“Quit Last” Says Marnie McBean
Four-time Olympic medallist Marnie McBean is one of the most decorated Canadian rowers of all time, and a driving force in our sport’s history. She’s been a mentor and leader for generations of athletes and now she’s also serving her country as a Senator in the Canadian Parliament, bringing that same curiosity, leadership, and commitment to service to national issues.
Get ready to hear about her early experiences testing on the gjessing erg, what rowing taught her about growth and resilience, and how those lessons shape the work she’s doing now to support Canadian citizens on and off the water.
GUEST:
Marnie McBean
IG: @marniemn2
Affiliations: Rowing Canada, Argonaut Rowing Club
This episode was made possible in part by RowSource and our Patrons
QUICK LOOK
00:00 - Intro
01:45 - Rowing Week scale of 1-10: amazing
04:55 - The Huddle
06:13 - Hot Seat Q&A
09:03 - Rowing origin story
13:00 - Advice for young athletes: don’t worry about fear and doubt
13:52 - Before rowing, Marnie was athletic but didn't know there were avenues to be ambitious in sport
15:20 - Making the junior national team by “being fast but looking bad”
19:58 - Rowing with 2x partner Kathleen Heddle felt like an “arranged marriage” until they learned to pay attention to each other
26:04 - Rowing with legendary Olympic coxswain Leslie Thompson Willie was all about preparation, listening, and trust
30:10 - Life lessons from rowing: you can recover from a bad stroke; “Can I/Will I” moments
34:20 - Empowering young rowers to work hard and “quit last”
37:02 - Serving Canada as a Senator
42:32 - Speaking up and speaking out against policies that negatively affect participation in sport
45:09 - The perfect stroke
46:42 - Steady State Network news and notes
Episode Mentions
🎧 = Listen to a Steady State Podcast episode
BOATHOUSES
Pocock Rowing Center
CLUBS
Argonaut Rowing Club
COACHES
Al Morrow
Tricia Smith
COXSWAINS
Betsy Beard
Yaz Farooq
Lesley Thompson-Willie
EQUIPMENT
Concept2 RowErg
Gjessing-Nilson erg
Gamut erg
Hudson T6
EVENTS
2020 Tokyo Olympic Games
ORGANIZATIONS
Canadian Olympic Committee
International Olympic Committee
Right to Play
POLICY
Notwithstanding Clause
RACING VENUES
Lake Rotsee (Lucerne)
REGATTAS
Royal Canadian Henley Regatta
ROWERS
Kirsten Barnes
Danny Hanson 🎧
Kathleen Heddle
Sara Nevin 🎧
Brenda Taylor
SCHOLASTIC & YOUTH PROGRAMS
Branksome Hall
Havergal College
TEAM CANADA
Junior National Team
National Team
UNIVERSITY PROGRAMS
University of Washington
University of Western Ontario
WORLD ROWING
World Championships
Steady State Podcast is hosted and edited by Rachel Freedman and Tara Morgan. Tara provides additional audio engineering, books show guests, and is our sponsor and donor coordinator. Rachel writes our scripts and e-newsletter, and manages the website and social media. Our theme music is Open Mind by Soundroll.
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