In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, when it was clear that the 2020 rowing season was in jeopardy, we started brainstorming. We were just two masters rowers and coaches who wanted to celebrate the expansive array of rowers, coaches, and coxswains and savor real-life experience from launch to cox seat at every level.

We launched Steady State Network in September 2020 with one goal: reframe the popular, yet limited narrative about rowing culture by creating a more inclusive and better represented rowing community.

On September 22, 2020 with very little audio production experience, but plenty of big ideas and lots of opinions, we dropped episode 1 of Steady State Podcast and wondered: will anyone notice? Will anyone listen?

Join us to look back – and ahead – as we celebrate our 100th episode!

00:00 - Episode Intro 01:13 - Re-writing the original show intro, the simplicity of the early scripts, how COVID reshaped our lives, and learning to be brave 07:15 - From Day 1, Steady State Podcast was a COVID project with a long-term mission to challenge the popular yet limited narrative about rowing

Training and Racing 10:35 - Williamsburg Boat Club coach Tom Rooks on finding your “why,” and on nerves, anxiety, expectations and visualizing “rear view moments” 14:20 - New Zealand Olympian Eric Murray tells a story about an out of control water bottle during a World Cup race

Coaching 16:29 - Live2Row Studios Founders and Coaches Stephen Pryor and Justin Knust on checking yourself 19:33 - Technique spotlight with New Zealand Olympian Eric Murray: finding suspension on the erg

Coxing 23:33 - Whitney Powell of the Candid Cox explains taking ownership of the boat 26:24 - Olympian and founder of the 9th Seat Mary Whipple says “less is more” and give space between asks 29:26 - Masters coxswain Mitch King hinges his coxing on being collaborative

The Big Issues 32:29 - Coach Libby Boghossian’s seasonal SafeSport discussions create a culture for her young athletes where everyone is enlisted in the effort to keep their rowing community safe. 37:48 - Olympian, author, and UVA strength coach Lindsay Dare Shoop worries about the pressure of collegiate name/image/likeness (NIL) deals 41:39 - Non-binary rower David Scherzer on the limiting male/female gender structure 46:04 - Former Tulsa University Women’s Head Coach Kevin Harris on USRowing’s gender identity policy and the importance of inclusion

The Perfect Stroke 49:30 - Setting up the perfect stroke 50:35 - New Orleans Rowing Club accepts the chaos of coastal rowing 53:09 - Joe DeLeo of Science of Rowing and the Leo Training Podcast considers whether the perfect stroke is possible 54:12 - Olympians Mary Whipple and Gevvie Stone on the eternal quest 55:31 - UW Coach Marqus Brown describes a “quiet” prefect stroke 56:48 - Lake Washington Rowing Club boatswain Susan Kinne describes the meditative experience of rowing in the morning 53:55 - Outro

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To see photos of our guests, and get links to the people, clubs, and events mentioned in this episode, check out the show notes on our website.

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This episode was made possible in part by Live2Row Studios, Breakwater Realty, RowSource, and our Patrons.

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Steady State Podcast is written, produced, hosted, and edited by Rachel Freedman and Tara Morgan. Tara provides additional audio engineering and is our sponsor coordinator. Rachel manages the website, social media, and e-newsletter. Our theme music is by Jonas Hipper.