New coach 2024
The first time Susan caught a glimpse of rowing as a freshman in college, she was forever changed as she gazed through the open bay door in the old wooden barn structure of a boathouse at Humboldt State in California and witnessed a single gracefully gliding past with seemingly no effort with just the sounds of breath and the plunk of the oars as they entered at the catch. For the next year she obsessively photographed the college rowing team, hitchhiking to every location possible to capture the magic in the morning light and the simple beauty of rowing. The next year, she started rowing and has never stopped.
In 1997 Susan first met Coach Ed and the Kenai Crewsers at the Frostbite Regatta on Green Lake in Seattle as she was assigned to cover this new Alaskan team for USRowing magazine. She then placed it on her bucket list to someday coach in Seward for a summer. 26 years later, she finally has decided to follow a dream, and devote a summer to coaching the Kenai Crewsers.
For decades, Susan has coached on every level from outreach, juniors, collegiate, masters, elite, Paranational Team, USNational Team, and the 2004 Olympic Team. She always has a camera with her, and now carries an easel and a paint brush as well. Rowing has remained Susan’s first love, as she remains transfixed by its visual beauty. Susan tells us, “I really look forward to meeting the team members and helping them toward achieving their goals this summer. I absolutely love coaching rowers of all ages with the challenge to find the right words that click to discover ways to help move a boat more efficiently in a healthy and sustainable manner. It brings me great joy to connect with people in this way.”
Susan will drive to Bear Lake from Portland, Oregon this May, with her ten-year-old Silver Labrador, Lucy. She is looking forward to enjoying the community of the Kenai Crewsers and the adventure of living in Seward for the summer.
