Shaun was born in Scotland and started coaching canoeing when he was 16 years old. He progressed until he was the coach of the national team in 1997.
He then went on to lead the British Junior and Senior teams before moving to the USA in 2008 to lead the program at Oklahoma City University team. That team went on to win National Championships leading to him being appointed coach of the USA team at the 2009 World Championships.
He then transitioned into coaching para-canoe and lead the USA team to 2016 Paralympics. In 2019 he moved to Australia and now leads the National Para-canoe team.