This episode was made possible in part by:
Breakwater Realty Group, Concept2, Lake Washington Rowing Club and our Patrons

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 para mixed double at the 2022 Head of the Charles.

We first met Sophie when she began rowing with us during our virtual Steady State Sunday erg workouts. She's been a lively and spirited fan of the workouts and the podcast, and this was our opportunity to talk with her about adaptive rowing, racing, and awareness.

CONNECT WITH SOPHIE GRANT
IG: @sophiegrantbrown

TIME STAMPS
00:00 - Show lead-in
02:50 - An introduction to adaptive rowing
07:50 - Welcome
08:35 - Rapid Fire Q&A
09:46 - Sophie’s COVID recovery
10:43 - Don’t try new things before a big race
12:28 - The first adaptive rower at Sudbury Rowing Club
17:39 - Cerebral Palsy and finding freedom, mobility, and a competitive drive through sport
25:01 - The support network and human resources necessary for adaptive rowing
28:12 - The adaptive rowing scene in the UK: growing but disjointed
38:02 - Rowing in able-bodied events, communicating with race officials, and the role of being an ambassador for adaptive rowing
39:44 - Prepping to row Head of the Charles with a 2x partner she’s never met
45:20 - Rowing bucket list
47:22 - How the COVID pandemic changed how we train. Bringing back Steady State Sundays.
48:58 - Meeting Andy Triggs Hodge and being clueless that he was an Olympian …
50:40 - Olympic and Paralympic media coverage

[S3] Ep. 21 Mentions

CLUBS
Sudbury Rowing Club

COACHES
Tony Hogsbjerg

EQUIPMENT
Concept2
WinTech Racing

EVENTS
Head of the Charles
Head of the Potomac
Henley Royal Regatta
Pairs Head
Scullers’ Head

ORGANIZATIONS
London Youth Rowing
Seize the Oar

RESOURCES
World Rowing para classifications

ROWERS
Tom Agar
Steven Dowd 🎧
Danny Hansen
Andy Triggs Hodge
Eric Murray 🎧
Lauren Rowles

This episode was written, produced, hosted, and edited by Tara Morgan and Rachel Freedman. Tara provides additional audio engineering, and Rachel manages our website and social media. Our theme music is by the Free Harmonic Orchestra.