STEADY STATE PODCAST
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Jimmy Germano's Coxswain Clinic
Jimmy Germano coxed the U.S. Jr. M8+ to gold at the World Rowing Junior Championships in 2005, but he swears it was sheer luck – being in the right place at the right time with a great crew and a “fake it ‘til you make it” attitude.
More than 20 years later, motivated to help others hone their coxing skills, you can find Jimmy pondering coxing and life on his Instagram account @coxswain_clinic. So of course we invited him to talk Coxing 101, coaching coxswains, the cox/8/7 relationship, finding your coxing voice, and a whole lot more.
Club Spotlight: Ann Arbor Rowing Club
Head to Michigan to spend some time with Ann Arbor Rowing Club. Masters rower Francine MacBride reflects on balancing being a rower Mom with her own rowing life and shares stories from the Club’s early days in the 1980s. Fundraising and marketing chair Andrea Danz walks us through helping AARC build a thoughtful approach to fundraising, while Coach Mary Giacobbi explains how the club manages to support both recreational and competitively driven rowers – often in the very same practice.
Leadership on the Lake: Matt Knifton and Texas Rowing Center
Right in the heart Austin flows Lady Bird Lake, a stretch of the Colorado River that has become a daily gathering place for runners, paddlers, and rowers alike. On its banks sits a true Austin institution: Texas Rowing Center. For owner Matt Knifton, this place isn’t just a business, it’s where his story has unfolded since the 1980s.
Katie Weber: Reclaiming the Athlete Within
After a brain cancer diagnosis and multiple surgeries, the athletic identity Katie Weber had always known felt suddenly out of reach. When she found adaptive rowing at Seize the Oar, Katie discovered a new challenge, rebuilt confidence and independence, and redefined what competition could look like. Through it all, her husband Will has been her gym buddy, race-day cheerleader, and number one fan.
Lasting Legacy: 60 Years of the Head of the Charles
The Head Of The Charles Regatta celebrates 60 years in 2025, a perfect opportunity to reflect and look ahead at an event that brings together countless thousands of rowers and fans in Boston. We’re honored to talk with founder D’Arcy MacMahon and Fred Schoch, whose tenure as executive director stretched 33 years. Together we explore the vision of the founders and its stewardship since 1965.
Oceans of Purpose: How Jordan Hanssen Found Meaning Through Rowing
When Jordan Hanssen spotted a flier in the boathouse challenging rowers to take on an ocean, the trajectory of his rowing career – and life – changed completely. We talk about his 2006 World Record-setting Atlantic row, and a second Atlantic crossing that ended with a capsized boat in the Bermuda Triangle. But the story of the boat – named for his late father and outfitted with scientific instruments and satellite communications – didn’t end there.
Tap Into Your Potential with Cara Stawicki
Cara Stawicki won gold in the Lightweight Women’s pair at the 2019 World Championships, but as a high school swimmer, a walk on to Lehigh University’s rowing program, and even as she moved into international competition, Cara struggled with confidence. Today, as the Founder of Be Brave High Performance, she facilitates peak performance and well-being in athletes, coaches and industry leaders through mindset training and personal development.
The Ocean is Calling Oar the Rainbow
On June 7, 2025, Oar the Rainbow will be one of just five teams losing sight of shore for an unsupported, human-powered, 2800-mile row from Monterey, CA to Kauai, HI. The team, – including the first out transgender person to row across the Pacific – are about two years into their planning and training. Members Taylan Stulting, Julie Warren, and Courtney Farber have inclusion, joy, and kindness at the heart of the team, with the belief that representation in sports matters.
Fusing Innovation and Tradition at the Head of the Charles
Meet the leadership that helps make HOCR happen – new HOCR Executive Director Tori Stevens, and Director of Racing Brendan Mulvey. Find out their personal stories of involvement in sport, and what about this regatta attracts 12,000 athletes and a few hundred thousand spectators each year to the waters and banks of the Charles River.
SPECIAL SERIES
heart health & Emergencies
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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 month special, we introduce you to leaders at DC Strokes Rowing Club and the Melbourne Argonauts Queer Rowing Club who talk with us about rowing and the gay rights movement in the 1990s, safe spaces, and why this part of the diversity issue is still relevant today.
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Chicago Rowing Union (CRU) is 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.
GENDER INCLUSION POLICIES
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In 2021, Cillian Mullen was at a pivotal moment — navigating his identity, the college recruitment process, and transgender athlete policies. Five years later, his journey has taken him to the U19 and U23 National Teams, and the University of Washington. We catch up with Cillian to explore what’s changed, what hasn’t, and how he’s continuing to carve out his place in rowing.
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Dr. Mary O’Connor was a member of the influential 1976 Yale women’s rowing program that sparked big changes following the passage of Title IX. Today, she’s a member of the Independent Council on Women’s Sports – an advocacy group “seeking to elevate and empower female athletes by protecting safety, fairness, and opportunity for girls and women.”
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In this second episode in a special series on gender identity policies in rowing, we talk with Ann Strayer, OLY, Varsity Women’s Coach at Oakland United Rowing. Together with fellow OUR coach and Olympian Erin Cafaro they have written a letter in support of USRowing’s gender identity policy, highlighting the importance of welcoming transgender and non-binary scholastic athletes into the boathouse, and allow them to row as the gender they identify with.
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Gender Identity Policies series, part 3. Kevin Harris’s coaching career began in the early 1990s and culminated with 20+ years at the helm of the University of Tulsa women’s rowing program. Harris offers an in-depth and thought-provoking perspective on DEI, the importance of boathouses as welcoming spaces, the prevalence of transgender and non-binary rowers in the United States, and gender inclusion policies.
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Gender Identity Policies series, part 4. The current USRowing gender inclusion policy leaves transgender, non-binary, and other gender nonconforming rowers with very few opportunities to race. Non-binary rower Dr. David Scherzer, and transgender rower/coach Bobbi Kizer, PhD explore their personal journeys with the sport and what policies and petitions mean for the future of rowing.
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Boat clubs have historically catered to binary athletes, and are figuring out how to put out a welcome mat for trans, and gender non-conforming athletes. Our guests, two trans rowers, talk inclusion, courage, and supportive coaches and teammates.
pride
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Willamette Rowing Club couple David Setter and Sarah Copeland are enthusiastic about having learned to row as adults and use the word "fun" to describe their rowing life way more than anyone else we've can think of. But one day in 2018, David had a heart attack. Together, David and Sarah recount that day and why he survived, and delve into recovery and returning to the boat. We also come to terms with erg splits going up as we get older and talk about learning to enjoy rowing for the sake of rowing.
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A member of the first U.S. women’s Olympic team and a longtime masters rower, Sue Hooten has a lifetime of rowing memories. She learned to row in California in the early 1970s, really appreciated the boathouse sock box in Philadelphia, and has raced around the world. In March 2018, her husband, former National Team and Vesper Boat Club coach John Hooten, had a medical emergency on the water while training in his 1x. He was out with his training partner, without a coach, and – like most rowers – was not wearing a PFD.
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Peter Kermond has been the face and voice of Burnham Boat Slings since purchasing the business in 1999. When he's not in the shop, or out rowing, he is probably manning a Burnham booth at a regatta. That’s where we met him – at Head of the Charles – in 2022, just a month after he survived a widow maker heart attack. Peter and his wife Carin Reynolds are both successful national team and masters rowers and high school coaches. They are a testament to teamwork, as they navigated Peter’s health emergency and rehabilitation, and his return to racing.
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Damion Winship had only been coaching for the Ancient Mariners Rowing Club for a short while the morning his coaching life changed. A masters rower new to his program had a heart attack on the water. Hear how Damion worked through his emergency checklist, how his CPR training kicked in, and how the crew worked together to try to save a life.
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