RowingRelated

Rung coaching with Washington at the IRA National Championships IRA champion with Cornell Lightweights, and former First Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at Washington, Matt Rung has an impressive track record in rowing. But it wasn’t until recently that he decided to add podcasting to his resume. Earlier this year, Rung started The Rowing Podcast , which offers in-depth, personal conversations with rowing luminaries ( Mike Spracklen , Jan Harville , Steve Gladstone , Dave O’Neill , to name a few). It’s both a salve for those in need of positive vibes, as well as a much needed call to action for the rowing community as a whole to tell our stories, and bring new people into the fold. Matt and I caught up about the origins and development of the podcast, and how to develop a new narrative for the sport. Bryan Kitch: What were some of the reasons for starting the new podcast, and why did you decide to take up the aegis? Was it both a response to the Covid lockdown, and a coping ...

Like many of you in the rowing community, particularly here in the US and Canada, I was shocked to hear of the passing of Ed Winchester, Canadian Olympian and longtime Editor-in-Chief of Rowing News . I had the great pleasure of working directly with Ed for years as a writer for the magazine, and I'm not sure how I can properly express my gratitude, other than to say that when I was a nobody, he treated me like I was a somebody. One of the many features we worked on together The last time I saw Ed in person, it was in Boston, and he had just won the Head Of The Charles. His contributions to the sport, particularly for those of us who write about it, were nothing short of extraordinary. That he is no longer here doesn't seem possible. My heart goes out to the Winchesters, and to the whole Rowing News family. It is with a tremendous amount of grief and sadness that we announce the passing of our Editor-in-Chief and friend Ed Winchester. We are shocked and devastated by ...

The Lightweight Boat Races, 2020 (Illustration: RR) This year has been, well, a tough one so far. But, if this was to be the only time Oxford and Cambridge matched up against one another on the Tideway in 2020, at least it was a great show. The above race was a historic event for women's lightweight rowing, as it marked the first time the women's lightweight match between Cambridge and Oxford was contested on the 4-mile, 374-yard Championship Course . And the race proved worthy of such a milestone. In the words of the silver-tongued Robert Treharne Jones , "It's a popular myth that the crew leading at Hammersmith is the one that will take the victory." It was certainly looking like Oxford's day coming underneath Hammersmith Bridge, having had the better of a clash in the first third of the race, and with the advantage of the bend as the crews rowed past the Chiswick Eyot. Cambridge, however, held on—and then moved just when the conditions were at ...

The 2020 California Challenge Cup will continue a growing tradition, but with modifications to the format that the hosts hope will increase its impact, now and into the future. While the origins of the race (formerly known as the UC Challenge Cup) can be traced back to UC Irvine Men's Rowing founder, Duvall Hecht , the modern incarnation of the regatta has aspirations of scaling to involve every California rowing program. When : Saturday, February 29 | 7am Pacific Time Where : Newport Beach, California | View interactive map How to Watch : Livestream of the event via Vimeo Full Results : ClockCaster Here, we catch up with UCI Men's Rowing head coach, and California Challenge Cup organizer, Austin Brooks, on the new format and outlook for the future. RowingRelated: When you first started this tradition, was it always the goal for it to grow to this level? What was the inspiration behind the California Challenge Cup? Austin Brooks: The UC Challenge Cup was actual...

Last year around this time, USRowing athlete-turned-filmmaker Nick Trojan released his first in a series documenting some of the most storied rowing programs in the country, offering a window into Harvard Crew . Now, he's releasing the second in that series—this one on the program at Cal, where Canadian Olympian and Cal grad Scott Frandsen has taken the reins as head coach. Here, we catch up with Nick on the background and inspiration behind the project, as well as how he crafted this piece on the Golden Bears. RowingRelated: What is the inspiration behind your series on rowing? What is it about the sport that you feel the need to communicate? Is there more to the story than what is out there now? Nick Trojan:  I'd say my love for competition and my love for watching movies and filmmaking itself have driven me the most. Ever since my dad let me use our family's video camera to record my friends mountain biking and BMX riding, I've been hooked on maki...

Photo: Hannah Wagner Photography So, as it turned out, I bought a $4,000 teddy bear for my daughter—the price tag said £25 but all the extra lessons added a bit of markup. We lost on Henley Wednesday, for those just checking in. We drew Cork Boat Club in the first round; based on strong results at the Metropolitan Regatta, Cork Regatta, and individual international achievements they were seeded as one of the top four crews in the Thames Challenge Cup Eight event. The Wyfold Four, on the other hand, went in against Thames Rowing Club 'A' and yet Potomac was the seeded crew. Thames made Saturday; the Potomac four de-rigged on Wednesday as well. The draw is ruthless and to expect otherwise is a mistake. The Stewards' goal is to see the fastest crew win each event, not seed the round of 32 in a proper snake-draft bracket or make sure that the top four make it to Saturday or whatever it is. (Hell, the Princess Elizabeth Cup draw made no bones about giving a Wednes...

Photo: Hannah Wagner The Henley Royal Regatta draw took place Saturday afternoon, in a room with no air conditioning. Fate and the stewards smiled upon some crews, and seemed to laugh at others ( Cornell vs. Syracuse in the Temple Challenge Cup on day one—one assumes that had St. Joe’s or Drexel come this year, they’d have gotten Temple first). Not many things in life are decided by a Commander of the British Empire in a blue blazer with five Olympic gold medals picking your name out of a goblet, but Henley isn’t like a lot of things in life. First off, the Temple. The wording of eligibility used to exclude anyone that made a "blue"—i.e., made one of the top two eights of the Oxford-Cambridge boat race—or the American equivalent. This was typically enforced as no one from an EARC or PAC-12 first varsity eight. That was replaced with "won a U23 medal."* Never say never, but it's now conceivable that any of the top American collegiate crews with j...

It's go time (Photo: Hannah Wagner) Being in the right place at the right time doesn't feel so good when it's only because someone else was in the wrong place at the wrong time. That's a circuitous way of saying that your author, the 'super-sub,' is now about to cross the ocean. Not as a spectator, but as a replacement rowing in the big show. The short version is that Spencer blew his back out; Spencer, our five-seat, an Alexandria, Virginia native and TC Williams grad, a former Naval Academy oarsman, one of the first guys to come visit my wife and I after we brought our baby home, isn't going to Henley—and I am. Actually, that's the long version. The short version is that life's not fair sometimes, and I am benefiting from the misfortune of one of my closest friends and one of the best teammates I've ever had. No pressure though. But here's the thing: several weeks ago, during selection, I could have easily murdered Spencer with...