Team Spotlight: Allies With Oars
Since 2022, Steady State Network (SSN) has raced as Allies with Oars to promote inclusion and accessibility for all rowers, regardless of gender identity. They pull together competitive lineups for major regattas. In 2022, SSN pulled together their first Allies with Oars crew to row the Directors’ Challenge Mixed 8+ at the Head Of The Charles Regatta. It was comprised of trans, nonbinary, gay, queer, and straight ally athletes. The Allies with Oars initiative is part of SSN's larger mission to disrupt and expand the narrative about rowing culture. USRowing awarded SSN the 2024 Anita DeFrantz Award which recognizes an individual or organization achieving measurable success in expanding diversity opportunities in rowing.
The current Allies with Oars team is training for Race Around the Rock, an 88k coastal relay race on August 25th around Salt Spring Island in British Columbia, Canada. The team will be taking over the JL Racing Instagram story for the weekend of the race. Be sure to tune in to follow along!
All members of the Race Around the Rock team support SSN's mission to promote inclusion and accessibility for all rowers, regardless of gender identity. Read about what the opportunity to row with Allies with Oars means to the athletes who will be competing in Race Around the Rock:
Boat 1
"Looking for adventure and being able to help a group of rowers accomplish their goals through my coxing is the most fulfilling part of being able to sit and steer in a a boat. I always tell my crews any lineup I'm in is guaranteed to go 10% faster through sheer motivation and pushing the limits."
Tonja Brown, she/her - Spokane River Rowing Association
"Training and rowing with the Allies with Oars team has afforded me the opportunity to learn from and share this beautiful sport with inspiring people from across North America who are helping to fly open the doors of rowing to all. We are a team united in our passion for making the sport safe and welcoming, and that’s pretty special. As an ally of the LGBTQIA+ community, my hope is that others see what this team is doing and say to themselves, 'I can do that. There’s space for me there.'”
Tamara Clayton, she/her - Canal Dock Boathouse, Inc.
"I love the sport, and believe passionately that it should be accessible to everyone. Anything I can do to help spread the word in communities that have typically been excluded from the sport, I would like to do."
Susan Driano, she/her - Capital Rowing Club
"I value the thoughtful attention Steady State has put on the barriers to inclusion in the rowing community and welcome the opportunity to be part of an effort that amplifies that voice. I am also very excited to take on the rowing challenge!"
"As a cisgender female athlete, I recognize my privileges and seek to respect and support LGBTQIA+ people in their lives on and off the water. I’m proud that at Steady State Network we’ve created safe spaces for all rowers and can’t wait to row with Allies with Oars at Race Around the Rock."
"Rowing has helped me to figure out who I am, first as a young person and then again as an adult. I want everyone to have the opportunity to be part of this beautiful, crazy sport. I’m honored to support Allies with Oars and am so excited to be part of this adventure!"
"As a trans athlete it's always meaningful to be part of a team who is not just accepting of me, but values my identity and what I bring to the team. Rowing has changed my life for the better, and I'm grateful to be part of Allies with Oars' efforts to make the sport more inclusive and affirming. As an endurance athlete, I'm particularly excited for this event and having a chance to train and row with other queer and trans and ally athletes from across the country."
Boat 2
"Coxing an Allies with Oars boat provides me the opportunity to participate in a team whose goal is the furtherance of diversity and inclusion within the sport I love, to represent the very best part of the rowing community, its ability to unify different individuals working for a common goal regardless of their background."
Logan Fink, he/him - Kitsap Rowing Association
"Rowing with Allies with Oars is especially meaningful to me because it allows me to be a part of breaking down historical norms in the world of sports. Growing up, being gay in sports wasn't talked about and I always felt out of place. Now, I can focus on excelling at a sport that I am good at while also being my true, authentic self"
Mark Hutchison, he/him - Nicomekl Rowing Club
"I am thrilled that this team has a greater purpose in representing inclusivity in a sport that has traditionally been rather exclusive. I want to help more people, no matter who they are, to experience the things I love about this sport."
John King, he/him - Greater Columbus Rowing Association
"As a gay man, Allies with Oars is a safe space to be myself and to support others to allow them to be themselves around people with the common interest of the awesome sport of rowing."
Bobbi Kizer, they/them - Spokane River Rowing Association
"This opportunity is important for me to feel a sense of belonging as a non-binary queer person, rower, and coach. It's one thing to feel supported in my local club, but extra special to take part in this way in a type of rowing that will be new to me – endurance and coastal rowing. I am excited to spread the word of inclusion to all aspects of rowing and to support LGBTQ+ people and all other aspects of diversity in sports and all areas of life."
Tara Morgan, she/her - Vashon Island Rowing Club
"I’ve been active in the masters rowing world since 2008 as a rower, coach and founder of an adaptive program. In all the years, the moments when folks feel they can truly bring their best selves really stand out. Rowing with Allies With Oars is the epitome of this shining moment - not to mention training and competing with acceptance of all identities also makes fast boats. Celebrating gender inclusion and diversity in this sport in which I’ve invested so much of my life is a celebration. I hope that being a part of Allies with Oars grows our sport more than ever imagined!"
Charlie Westhoff, he/him - Mendota Rowing Club
"I think it's absolutely crucial to support diversity in rowing and believe that by fostering safe environments were able to not only become better rowers, but better people."
