This episode was made possible in part by: Breakwater Realty Group, Concept2, Live2Row, and our Patrons

The popularity of indoor rowing has exploded since the early days of the COVID pandemic in 2020. A whole new rowing community has come together around the erg, buoyed in large part by people who have never touched an oar.

On this episode we talk with John Steventon, a gold medal and world record holding indoor rower who made his way into the sport by way of squash and cycling. He started to make rowing workout videos while rehabbing from an injury during the pandemic lockdown, and today John’s RowAlong YouTube channel boasts nearly 17,000 subscribers and provides hundreds of indoor rowing workouts.

We had a long chat with John and most of it was too good to chop, so we hope you enjoy this extended episode, full of story telling and curiosity.

QUICK LOOK

00:00 - Intro

02:27 - Welcome, regatta t-shirts

07:45 - It’s a 10 out of 10 rowing week for John, who’s back on a “proper training for rowing program” after spending 8 months training for Hyrox

11:27 - Falling in and out of love with rowing; the lines between exercising, putting in effort, and performance training; and finding reasons to row

14:24 - Rapid Fire Q&A

15:13 - John tells a spirited tale of his transition from squash player, to cyclist, to indoor rowing enthusiast

23:42 - First impressions of the indoor rowing scene as someone without on-water experience

26:45 - Finding community with other indoor rowers; how COVID lockdown changed perspective on training on the erg; the recent implosion of indoor competitions in the UK; and the rise of a new class of indoor rowing machines

36:44 - How a kitchen knife accident helped John focus the development of RowAlong, find his niche, and help people have fun and get a good workout

45:28 - After creating 400 videos: a wide variety of content, packaging, green screen use, a vivid imagination, and “talking rubbish” are key

50:22 - Why John is evangelical about the rowing machine

55:50 - John admits he’s never rowed on the water, and we try to convince him to learn to sweep

58:17 - A RowAlong fan calls in to say thanks, and John comes to terms with being recognized as “RowAlong John” in public.

1:01:34 - A non-rower and jiu jitsu practitioner calls in to ask about optimal 60-minute pacing

1:08:10 The psychology of chasing and being chased while racing

1:14:45 - Looking ahead: John’s planning to make a big come back when he hits 50, using micro and macro goals

1:22:55 - bonus outtake

EPISODE Mentions

APPS & SOFTWARE
RowPro
ErgData

BOATHOUSES
Anacostia Community Boathouse

CLUBS
Fitness Matters Indoor Rowing
Free Spirits Rowing

COACHES/TRAINERS
Sam Blythe
Shane Farmer
Austin Hendrickson

EQUIPMENT
Concept2
Hydrow
Peloton Row

EVENTS
British Rowing Indoor Championships
Commonwealth Games
CRASH-Bs
Head of the Charles
Hyrox
NW Ergomania!
Scottish Indoor Rowing Championships
World Rowing Indoor Championships

MEDIA
Assault on Lake Casitas
Mark Beaumont

NATIONAL GOVERNING BODIES
British Rowing
Scottish Rowing

RESOURCES
Dark Horse
Training Tall

ROWERS
Dammie Onafako 🎧

This episode was written, produced, hosted, and edited by Tara Morgan and Rachel Freedman. 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.