HEART EMERGENCY SERIES: PART 1 - David Setter and his wife were pushing through a tough gym workout when suddenly he didn’t feel well. He describes his heart attack that days as “feeling like the 1500m mark of a 2k,” despite a massive blockage that could have killed him. They tell us about remaining calm in the moment, motivation in rehab, and learning to find more joy in rowing.

After guilt-tripping her son into learning to row, Jenn followed suit. At 38 she stepped into a boat for the first time and quickly became an accomplished masters rower. She also gained new appreciation for her grandpa – Joe Rantz – who was a member of the 1936 University of Washington V8 that won Olympic gold in Berlin. By unlikely happenstance, Joe’s scrapbooks became the spark for The Boys in the Boat.

“Physical limitations only exist if you’re willing to find them.” That’s the philosophy of Mitch King, coxswain for River City Rowing Club in Sacramento, CA. Every day he does countless things that doctors said were impossible when he was a kid diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. Mitch doesn’t call himself a disability advocate, doesn’t want to be an inspiration, and would rather folks didn’t try to tiptoe around his disability. We talk balancing coxing with graduate school, developing a coxing style, team building, motivation on the erg, and shattering expectations.

This special bonus episode was recorded live at Deer Apple Farm on Vashon Island, WA. After a long day – and a couple of local hard ciders – we started swapping rowing stories. So of course, we recorded it.

A decorated middle distance track runner who learned to scull as an adult, Napoleon beat male breast cancer and today strives to get as much out of life as possible. He also survived Hurricanes Irma and Maria which devastated Puerto Rico in 2017. Motivated by a desire for more training and racing opportunities, Napoleon relocated to Texas, where he now splits his time between Austin and Dallas.