On Course: Rowing STEM with Coach Neil Bergenroth

coaching
Written By Rachel Freedman

Neil Bergenroth is an educator and rowing coach whose work with kids for nearly 40 years has developed successful rowers and students in his adopted hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma and across the country. Neil’s Rowing STEM curriculum introduces kids to concepts like data analysis, graphing, physiology, precision, and accuracy. And as an online rowing coach, Neil’s helping rowers of all ages dial in their rowing technique, and reach new personal milestones.

This episode was made possible in part by Breakwater Realty, RowSource, and our Patrons.

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.

QUICK LOOK

00:00 - Podcast Series Introduction
01:17 - Episode intro: Hosts Rachel and Tara banter about their personal experiences learning about data from the Concept2 monitor
05:27 - Neils's rowing week on a scale of 1-10: 9 (or 10) because a client set a U.S. record on the slides
05:52 - The Huddle: A quick get-to-know Neil's rowing background
07:41 - The Hot Seat Q&A
11:07 - Neil's rowing origin story began at Kingston Grammar School in London
14:00 - Making the decision to attend Boston University
14:41 - When your new wife is from Tulsa ... you move across the Pond and volunteer at Tulsa Youth Rowing Association
18:54 - Aging, making time for family, stepping away from the launch, and deciding what to do next
20:20 - A vision for what online coaching could be: apps
22:37 -  Developing the Rowing STEM curriculum and app, and bringing it into the classroom
25:52 - Why rowing is a great way to teach STEM concepts
28:41 - Using the Concept2 RowErg for STEM experiments
32:17 - The future of the Rowing STEM curriculum depends on others stepping up
34:20 - Neil describes the perfect stroke 
42:40 - Steady State Network news and notes

Episode Mentions

Rachel Freedman http://www.steadystatenetwork.com
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Rowing's Cultural Connection for Pacific Islander Youth