Board of Directors

Current Board of Directors

David Pellew - President

Dave started rowing small fishing boats at age 10 and continued rowing throughout his life. Dave has a deep passion for being out on the water, whether stand-up paddleboarding, kayaking, motor boating, or sailing. His only claim to fame in the official sport of rowing is a rowing merit badge in Boy Scouts. His passion for the sport of rowing has increased significantly in the past several years. This led him to purchase a single scull so that he could row at Lake Mead. Dave was a drummer for many years playing the club circuit in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia and spent 15 years as a show drummer donating time and talent to nonprofit’s Minstrel Shows. Born and raised in the Florist industry. From a family of florist business founded in 1910 in Wheeling, West Virginia. Currently owner-operator of the world-famous English Garden Florist in Las Vegas and a proud member of the Lake Las Vegas Rowing Club.

Kathy Callahan - Director

Kathy started rowing with the Atlanta Rowing Club in the early 1990s as a masters’ rower, then learned sculling along a Mississippi River channel while living in Memphis 1994 – 2000. After moving to Las Vegas in 2000, Kathy endured a long break from rowing until discovering Lake Las Vegas Rowing Club shortly after its founding. She had a long career in the casino industry in the area of corporate communications. Since 2015, she has taught German at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Kathy also serves as Faculty Advisor to the UNLV Rowing Club, which launched in 2018. She holds a Ph.D. in German Literature from the University of Virginia.

Matt McKnight - Director

Matt is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and a former team commodore and stroke of the men’s varsity 8. He enjoyed a successful career at Cal that included a Pacific Coast Championship his junior year, a course record at the time, and a 2nd place finish at IRAs his sophomore year. A Bay Area native, he began his rowing career in high school at San Francisco’s Lake Merced for the Pacific Rowing Club. Matt continued rowing after college with the highly successful Kent Mitchell Rowing Club and has won numerous medals at regional and world masters rowing championships. After a long career in the video game business, Matt currently resides in Henderson, Nevada, where he designs and produces gaming software with his wife and three boys.

David Mahon - Director

Dave grew up in Reno, Nevada, and moved to Marin County, California his junior year of high school, where he joined the novice crew team and learned the fundamentals of rowing. The following year he made the varsity boat, earning the attention of the University of California, Berkeley’s freshman crew coach, who actively recruited rowers from around the country. The following year, he and his freshmen crew at Cal had an undefeated season and set a course record at the Pacific Coast Rowing Championships. They later placed second to Princeton at the Intercollegiate Rowing Championships and received an invitation to compete at the Henley Royal Regatta in England. Their epic season came to an unceremonious end when a seat’s sliding mechanism failed, prompting the egress of an oarsman shortly after the start of the race. BBC Radio later claimed during the team interview that it was the first time in the history of the regatta that an oarsman left his boat in the midst of competition. Dave graduated from Cal, and then the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry in San Francisco. He owns a dental practice in Henderson and resides in Southern Highlands with his wife and two young children.

Chris Kuranko - Director

Chris was raised in the military. He was lucky enough to spend most of his formative years in Spain and Italy. Chris moved to the US for college when he was 17, where he rowed for both Seattle University and Washington State University, as both a lightweight and heavyweight. In 1993, Chris rowed bow in the men’s heavyweight 4+ placing 3rd at the Pacific Coast Rowing Championships. After college, Chris worked as an organic chemist for Lockheed Martin. He later attended Creighton University Dental School in Nebraska, where he received his DDS in 2001. Chris spent his first 8 years as a dentist working at Community Health Centers in Arizona and Nevada. He also worked at Child Haven for foster kids in Las Vegas. In 2013, Chris realized his dream of buying a dental practice in West Las Vegas. Chris spends his free time rowing with LLVRC, snowboarding in the winter, and landscaping, and doing home improvement projects when the weather permits. He has a partner of 8 years and 2 dogs.

Tim Brooks - Director

Tim Brooks began working in the restaurant industry in the 1980s, including managing a downtown Los Angeles landmark, a four-star restaurant known as the Pacific Dining Car. He began his gaming career in 1997 in Reno, Nev. In 2003, he partnered with his twin brother to open the Emerald Island Casino, known as the “Jewel of Henderson,” and houses 400 slots and a full-service restaurant and deli. Tim is very active in Henderson community affairs. He serves on several boards, including the Water Street District Business Association, the West Charleston Lions Club, the Henderson Cultural Arts & Tourism Commission, and the Henderson Chamber of Commerce. Tim has more than 25 years of experience in upper-level management in the gaming and restaurant industries, and his current endeavors offer the highest levels of guest service. At the Emerald Island Casino, guests know Tim by name, and he spends countless hours forging relationships and attending to them personally. The Emerald Island Casino is currently a thriving, vital business that is the place to play in Henderson.

Past Board of Directors

Seth Ahlborn - President and Founding Board Member (2016-2020)

Seth started rowing at the legendary Kent School in Connecticut under coach Hart Perry. He competed at the US Nationals, US National Team Camp, and the US National Team Trials as an oarsman and sculler. He continued his rowing career as the Head Coach of numerous collegiate and junior programs in the Mid Atlantic, Midwest, and Northeast. He also has been a US Rowing Referee for over 35 years. His talent also led him to be a published researcher in exercise physiology. Seth is married, with four daughters (all 4-year college graduates), and is now the Headmaster of Henderson International School.

John Delikanakis - Director (2016-2018)

John Delikanakis is a commercial litigation partner at the Southwest regional law firm of Snell & Wilmer LLP in the firm’s Las Vegas, Nevada office. He is also the Chairman of the Board of the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance, Southern Nevada’s public/private economic development authority. As an undergraduate at Vassar College, Delikanakis was a founder and co-captain of the school’s first rowing club, rowing bow in Vassar’s first men’s eight. Later while attending law school in Chicago, he sculled on the Chicago River and in Lincoln Park as a member of the Chicago River Rowing & Paddling Center and The Lincoln Park Boat Club.

Laird Noble Sanders - Director (2016-2018)

Laird Noble Sanders - married to Rhonda Sanders for 35 years, with 2 children, Laird and Sam - lived in the Las Vegas Valley for 40+ years. He was the owner of Lake Mead Boat Storage for 21 years, where they “Just Rent Dirt!” He was a huge part of the community that created the LLVRC and the Nevada State College Rowing team. He was active on the Henderson Chamber of Commerce Foundation, was the past President of the Henderson Development Association, and served on the Board of the Henderson chapter of the Salvation Army. He greatly enjoyed traveling around the world and the States with his lovely wife. Born in Montana and graduated from the University of Oregon, Laird served in the US Army. Sadly Laird passed away in 2019.

Veronica Bowers - Director (2016-2020)

Veronica Bowers began her rowing career at age 40 in Northern California. She had a fantastic racing experience, often racing in two boats at each regatta. When her family decided to move to Las Vegas in 2015, there were no rowing clubs in the valley, so she traveled to California and joined other clubs’ practices. Now that she enjoys the beautiful Lake Las Vegas, she only has to travel 20 minutes to get in a boat. Veronica’s love of this beautiful sport goes beyond the athletic component as it also includes the tight bond that rowers need to create the swing in the boat that makes a boat go fast. She can assist with learn-to-rows and make sure new rowers are doing more than just learning the physical basics, but having fun and feeling accomplished. She enjoys sharing her passion.