Ready, Row! USA

MEET: Ken Gates & John Cullicott CLUB: TexasRowingCenter.org HOST: Napoleon Griffin Ken Gates has won nine (9) CRASH-B hammers, set two world records on the RowErg and won a couple Masters Nationals singles titles, about racing, training and maintaining fitness while aging. John has raced for over 40 years at the High School, College, Elite, and Masters levels.  He spent seven years as a sweep...

From the Ukrainian women's crew Anastaia Kozhenkova, Katarina Maistrenko, and Yevghenia Dovhodko talk to host Napoleon Greiffin about their training in Kyiv and WSU, and their experience in the US. They rowed on Sunday, Nov. 20.

Bak, Choi, Rogers - Transcript 2023 Won COPA America Mixed 4x 2022 Bronze at Beach Sprint Worlds for Mixed 4x  2021 Tokyo Paralympic PR3 Mixed 4+ Alternate Chris Bak  2021 Portugal-1x 8th BS 2022 wales 1x gold 4x bronze BS 2023 Barletta- 1x 8th BS 1x silver ENDURO 2x gold ENDURO 2024 Genoa- 1x gold  Kory Rogers  4x coastal national team  2x world champion, youngest in 2023 senior level worlds  1x...

Alex Lynn, Youth Recreational Rowing Manager at Community Rowing Ellis Evans-Brown, Head Coach at Arlington-Belmont high school crew What is unique about rowing among all the available youth sports; when is it the right choice for young athletes? What does rowing do for kids as they grow into adulthood and prepare for college and vocations? In this episode, c oaches Alex & Ellis examine the ch...

It was 50 years ago today - Peter Kermond started rowing at Belmont Hill prep school, directly across from the site of our interview near Eliot Bridge on the Charles River in Boston. Peter is a beloved legend in rowing - making the US National Team and eventually acquiring Burnham Boat Slings, maker of the slings that rowers rack their boats on at regattas. Now, Burnham's flagship products are the...

We came back a week after the Head of the Charles for a recap – because we couldn’t get enough of this magical world-renowned rowing regatta. We love mingling with the crowd, the thrill of the racing, checking out new gadgets & gear, connecting with old friends, and making new ones. On today’s Head of the Charles panel: Linda Muri of Burnham Boat Slings;  Maurice Scott of Unity & Potomac B...

We're catching up with the whirlwind that is Arshay Cooper! You're invited to join the livestream to ask questions and share your experiences with Arshay - just comment on the discussion thread at any of the replay destinations. Besides being a rower, Arshay is a Benjamin Franklin award-winning author, the protagonist of the critically acclaimed film “A Most Beautiful Thing,” nominated for an NAAC...

Full show notes on the website Heading to any of the Great American Head Race Regattas this fall? Tune in to get inspired with legendary Olympic rower & coach Jim Dietz and coach Mark Wilson, co-founders at All American Rowing Camp based in DeLand, Florida. We’re revisiting our annual fall regatta (aka head race) preview a little earlier this year to give you a “heads” up! Every year, longtime...

You may be wondering, if you're middle-aged or beyond and never rowed before, can you still take up the sport? Many of us row with folks in their 60's, 70's, and 80's who started rowing relatively late in life. If you've got a few "creaky parts," many clubs have adaptive classes and equipment, and the sport has a culture of rowers helping rowers. Boston-area Coach Brian DiDominici talked with host...

The target Lara's dad set when he was younger was “Aim High”. Don’t look left or right - FOCUS - and aim high. And boy, did she! Lara Vafiadis took on the Atlantic Challenge row for a few reasons - but a primary aim was to  inspire other women and children that if you set your mind to something, you can achieve anything. Seeing her dad suffer through years of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and everyth...

You have questions about rowing in college. Nobody can guarantee admission, but the high school athlete can learn how to put their best foot forward, formulate a plan, and find a school that fits academically, athletically, and socially.  Want to be recruited to row in college?  Where do I start getting recruited to row in college?  When - and how - do I contact coaches? Why aren’t coaches getting...

USRowCon23 Series What does "community engagement" mean for a sports governing body, and how does it impact the individual members, boathouses, elite & recreational athletes that make up its consituency? How has this program area evolved at USRowing? We'll talk to Jennie Trayes her new role as Chief Community Engagement Officer for USRowing. She oversees the organization's domestic community p...

We met Dr. Ramona Cox at the USRowing Convention, Feb. 3-5 in Atlantic City, where she presented on athlete & coach wellness best practices & sports-based therapy.  The Doc Wayne organization aims to "level the playing field of mental health globally by harnessing the power of sport-based therapy." In 2021, Dr. Cox joined Doc Wayne as the Director of the Champions Network, the organization...

Not only is he a rowing coach, but Don Ukrainec recently acquired H2Row and presented his lineup of swappable shoes and rowing supplies at the USRowing Convention. As someone who's often jumped in an 8+ to find size 14 shoes from the previous crew of large men, I appreciate the range of H2Row sizes (mens 6-16 and women's to size 12), the ease of swapping, and the superbly comfortable fit. Did we p...

Coming off 20+ years with the Coast Guard and involved in many water rescues, Tom Rooks has recently assumed the position as Director of Safety at USRowing. During our interview with him at the USRowing Convention 2023, Tom made our producer a believer in PFDs, especially for single scullers in the "shoulder" seasons in the northern latitudes. To be continued - post your comments & questions f...

In this USRowing Convention interview (thanks to Linda Muri for wrangling him from the erg championship floor!) Josh Carlson made us a believer in the value of cross-training for rowing with the Ski-Erg, a popular, relatively new product by Concept 2, manufacturer of the ubiquitous RowErg. "SkiErg is great for working on lats, and just giving rowers a break from the rowing machine for pretty much...

At the USRowing Convention, USRowing HP Para Director Ellen Minzner steered us to Emilie Eldracher, coxswain for the PR3 4+ 2022 World Championships. We had a great discussion about the elite Paralympic world. She welcomes questions & comments - post them on our YouTube channel, Facebook, or LinkedIn livestream replay destinations - our  website has all the links. Many thanks to our fabulous s...

To meet SimulatOar inventor Calvin Coffey is to appreciate his creativity, drive, and his love of life & rowing. Our USRowing Convention interviews continued on Sunday, Feb. 5 with Coffey and his wife, Maggie. Calvin competed in the 1976 Summer Olympics, where he and his partner Mike Staines won the silver medal in the coxless pairs event. A few years later, after a devastating car accident, h...

Ready, Row! USA was thrilled to be the media partner of USRowing for the first in-person convention since 2019. In particular, we'd like to thank the creative, positive, indefatigable, and ever-attentive Brett Gorman for connecting us with so many amazing people in rowing. Oh, the rowing stories we heard! from rowing's movers & shakers & regular folks, like Janice Holzman , Row New York; C...

One of our favorite discussions at the recent USRowing Convention was with Ted Benford, executive director of Community Rowing, arguably the largest rowing club in the world, depending on how you're counting - Members? Rowing hours? Number of boats?. Ted started at CRI more than 25 years ago as a volunteer and coach and went on to serve as president of the board and as a trustee. In May of 2016, T...

To be honest, he was a moving target at USRowing Convention, between attending sessions and announcing for the National Indoor Championships, but we finally caught up with Aquil Abdullah, truly a mover & shaker in the sport of rowing. Among other things, we learned that after "winding down" from the Olympic experience, Aquil was settling into a career in high tech when he was drawn back into t...

Boathouse fundraising got you flummoxed? Fear not - we caught up with Row New York 's Janice Holzman between sessions at USRowing  Convention 2023. She gave us a new perspective on an element essential to the operation of many boathouses. As a non-profit sector senior executive with 20+ years of fundraising, communications, partnership building and political advocacy experience, Janice serves as t...

" A Long Talk " founders Kyle Williams, Chief Empowerment Officer, and Kamal Carter, President, call themselves "just a couple of black fathers." Since starting the ALT movement in 2020, they have worked with rowing programs across the country including Washington, Columbia, and Three Rivers, as well as Fortune 500 corporations and leading universities. Along with their colleague Matt Logue, their...

 Live from USRowing Convention 2023, we talked with Holly Austin, founder & head coach at Ready Set Row. Holly explains the approach of RSR: "In expanding your comfort zone, you and are able to push a little harder with each effort. In order to reach your full potential, you must learn how to be more brave to take risks, and to face fear.  As well, you must learn self-compassion to manage chal...

John Gartin is Director of the Collegiate Rowers & Coaches Assn., Former Head Coach Nova Southeastern Women's Rowing, also coached at Oklahoma, Dallas United, and San Diego Rowing Club. Many thanks to our fabulous sponsors: Burnham Boat Slings - mention the podcast at a regatta for some Burnham swag! Resolute Racing & Sykes USA - our producer rows a LW Sykes - try it out on the Charles Riv...