S5E21: A Growing Network of Survivors Find Renewal on the Water

Kick off Breast Cancer Awareness Month with Beth Kohl, the President of Rowing Cares and Founder and Executive Director of Survivor Rowing Network; and rower, survivor and Pink Ribbon Row Seattle organizer Angie Gabel.

The Survivor Rowing Network is on a mission to create more opportunities for cancer survivors to row. Since launching in 2023, SRN has grown to 27 survivor rowing programs. This year, for the first time ever, the Head of the Charles regatta will host a Survivor Rowing Network event, featuring 11 women’s 8s, all of them breast cancer survivors!

EPISODE QUICK LOOK

00:00 - Intro
01:40 - The Huddle
03:20 - Rowing Week on a scale of 1 to 10
06:38 - The Hot Seat Q&A
08:32 - Beth’s height caught the attention of the Smith College rowing coach
11:57 - Beth’s tall children followed in her rowing footsteps
13:46 - Angie found rowing after a divorce and move to Austin, TX
18:58 - Angie’s rowing community got her through breast cancer treatment and recovery
19:59 - Angie’s motivation to create Pulling for Pink, and involvement with Row for the Cure, Pink Ribbon Row
21:57 - Angie’s return to rowing at Head of the Charles
24:46 - Pink Robbin Row by the numbers
25:44 - How Survivor Rowing Network learned lessons from its predecessors, and became a successful grant-making organization
30:15 - First-ever Survivor Row event at Head of the Charles
32:32 - Survivor rows, survivor programs, and creating community
34:54 - Outro

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To see photos of the Beth and Angie, 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 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.

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