Steady State Podcast

Twenty years after meeting as high school athletes, long time friends Stephen Pryor and Justin Knust are coaching in studio, online, and on the water, as the data-driven founders of Live2Row Studios . While hauling regatta trailers and drinking beers in bars, Stephen and Justin realized that the coaching and training system they’d been developing for youth rowers could be valuable for the larger r...

This is the fifth and final episode in a series on heart attacks and emergency preparedness. In this series you’ll hear first hand accounts from rowers who survived heart attacks, teammates and coaches who witnessed these events, and even from widows who reflect on warning signs and “what ifs.” On this episode: Bill Byrd has been rowing for nearly six decades and was a founding member of Willamett...

This is the fourth episode in a series on heart attacks and emergency preparedness. In this multi-part series you’ll hear first hand accounts from rowers who survived heart attacks, teammates and coaches who witnessed these events, and even from widows who reflect on warning signs and “what ifs.” On this episode: Damion Winship had only been coaching for the Ancient Mariners Rowing Club for a shor...

Bonnie Garmus was a competitive masters rower for years before an offhand comment during a business meeting prompted her to begin writing her debut novel, " Lessons in Chemistry ," which has been adapted into an Apple TV+ series . Everyone wants to talk with Bonnie about the book’s main character, Elizabeth Zott, but we turned the table to ask Bonnie about the role rowing plays in her life – and h...

This is the third episode in a series on heart attacks and emergency preparedness. In this multi-part series you’ll hear first hand accounts from rowers who survived heart attacks, teammates and coaches who witnessed these events, and even from widows who reflect on warning signs and “what ifs.” On this episode: Peter Kermond has been the face and voice of Burnham Boat Slings since purchasing the...

As part of our club spotlight series and in the lead-up to San Diego Crew Classic, we head to California to get to know ZLAC, the oldest women’s rowing club in the world. Established in 1892, ZLAC's unique structure allows for both competitive and social memberships. You don't have to row. New members are added to generational Crews to bolster cross-program and boathouse interaction and provide pe...

This is the second episode in a series on heart attacks and emergency preparedness. In this multi-part series you’ll hear first hand accounts from rowers who survived heart attacks, teammates and coaches who witnessed these events, and even from widows who reflect on warning signs and “what ifs.” On this episode: A member of the first U.S. women’s Olympic team and a longtime masters rower, Sue Hoo...

This is the first episode in a series on heart attacks and emergency preparedness. In this multi-part series you’ll hear first hand accounts from rowers who survived heart attacks, teammates and coaches who witnessed these events, and even from widows who reflect on warning signs and “what ifs.” In this episode: Willamette Rowing Club couple David Setter and Sarah Copeland are enthusiastic about h...

Elizabeth Gilmore has had in insanely meteoric trajectory from indoor rowing newbie to indoor rowing champion and world record holder, to Head of the Charles course record breaker. It all started with getting on the erg to rehab a running injury. Then came the Concept2 Logbook and challenges. Then virtual racing (and winning), before stepping onto the gym floor at Erg Sprints for her first in-pers...

Teens are super aware of stranger danger from a really young age, but most of them have genuinely never thought about misconduct from known adults. Using SafeSport training as a springboard, Coach Libby Boghossian leads in-depth discussions with her Brookline High School rowers about team policies and the concepts of consent, power imbalance, and coercion. She’s helping to create a culture for her...

After providing some basic instruction, coaches often leave coxswains to figure things out on their own. Three-time medal-winning U.S. Olympic coxswain Mary Whipple recognized this gap in the coaching playbook and founded The 9th Seat, offering camps, resources, and community for coxswains. Hear what Mary has to say about lucky breaks and logistics, and why being a motivator isn’t at the top of he...

Jen Huffman gave her son a guilt trip about learning to row. “You would make your great grandpa so happy!” And when your great grandpa is Joe Rantz, 7 seat in the University of Washington crew that took gold at the 1936 Olympics, you learn to row. Jen also took up the challenge and learned to row as an adult, quickly becoming an accomplished masters rower in the Seattle area. Growing up, Jen didn’...

In this special episode, co-hosts Rachel Freedman and Tara Morgan take a look back at 2023. Go behind the scenes of Steady State Podcast to learn more about Rachel and Tara's rowing careers, listen to clips from some of their favorite season 4 episodes, consider their big takeaways from interviews with nearly 40 guests in the past 12 months, and get a peak at what's to come in Season 5 in 2024. ....

Think of rowing and Boston and there’s one name that really stands out: Ellen Minzner. Born and raised in Lawrence, Mass., Ellen has spent more than two decades developing and leading programs in the state, including most recently as the Director of Outreach and then Director of Inclusion and Advocacy at Community Rowing Inc. Ellen also balances being the co-chair of the Head of the Charles Announ...

In 2002, Lindsay Dare Shoop reluctantly walked-on at the University of Virginia. Within a year she became an NCAA Division I All American. In four years she broke a world record and earned her first World Championship. Within six years her hard work manifested a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Today she seeks to help others remove self-imposed limitations. This Fall, 20 years after it all...

“Physical limitations only exist if you’re willing to find them.” This is the philosophy of Mitch King, a coxswain for River City Rowing Club in Sacramento, CA. Every day he does countless things that doctors said were impossible when he was a kid diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. Mitch doesn’t call himself a disability advocate, doesn’t want to be an inspiration, and would rather folks didn’t try to...

That place a lot of us call a second home – the boathouse – is on land with a long history. And the waterways we dip our oars in once provided sustenance. Know Where You Row is a campaign across the United States and Canada to explore the spaces and places where we row, which have been – and continue to be – the lands of the native peoples who, for centuries, have stewarded them. Know Where You Ro...

The World's Toughest Row is a 2,800-mile race across the Pacific Ocean. On June 12, 2024, more than 20 teams will leave Monterey, CA and race to Kauai, HI in unsupported, man-powered ocean rowing boats. Hannah Huppi (NORC), Phil Doyle (PBC), and Hunter Deuel (OWRC) formed Horizon Racing USA to take on this massive rowing challenge. They are solidly into their planning and training with a goal of b...

This is the final episode in a four-part special series on gender identity policies in rowing. Since December 2022, World Athletics, World Rowing, USRowing and other national governing bodies, have announced updated gender identity policies. In response, voices across the rowing community have stood up for "fairness for women" and alternatively "inclusion for marginalized athletes." We're taking a...

Start your engines! Get to know Indianapolis Rowing Center, host of the 2023 USRowing Masters National Championships. We talk with IRC board President Janet Francis, Masters Head Coach Zach Christopher, and recent LTR grad Lisa Stickley. Developed in the 1980s, the race course at Eagle Creek remains one of the country’s premiere venues, host to PanAm Games, World Rowing Championships, NCAA Champio...

GENDER IDENTITY POLICIES: Part 3 Since December 2022, World Athletics, World Rowing, USRowing and other national governing bodies, have announced updated gender identity policies. In response, voices across the rowing community have stood up for "fairness for women" and alternatively "inclusion for marginalized athletes." We're taking a closer look. Kevin Harris’s coaching career began in the earl...

PRIDE MONTH SPECIAL: PART 2 We visit Chicago Rowing Union (CRU), the Midwest's only LGBTQ+ rowing organization, and one of just a few such clubs in the world. CRU member and social media manager Michael Toutloff talks with us about the importance of safe spaces and being yourself, finding community and competition on the water, and proudly flying the flag at regattas.  Listen to Part 1 of our Prid...

A small but growing group of flat water rowers are making a transition to coastal rowing. In 2021, USRowing boated its first-ever Beach Sprints National team and in 2022 Next Level Rowing appeared on the scene, training high performance rowers who have gone on to win medals at domestic and international coastal regattas. The U.S. is just taking on this discipline, which has been raced for generati...

PRIDE MONTH SPECIAL: PART 1 Only a handful of rowing clubs around the world cater specifically to the lesbian, gay, bi, transgender, questioning and ally community. In Part 1 of our Pride special, we introduce you to DC Strokes Rowing Club’s long-time member and coach Lis Fondreist, and president of the Melbourne Argonauts Queer Rowing Club, Josh Lipscombe. They talk with us about rowing and the g...

Washington, DC’s two rivers – the Potomac and the Anacostia – haven’t been swimmable in decades and folks that live in the nation’s capital often have no relationship with the rivers. But when one of Rebekah Armstrong’s teachers suggested she join Capital Juniors rowing, she found a sport she loved wrapped up in just the right package of diversity and scrappiness. The influence of a great coach pr...