Get your toes in the sand and surf with coastal rowing! Leave notions of perfect strokes behind and embrace what the ocean brings you. Team USA coastal and beach sprints head coach Marc Oria, and rower Pearl Outlaw – stroke of the first ever pararowing women’s quad – help us bring these disciplines into the conversation about the future of rowing.

Head of the Charles Announcing Committee co-chair, USRowing Para High Performance Director, and Massachusetts native Ellen Minzner. From walk on at Villanova to 5-time National Team member, to her transition into coaching and program development Ellen saw the long game: changing the status quo of her clubs, organizations, and communities. She also gives a peek behind the curtains at the world’s premier annual rowing competition - the Head of the Charles - from her vantage point in the announcers booth on top of Cambridge Boat Club.

When Sophie Brown wanted to learn to row, a coach asked her “Why would you do this if you are disabled?” Her reply: “Why not?” More than a decade later, a drive to find the perfect stroke has brought her two Henley wins. She’ll be checking off a bucket list item when she crosses the pond to race a PR2 mixed double at the 2022 Head of the Charles.

The aches of a teenage growth-spurt, years of collegiate and high performance training and racing, and injuries sustained in an accident, all inform Lisa Lowe’s personal and professional attitudes and opinions about self-care and injury management.

In 2016, Steven Dowd suffered a devastating spinal cord injury. With an exceptional personal will and the support of family and friends, Steven today is not only walking, but rowing. We sat down to talk about his journey and motivation, and the EnduRow Challenge, a charity event he launched in 2021.

After losing his vision to glaucoma and cataracts in his 30s, Dammie Onafeko was introduced to Capital Rowing Club’s adaptive program at the Anacostia Community Boathouse in Washington, D.C. where he quickly found success at regattas, and the support of his rowing family.