The Rowing Podcast: Recent Episodes
Matt Rung
I chat with Bryan Alston, the coxswain behind one of the most watched collegiate rowing videos on YouTube. A walk-on with a stutter, Bryan eventually steered the Dartmouth varsity lightweights to a silver medal finish at the 2011 Eastern Sprints and bronze at the IRAs, as well as numerous gold medal wins for the Marin Masters Men.
We discuss a range of topics, including how growing up with a stutter impacted his coxing, why listening to coxes in foreign languages is a shortcut to success, the underappreciated benefits of Masters rowing and much more.
Watch/listen to his Sprints recording here: https://youtu.be/LDvx9VCWZeo?si=nJ8-yutHPZb81wVY
Learn more about what he’s up to here: https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/bralston
Dutch language coxswain tape: https://youtu.be/B2EJ5CVb7pk?si=F_sk8CCVqqz8N-BK
A chat with Nich Lee Parker, easily one of rowing's best new trailblazers.
https://gocolumbialions.com/sports/lightweight-rowing/roster/coaches/nich-lee-parker/2786
In memoriam of Larry Gluckman. We talk about the revival of Trinity Crew and the HRR win that changed the program forever.
Well rowed, Larry.
I chat with James Tomkins of the famed "Oarsome Foursome," nerding out over rhythm, power, and ocean kayaking.
https://sahof.org.au/hall-of-fame-member/james-tomkins/
https://www.pocockfoundation.org/donate
https://www.amazon.com/ROW-Dawn-Landes/dp/B08JZKTWQN
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4600888-a-pearl-in-the-storm
I chat with my friend and colleague Sam Dommer about his year of reflection and rebuilding that catapulted his rowing career forward. For the many athletes whose seasons are on hold, this story seems particularly relevant. Enjoy.
https://www.teamusa.org/us-rowing/athletes/Sam-Dommer
Ten Thousand Hours
By: Mike Spracklen
*To be master of your vocation, be it artistic or physical or a combination of both
The more time you give your endeavor, the stronger will be its growth
Whatever may be your ambition in life, be it art on canvas or playing French horn
Or a physical activity like rowing with more than 10,000 hours
True skill is born
Keep sculling movements simple and practice every day,
It’s the best advice an old coach can give, let nothing stand in your way
But
Repetition can be boring , repeating the same movement over and over again,
will challenge your concentration, good sculling technique will be hard to retain
And the quality of training will deteriorate, if the body is permitted to avoid the load
The value gained from staying focused, will be well worth the 10,000 hours
You rowed*
I chat with Steve Gladstone about his early days of coaching, the underpinnings of American Rowing, architecture, and more.
I sit down with legendary coach Jan Harville to chat about her first summer training with the US Women's National team and the "water battle" with the Soviets in New Zealand.
I sit down with Paul Cooke to discuss his coaching journey and the cultural renaissance of Brown Crew leading up to the historic 2008-2009 season that marked a new era for the program.
Dave O'Neill, of Texas Women's Rowing, shares a very special story about Jill Costello and the incredible impact that her battle with cancer had on her team and all of Cal Rowing.
https://vault.si.com/vault/2010/11/29/the-courage-of-jill-costello
I chat with Justin Moore.
https://hydrow.com/athletes/
At Yale, he led the freshman eight to the 1996 Eastern Sprints Championship and, later that summer, a victory in the Temple Challenge Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta. He then went on to Williams College, where as Head Women’s Coach, he guided the team to six NCAA Division III national championships. With an incredible streak from 2006 to 2010, Williams became the first Division III school to win five consecutive NCAA titles. After that, he took over as the Head Women’s Coach at Syracuse. Under his leadership, the orange earned seven top-three conference championship finishes and three trips to the NCAA Championship.
He was also an active international coach, working with the US Women’s Junior National Team on 2009 and 2010 and the US Under 23 Women’s Team in 2012. His crews collected 4 World Championship medals.
Today he is co-founder and Chief Coach at Hydrow, the company that is revolutionizing the indoor rowing experience, bringing the river home with live workouts on stunning waterways from around the world.
I chat with Eric Cohen.
https://washingtonrowing.com/eric-cohen-receives-dave-ruth-cohn-alumni-merit-awar/
http://huskycrew.org/
A Seattle native, he was on the crew at Greenlake, eventually making his way to the Conibear Shellhouse to cox for the Huskies, winning a national championship in 1981 as the varsity coxswain.
His profound impact on Washington Rowing only grew from there. After joining the Washington Rowing Stewards in 1995, he went on to co-found the Washington Rowing Foundation in 2001, started huskycrew.org, co-founded Husky Crew Gear to raise money for the program, and also started the class of 82 Scholarship Endowment with Al Forney in 2012. In 2016, he was an honored recipient of the Dave and Ruth Cohn Alumni Merit Award for outstanding service and support to UW athletics. From 2017 to 2019 he served as the Executive Director of the Stewards. Through an incredible self-driven effort involving extensive research and curation that continues to this day, he has personally assembled “The 100+ Year History” of Washington Rowing…making him the preeminent Washington Rowing Historian.
I chat with Paul Enquist, stroke seat of the 1984 Olympic US Men's Double that won gold at Lake Casitas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD-s4jrqUPU
I chat with former coxswain Dwight Phillips.
Dwight started his rowing career as a freshman at the University of Washington, going on to become a national champion with the Huskies. In 1971, he was named captain of his team. He would go on to be a coxswain for team USA in the men’s four with at Senior Worlds in 1970, the men’s eight at the Pan Am Games in 1971 (where he won a silver medal), and the men’s pair with at the 1973 Senior World Championship in Moscow, in what was then the USSR. Dwight also served as coach of the men’s lightweight crew at Washington, following his career as a coxswain.
https://blog.foster.uw.edu/o-coxswain-coxswain/
I sit down with Luke McGee - Former Captain at Brown, Oxford Blue, US National Team vet, and high performance coach at the intercollegiate and Olympic level.
Luke is currently the Head Coach for Women's Rowing at Syracuse University.
https://cuse.com/staff-directory/luke-mcgee/2692
If you have a rowing story to tell or an experience to share that had a positive impact on you as a rower, coxswain, or coach...email me at therowingpodcast@gmail.com.
With everyone stuck at home right now, this is a time for positive stories that can help to keep the rowing community strong.
Matt Rung