Rowing in Color

Latest Episodes:

Aquil Abdullah: Hydrow Athlete talks Olympic Trials and Being a Trailblazing African American Rower May 21, 2020

Show notes

#012 - Nowadays, Aquil Abdullah is a known athlete for the Hydrow indoor rowing machine. Before that, he was the first African-American rower to qualify for the Summer Olympics, the first African-American rower to win the Diamon Sculls race at Henley Royal Regatta in 2000, and first African-American rower to win a national championship in the single sculls in 1996. His accomplished rowing career spans across decades and shows no signs of stopping.
We hope that the conversation in this podcast helps us all in the rowing world -- no matter your race -- to unify the rowing sport through diversity.

If you have a response to this or any episode, we want to hear it. Send us your voice message at www.speakpipe.com/rowingincolor or just check out our Linktree (linktr.ee/rowingincolor). If you don't follow us on IG already, find us @rowingincolor.

Lastly, if you can, please hit "follow" or "subscribe" wherever you listen to podcasts. If you can, please leave a rating and a review on Apple Podcast -- it would really mean a lot.

We hope you and yours are well. Stay safe and enjoy.

Amaris Hinton: Baltimore Community Rowing Alumna talks High School and Collegiate Rowing May 14, 2020

Show notes

#011 - Amaris Hinton is unlike many rowers, regardless of age or race. She talks about her 9-year rowing career starting as a 5’ 8” sixth grader at the Reach High program of Baltimore Community Rowing, which led to an elite rowing career on the 2015 U.S. Rowing Junior National Team, 2015-2016 Youth National Championships, and 2016 Henley Women’s Regatta. Now, she's a sophomore at Rutgers University rowing on the Women's Crew Team. What's unique about her experience is that she goes from a mostly black high school rowing team to a mostly white collegiate rowing team. Regardless, her experiences and accomplishments say that neither age nor race are an obstacle for achieving greatness in rowing.
We hope that the conversation in this podcast helps us all in the rowing world -- no matter your race -- to unify the rowing sport through diversity.

Lastly, if you can, please hit "follow" or "subscribe" wherever you listen to podcasts. If you can, please leave a rating and a review on Apple Podcast -- it would really mean a lot.

We hope you and yours are well. Stay safe and enjoy.

Maurice Scott, Jr.: On Diversifying Rowing and Being a Kid from Philly Who Never Gave Up May 07, 2020

Show notes

#010 - Maurice Scott, Jr. was born and raised in Philadelphia and grew up seeing boats on the Schuykill River. As someone whose path led him to rowing, he has worked to give back to the sport by coaching at Philadelphia City Rowing and Row New York. Additionally, he brings visibility to people of color within the sport through his story, his performance as an athlete, as well as his role as a JL ambassador.
We hope that the conversation in this podcast helps us all in the rowing world -- no matter your race -- to unify the rowing sport through diversity.

Lastly, if you can, please hit "follow" or "subscribe" wherever you listen to podcasts. If you can, please leave a rating and a review on Apple Podcast -- it would really mean a lot.

We hope you and yours are well. Stay safe and enjoy.

Marqus Brown: 2020 CRASH-Bs Indoor Rowing Winner talks about Being Black and Being Fast May 07, 2020

Show notes

#009 - Marqus Brown finished first place in the Open Men's Event of CRASH-Bs this past March 2020. With humble beginnings in Fairmount Park, Marqus has over 10 years of Philadelphia-based rowing and coaching experience. His rowing career on Boathouse Row is nothing short of what is the American rowing tradition. Marqus is now training full time at Pennsylvania Athletic Club (Penn AC), while also serving as Assistant Coach at BLJ Community Rowing. In this episode you will hear about the mindset to be the fastest rower in addition to his experience being black in the white-dominated sport of rowing.
We hope that the conversation in this podcast helps us all in the rowing world -- no matter your race -- to unify the rowing sport through diversity.

Lastly, if you can, please hit "follow" or "subscribe" wherever you listen to podcasts. If you can, please leave a rating and a review on Apple Podcast -- it would really mean a lot.

We hope you and yours are well. Stay safe and enjoy.

Trinity Billingslea: Recent Under 23 Selection Camp Invitee Shares Philosophy on Fear and Rowing Apr 30, 2020

Show notes

#008 - Trinity Billingslea is the strongest womens rower in the history of Santa Clara University Rowing and 2020 invitee to USRowing's Under 23 Selection Camp. We hope her confidence and her catchphrase (which you'll hear during the episode!) will inspire you and those who might also feel they don't "see" themselves in the sport.
We hope that the conversation in this podcast helps us all in the rowing world -- no matter your race -- to unify the rowing sport through diversity.

Lastly, if you can, please hit "follow" or "subscribe" wherever you listen to podcasts. If you can, please leave a rating and a review on Apple Podcast -- it would really mean a lot.

We hope you and yours are well. Stay safe and enjoy.

"What's one thing you want your white coach to know?" Anonymous Rowers Respond, Pt. 1 Apr 23, 2020

Show notes

#007 - At the end of March, we asked podcast listeners to send us responses to the following question: what's one thing you want your white coach to know? Because rowing is a pricy sport that also requires access to bodies of water, it inherently has socio-economic barriers that make the sport inaccessible to those who aren't able to access bodies of water or afford the sports' costs. As an unfortunate result, there aren't many rowers of color, and even fewer coaches of color. With the growing number of rowers of color in the sport, we thought it was important to ask this question.
And well, let me tell you, we got some responses. This extended episode features just five of the many responses that we received, along with Denise and Patricia's reactions and thoughts to the responses. Here are the time stamps for each anonymous response:

00:57 Anonymous Voice #1
13:50 Anonymous Voice #2
29:59 Anonymous Voice #3
39:06 Anonymous Voice #4
57:32 Anonymous Voice #5

We hope you'll help us continue this important conversation as we simultaneously launch this Facebook group for the Rowing in Color Community. This wasn't an easy question to ask, but we're not here for "easy." And let's be honest, it is a question that needs to be asked if anyone is serious about diversifying the sport. We recognize the good intention of white folks who are dedicated to diversifying the sport -- let us make that very very clear. With that we still have the freedom to explore the racial dynamics (and the positional authority) that well-intentioned white coaches have when trying to diversify their team. Because despite the best intentions, actions do not always reflect intentions. We hope that the discussion in this podcast helps us all -- no matter our skin color -- to unify the rowing sport through diversity.

Lastly, if you can, please hit "follow" or "subscribe" wherever you listen to podcasts. If you can, please leave a rating and a review on Apple Podcast -- it would really mean a lot.

We hope you and yours are well. Stay safe and enjoy.

Tymir Green-Ellis: Going For it and Being a Boathouse Sports Ambassador (among many other things!) Apr 16, 2020

Show notes

#006 - Tymir Green-Ellis is a Philadelphia-native and Senior rower at Johnson & Wales University where he is currently the only black rower on the team. In this interview he talks about his aspirations after college, as well as his experience being a Boathouse Sports Ambassador, coaching for Philadelphia City Rowing, and coaching for BLJ Community Rowing with Brannon Johnson. He shares what it feels like to have your collegiate rowing career cut short, as well as what it feels like to have other people who look like you on your rowing team — and what it feels like to not. To learn more about Tymir, follow him on Instagram @tymiryasin

Arshay Cooper: Promoting Diversity in Rowing with Hope Apr 09, 2020

Show notes

#005 - Arshay Cooper brings his message of hope when talking about the power of diversity in rowing. On March 27, 2020, his documentary “A Most Beautiful Thing” was scheduled to premiere. However, it was postponed due to the shelter in place which was placed in an effort to flatten the curve against coronavirus. In our conversation, we talk about his story which highlights what it was like to be in the first public high school all-black boat and how that story has changed the lives of young people who have gone onto row in college. Furthermore we talk about the "comeback race" and what it was like to be coached by Mike Teti. We also talk about the film, which is directed by former Olympian Mary Mazzio and produced by 9th Wonder, Grant Hill, Dwayne Wade, and narrated by Common. It was also made with support from the Winklevoss twins, USRowing, row2k, Hudson Boat Works, Anita DeFrantz, David Banks, and many others. Arshay’s new book with the same title as the film is due to release on June 30, 2020. For more on Arshay, check out his website at https://www.arshaycooper.com/ or find him on social media @arshay_cooper

Daphne Martschenko, Ph.D: First Person of Color to Row The Boat Race Apr 02, 2020

Show notes

#004 - Daphne Martschenko is a London-born American rower, who holds the title of being the first person of color to compete in The Boat Race since its inception in 1856. Not only does she hold the title of being a Stanford University rowing alumna, but she also holds a Ph.D in Education from the University of Cambridge. Currently, She resides in Chicago where her work is focused on how teacher perceptions of students are influenced by the public facing materials about behavioral genetics. Through the lens of diversity in rowing, we briefly discuss the potential idea: how a coach’s perceptions of athletic ability might relate to athlete’s performance. Hosts, Denise and Patricia, talk to Daphne about her 12-year career in rowing as well as the advice she has for younger rowers of color. Hit subscribe and enjoy!

BONUS: Amplify your voice! Mar 26, 2020

Show notes

Denise and Patricia want to hear from you! We want your questions, comments, interviewee nominations, interview requests, just everything. Click https://www.speakpipe.com/rowingincolor to send a message and to amplify your voice. During this time of social distancing, we want to bring our Rowing in Color community closer together. We see the downloads and follows, and we see the emails and comments. Most importantly, we see you and we appreciate you.
Together, let's amplify the conversation on diversity in the rowing. Click the link above to amplify your voice.

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