can we talk about “us”?

We all are – and know people who are – hard workers and passionate about rowing, from the launch to the coxswain seat. Steady State Network is for us. For you.

Here at Steady State Network our philosophy is “Rowing … for the rest of us.” I understand this personally, as an oarsman trapped in a coxswain’s body, fighting for seats in boats. As someone who has overcome congenital malformations of a foot, ankle, and leg, and endured corrective surgeries, to remain connected with my athletic self. Who wakes up each morning knowing the body is getting a little less limber, and I seek to make the most of it every chance I get.

When I think about the future of Steady State Network, it is a community full of people like those I’ve met since I learned to row in 2001: The late-in-life learn to rowers excited to finish their first race without catching a crab. Empty nesters looking to make a few friends and lose a few pounds. Strong-willed women beating breast cancer through recovery on water. Rowers of color who don’t feel welcome in boathouses or at regattas. LGBTQ+ rowers who have been on the receiving end of slurs while sitting on the start line. Coaches who drink coffee in the launch each morning, and make lineups each night. And innumerable rowers and coxswains who grind out the work every day in the hopes of winning medals but often walk away empty handed.

At SSN, we see ourselves as the champions of the “rest of us.” All those rowers, coaches, and coxswains you know who make wakes (big and small) at all levels of rowing. 

Tara and I invite you to join us and hope you’ll consider becoming a founding member.