Pageantry and power-driving aside, the ever-burgeoning sport of rowing is proving to be a significant health and well-being benefit for teams of cancer survivors around the world.
That’s why Wilton resident Beth Kohl organized the Survivor Rowing Network (SRN) — a program created under the auspices of the nonprofit Rowing Cares, for which Kohl serves as president.
“I did some research and I found out there were great programs, but they were really on their own, so I had this idea — what if we started to bring these programs together?” she said.
The value of this network is proving very real to dozens of rowing teams that are composed of cancer survivors, offering them a chance to learn how to — in essence — hit the water running with their team.
“We call ourselves a one-stop shop,” Kohl said, having started up the network with 15 different teams from around the country.
“It’s to provide those resources so more patients and survivors can find rowing,” she said.
Its success was highlighted last month when the internationally renowned Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston created an exclusive heat composed solely of some of these cancer survivor teams, who connected through this unique network.
The local team — the Saugatuck Survive-OARS — with several Wilton members, came in second place out of 11 teams competing, just behind the Philadelphia team, We Can Row Philadelphia.
Kohl noted the prestige of the event. “It’s considered the Super Bowl of rowing,” she said, and understodd how it would be motivating to the rowers who take part in the Survivor Rowing Network.
When she broached the idea of a survivor sole heat to the Head of the Charles organizers, they were at once interested, in part because Kohl was able to connect a lot of teams through the SRN.
The effort got national attention. “I think people hadn’t really thought about a program for survivors … We’ve had a lot of nice press,” noted Kohl, who recently made an appearance on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” to talk about the SRN.
Making a Difference at Home and Around the World
Kohl, who was an active rower in college but drifted away from the sport, faced her own challenge with cancer in the early 2000s. Head of a successful international marketing firm in New York City and mother to two teenagers, her life was sent down a year-long detour of treatment and related emotions.
As she embarked on her recovery and returned to full health, Kohl ended up teaming with U.S. Rowing in a marketing capacity. This, in turn, led to a chance meeting at a rowing regatta with a Westport-based team of rowers called the Saugatuck Survive-OARS, which consisted of individuals who were introduced to the sport via post-treatment guidance from Norwalk Hospital.
“I joined the Saugatuck Survive-OARS in 2018 when the program started,” Wilton’s Victoria Madden explained. “I had just finished a year of chemotherapy, surgery, radiation and more chemotherapy. My body was worn out.”
While she said her initial intent was to regain physical strength and get into shape, there were other benefits that quickly became apparent.
“What I did not anticipate was the community of supportive women who had been through a similar experience,” Madden said. “We understood each other.”
Holly Sexton of Wilton had a similar experience.
“I met a community of women,” she said. “That’s the best part of the experience.”
Initially, Sexton struggled with shame and insecurity related to the stigma of cancer illness, which she faced beginning in 2015. Fortunately, she found encouraging support through her job, which aided her outlook significantly, but she had still grown sedentary following her recovery.
Norwalk Hospital sent her an email about the rowing team, and once she tried it, she was hooked. “It changed my life,” she said. “I just completely became very health-oriented … lost a ton of weight and felt better.”
“It’s been a part of my life three mornings a week, bright and early … It not only helps you from a well-being perspective physically, there’s also the mental part of it,” Sexton said, noting it builds confidence and firms up a belief that you can overcome any obstacle.
Kohl remembered how impressed she was with the Survive-OARS.
“I was struck by them and their passion, their joy, and their love of rowing and each other,” she said.
She knew personally how beneficial the sport had been in her life, making lifelong friends and developing health across the board, and now she saw how its magic worked for this unique population.
“I was so inspired by their program,” she said. “I wished I’d had that … found people to have gone through what you’ve gone through, to gain strength and confidence in a safe place.”
Bridgette Healey of Wilton joined the team in 2022.
“The Saugatuck Survive-OARS program is an amazing group of women who encourage, mentor and inspire me to do my best,” she said. “I have made great friends with this diverse group of talented women (with whom) I share the common bond of gratitude and hope.”
Healey was one of the rowers who competed at the Head of the Charles last month.
“It was an amazing experience to compete alongside other cancer survivors who know what doing hard things is all about,” she said.
“What I value most about the Survivor Rowing Network is how we all work together for the greater good of all survivor rowing programs,” Madden said.
“Being introduced to rowing has truly been a life-changing experience for me,” she said. “I have found a wonderful community and I’m in the best shape of my life.”
Simultaneously, participants offer high praise for Kohl.
“Beth has been extraordinary in promoting the awareness of rowing and how important it is in recovery,” Sexton said. “It’s been a fabulous story and we owe it all to her.”
Kohl puts the focus on the importance of community.
“I think the most important thing is that we’ve built a community,” she said. “A lot of our rowers now have made friends for life.”
She also marvels at the impact the SRN is having for survivors around the world.
“Probably by the end of the year we will have close to 40 teams,” Kohl said, including teams from France, Ireland, Italy and New Zealand, as well as dozens from across the U.S., with the number of rowers climbing well above 500.
“We want to make it easy for each new program to start,” she said, affording groups best practices information, ideas, updates and general community. “We also work together to start new programs.”
“I think it just helps to make a greater impact,” she said.
For information visit the Survivor Rowing Network online.
