For Stars Podcast

On this week’s episode of the For Stars Podcast, Hudson brings on Head Coach of Penn Heavyweight Rowing, Al Monte, a man who lives and breathes Philadelphia. Entering his third season this year with the Quakers, Al is back in the boathouse and ready to take on this next year. Hudson and Al discuss the 2023-2024 season where the team went neck and neck with Northeastern, inches apart from one anoth...

On this week’s episode of the For Stars Podcast, Hudson brings on Head Coach of Princeton Heavyweight Rowing, Greg Hughes, a staple in collegiate men’s rowing. Entering his 16th season this year, Greg is ready to get back in the coaching launch and drive his team to another amazing season. Hudson and Greg discuss the 2023-2024 season where the team went undefeated in the regular season, and the un...

Welcome everyone to Episode 100 of the For Stars Podcast, where we bring you an individual who has impacted the lives of countless student-athletes, Jake Coert, Former Head Coach of Channel Islands Rowing Club, a junior rowing program nestled in Southern California. Hudson was under the tutelage of Jake in his early years as a coxswain, and only felt that it was right to bring on the coach that ch...

There are very few people in this sport that continuously impact the lives around them, and fortunately, Hudson was able to speak with an icon in American Rowing, Mr. Bryan Volpenhein. The 10-time National team member, Bryan rowed the US Men's 8+ to two medals at the Olympics. Alongside his boatmates, Volp broke records like no other. He stroked the US Men's 8+ to a Gold Medal in 2004, w...

Welcome everyone to another episode of the For Stars Podcast, featuring Head Coach of Harvard Men’s Lightweight Rowing, Billy Boyce. Coming off of an undefeated dual season, winning the Eastern Sprints and the IRA National Championship, the H150’s made history this past season.  Boyce shares his testimony with Hudson on what went into the season, his overall method to excellence and recruiting ath...

Welcome everyone to another episode of the For Stars Podcast, featuring Tim McLaren, Australian Sports Hall of Fame Olympic Coach and Director of UTS Haberfield, which became one of Australia's most successful clubs. A seasoned veteran of over 35 years in the coaching launch, Tim gives us a taste of what it means to coach a crew at the highest level in the sport. Hudson and Tim chat about the...

Welcome everyone to another episode of the For Stars Podcast, featuring Head Coach of Boston Men's Rowing, Tom Bohrer. In his 16th year at the helm of the program, Tom has significantly made an impact on the BU squad and the sport of rowing in general. The Former US National Team Rower competed at three World Championships and is a two-time Silver Medalist in the Men's 4- at the 1988 and...

Welcome everyone to another episode of the For Stars Podcast featuring Dr. Michael Toon, a Bronze Medalist at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, coxing the Australian Men’s Eight. Hudson and Mike touch on what it is like to compete at an elite level, and the daily life of an athlete training for the Olympics. Mike shared some helpful advice and tips to improve in the coxswain seat, and what...

Welcome everyone to another episode of the For Stars Podcast, featuring Head Coach of Holy Cross Men's Rowing, Jim Barr, in his ninth year at the helm of the program. Hudson and Jim discuss the current climate of men's collegiate rowing, student-athlete development, power of team culture, recruiting the person as oppose to the fastest erg score, the facilities offered to the student-athl...

One week out from the 2024 San Diego Crew Classic, and we bring you another episode here at FSP, featuring the Head Coach of Notre Dame Women's Rowing, Martin Stone, a coach for the Fighting Irish since 1997. Hudson and Martin cover the prep for SDCC, events that happened last year at the event, and outlook for this year, along with the recent changes with conference realignment, and how he s...

Spring is here, and so is another FSP episode, featuring the new Head Coach of SMU Women's Rowing, Chase Graham. The former Associate Head Coach and Recruiting Coordinator of the Duke Blue Devils made his way over to the Hilltop in July of 2023, where he now sits at the helm of the program coaching the Mustangs in Dallas, Texas. Hudson and Chase elaborate more on the move from North Carolina...

From Mic’d Up in the Erg Room to the podcast, Head Coach of Syracuse Women’s Rowing, Luke McGee, joins us here at the For Stars Podcast for some fun.  To close out the month of February, Hudson & Luke dive into the upcoming spring season, going over conference realignment and the three new powerhouses (Cal, SMU & Stanford) being added to the ACC next fall. We talk all things Syracuse Women...

As we approach the tail-end of the month of February, we bring you an episode with the Head Coach of Dartmouth Men’s Lightweight Rowing, Trevor Michelson, who is also apart of the coaching staff for the United States Under-23 Men’s Sweep Group.  Hudson & Trevor get into several topics surrounding the team, overall team culture, recruitment for lightweight rowing, and the unfortunate cut of the...

On this week's podcast we bring you the Co-Founder of AllMarkOne, Rory Cruickshank, former coxswain at Oxford Brookes University. We touch on the overall backstory behind the brand and taking the lessons learned from rowing into the inner workings of running a business. Rory's impact on UK Rowing has been monumental through creating more exposure (no pun intended) in his team's phot...

All eight, sit ready… ROW! A call you may hear from one in the 9th seat. Hudson decided to bring on one of the best and most successful coxswains in the history of American Rowing, Mary Whipple!  On this week’s episode on For Stars Podcast, we dive deep into the connection one has with their crew, taking the lessons you learn from crew into your family life and the workforce, but most important, t...

A little over 26 weeks away from the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, Hudson sat down with Mike Grady, a 2020 Tokyo Olympian competing on the US National Team. Grady graduated from Cornell University in 2019, where he rowed under Todd Kennett ‘91, on the Men’s Heavyweight team. The connection that he shares with his teammates is evident when surrounded by each other… brotherhood, as some coin it. Nonethe...

Two years of FSP, and we want to wish you all a Happy New Year! 2024 is going to be filled with exciting content and expansion! On today's episode, Hudson brings on Head Coach of Cornell Men's Heavyweight Rowing, Todd Kennett '91. Coach Kennett, currently in Orlando on his team's Winter Training Trip, dives deep into recruiting and scouting talent along with the search for coxs...

Embarking on another episode here at For Stars Podcast, we bring you an insightful pod featuring USRowing's Chief High Performance Officer, Josy Verdonkschot, a highly-touted rowing coach leading boats to Gold on the Olympic stage. Starting coaching in 1987, Josy grew up in the Netherlands, but came to the United States in 2022, working full-time for USRowing. He oversees all of the high perf...

Head Coach of the Lady Vols, Kim Cupini, joins us here at For Stars Podcast. In her first year of coaching the Tennessee Volunteers, Cupini and her supportive coaching staff, took the Fall 2023 season to "amp up the volume" and focus on bringing all of the athletes together as one.  Cupini is well-suited to lead the Lady Vols, being arguably one of the most decorated coaches in collegiat...

A fighter - that would be name for Dr. James Clark, a Washington native who spends his time breaking the barrier and defeating the odds day in and day out. Clark, a graduate and professor at the University of Washington, who was a member of the Men's Rowing Team on Carnegie Lake, took on the challenge of competing with the most historical and well-known crew team located in the Pacific Northw...

Getting to a certain point in your life, you realize the gifts that are offered to you along the way, and for Porter Collins, rowing was one of them. The three-time World Champion, two-time Olympian (1996 & 2000), 1994 Henley Royal Regatta Champ, Eastern Sprints & IRA National Champion, Collins cemented himself as a significant, generational talent in United States Rowing. A 1998 Brown Uni...

For Stars Podcast brings you an insight into Syracuse Men's Rowing, featuring longtime Head Coach, Mr. Dave Reischman. Hudson and Dave dive deep into what it takes to "have the juice" in order to be a Division 1 Rowing team, discussing team culture, structure, and most importantly, having fun. A monumental figure within collegiate rowing, Reischman's high regard amongst his pee...

What gives chicken wings the flavor… the sauce, well good for you, Hudson made sure he brought some extra! With Head of the Charles approaching in a few days, FSP brings you the one and only Philly native, Mr. Pete “Cipp” Cipollone, 2004 Men’s 8+ Olympic Gold Medalist Coxswain, and ‘97, ‘98, ‘99 World Champion. Pete attended St. Joseph’s Prep for his high school years, and later on graduated from...

Go Bruno All Day, Everyday! Featured on FSP is the one and only, Mr. Paul Cooke ‘89 from the esteemed Brown University, Head Coach of the Men’s Crew team for over 30 years! Paul does a great job of creating a solid team culture bringing in the right people for the job at hand. We discuss topics such as how to establish competitiveness within a program, resources for mental health of athletes, well...

Welcome everyone to another episode featuring Head Coaches around the world, where this week we get an opportunity to hear from, Mr. John Graves, current Head Coach of Dartmouth Women’s Rowing and former Associate Head Coach of the Men’s Heavyweight team. An avid rower from a well-known family in crew, John (the youngest of three) reflects on his time rowing in college at Trinity, following up on...