 years of rowing for Mount Baker, she began rowing for the University of Washington in 2018, earning spots on the 2019 Pac 12 and NCAA champion women’s team. During her time as an athlete at the University of Washington, she was selected to coach the Washington Women’s Pairs camps over two summers.
Following the 2020 pandemic, she stepped away from competition and began coaching for Pocock Rowing Club for a winter and fall seasons. Following the completion of her studies which culminated in a Geography and Urban Planning degree, she began coaching for Seattle Preparatory School.
In her first full year coaching she led the U17 men's 4x as well as assisted in coaching the programs U19 men and women’s 4x and U19 men and women’s U19 4- in their 2023 Youth Rowing National Championships campaign.
Aside from coaching and rowing recreationally Sierra enjoys skiing in the Pacific Northwest and watching Seattle Kraken Hockey.