Michael Taraboletti has been added as Bates rowing assistant men's coach & recruiting coordinator for the 2023-24 campaign.
He served on the Bates staff for two seasons before stepping down following the spring of 2025.
"We're very fortunate to have Michael join our staff here at Bates," said head coach Peter Steenstra. "He's a young coach with a good background in the sport and, being from Buffalo (N.Y.), he's well suited for the adventure of coaching in Maine."
Taraboletti began his rowing career in 2012 at West Side Rowing Club, competing for St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute (N.Y.). He went on to participate in numerous statewide championships, earning multiple golds at the New York State Championships in Saratoga Springs his junior and senior years. Michael also competed at Head of the Charles 2016 (Boston) in the men's eight, securing a spot for his school the following year.
The following fall, Taraboletti attended State University of New York at Geneseo, earning a spot in the club's top boat his first season. Upon graduating from SUNY Geneseo with a Bachelor of Science in biology in 2020, Michael continued rowing for the Buffalo River Rowing Club Master's team until the end of summer 2023.
His passion for rowing encouraged him to embark on his coaching path in the fall of 2019, when he, among a small band of his fellow seniors, took up the mantle of coaching the Geneseo rowing team upon the sudden departure of their previous coach. He chose to sacrifice the remainder of his final collegiate year to oversee the Geneseo program, ultimately leading the program to multiple wins at the local and state levels.
Now having that unexpected experience under his belt, he continued to coach at his local rowing club, Buffalo Scholastic Rowing Association, with learn-to-row, club juniors, and U17-U19 programs until 2022. He then joined the Buffalo River Rowing Club Masters team as an assistant coach, where he remained until joining Bates.
Aside from his career in rowing, Michael is an avid outdoorsman, environmental scholar, and enjoys other activities such as biking, mountain climbing, and boating.
