Juniors Program

Dianna Woods, Head Junior Coach

Dianna started rowing at the University of Puget Sound as a freshman, first learned to scull while completing her Masters at UC Santa Cruz, coxed and rowed with the mixed and women’s teams at the Texas Rowing Center in Austin, and started rowing and coxing at ZLAC shortly after discovering the club during strolls along the Mission Bay boardwalk. She became a member of ZLAC in January 2015, and though she never wanted to leave again, necessity brought her to Virginia for a short time. During her brief stint there, Dianna coached the Novice Junior Girls at TC Williams in Alexandria, while coxing with the masters women's team, Alexandria Community Rowing. Dianna began coaching with the Masters team at ZLAC after she returned to San Diego in 2018, and is truly honored to have the opportunity to return to Junior rowing. In addition to her rowing experience, Dianna brings 10 years of teaching and advanced degrees in Education to her coaching practice.

Savannah Kratz, Strength and Conditioning Coach

Savannah has always had a love for the water. While growing up in North Eastern  Pennsylvania, she worked along side her father learning to operate his local kayaking  business. She learned the importance of water safety and just how fun the water can be.  

At 18, she moved to Southern California embracing the healthier more active lifestyle  that San Diego had to offer. Not long after settling in, she would earn a certification to teach  Yoga. Completing the 200 hour course deepened her personal practice and is where she  learned the power of sequencing breath to the flow of body movement. The foundation yoga  established for Savannah strongly influences her overall instruction style. She marvels at  body mechanics and loves to identify correlations between major physical movements  throughout different activities. 

Not long after becoming a yoga instructor, she became a Certified Personal Trainer  (C.P.T.) recognized through the International Sports Science Association (I.S.S.A.). Savannah is now a Certified Nutritionist (C.N.) and recently became a certified  Specialist in Strength and Conditioning (S.S.C.) qualifying her as an Elite Trainer through the  I.S.S.A.. She is eager to continue her professional career as a trainer for ZLAC and greatly  looks forward to supporting their athletes in being better than they were yesterday.

David Buckley, Junior Coach

David began his rowing career in 2009 as a freshman at Father Judge High School in Philadelphia. He spent three years as a lightweight rower and transferred to heavyweights his senior year. After graduating in 2013, David spent one year at Community College of Philadelphia, where he continued to row for the Penn Athletic Center (Penn AC), training with the high-performance group. He simultaneously coached as a Freshman assistant for William Penn Charter High School, where he helped a co-ed rowing program. Next, David transferred to Temple University to study for his Bachelor of Science in Architecture/Facilities Management. David was recruited for the Men’s rowing program to train with the Varsity Boats in 2014. At the end of his Freshman year, David won Silver at the Dad Vail Regatta and obtained a bid to race in the IRA’s. He continued training with the Varsity 8, and his senior year he was the stroke seat, where he helped lead the team to their first Dad Vail win in over 12 years. David and his boat were invited to compete in the Henley Royal Regatta in July 2018. After rowing in the San Diego Crew Classic while at Temple, he got a taste of San Diego and vowed to make his way back after graduating. He wanted to stay connected with the rowing community and joined the ZLAC staff in 2020.

Demi Good, Assistant Junior Coach

Demitra “Demi” Good began rowing at ZLAC in her sophomore year of high school. She had fallen in love with the sport during a summer Learn to Row class, and that passion only grew stronger as she practiced, learned, and competed. Demi transitioned to being a coxswain for the UCSB Men's Rowing team in college, where she learned how to see the boat from a different perspective. In 2015, she earned her undergraduate degree in English and won the Men's Collegiate Club V8 race at San Diego Crew Classic - a goal she'd had for seven years, ever since the first time she attended the regatta with ZLAC. After college, Demi began coxing with Chinook Performance Racing as a standing member of their men's team. Coach Demi's favorite thing about rowing is finding the peace in the chaos, whether it is the quietness in the morning, the focus during an erg piece, or the intense stillness between "Attention" and "GO!”