Healing Through Rowing: Cancer Survivors Meet at HOCR

Survivor Rowing Network unites over 27 programs nationally, and plenty more internationally, behind a shared goal of bringing a sense of community, support and passion to those recovering from any form of cancer. In less than two weeks, a group of 11 boats will cruse down the Head of the Charles 2024 course at approximately 3:26 p.m. as part of the regatta’s first ever Survivor Row.

Survivor Rowing Network began in 2019 when its founder and executive director Beth Kohl met the Saugatuck SurviveOars at a Rowing Cares race in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

“I was blown away by their passion and community. They had overcome so much but were so positive about finding rowing as part of their rehabilitation,” recalled Kohl. “I wanted more cancer survivors to find the joy that these ladies had found.”

Kohl, who had recently taken over as president of Rowing Cares, met with other teams who had programs already in place for cancer survivors such as Recovery on Water, ROC Crew, and several We Can Row programs in in Boston, Mass. Philadelphia, Pa. and Washington, D.C.

“I started thinking, how can we help more survivors find rowing,” said Kohl. “Our simple goal was to introduce rowing to more survivors either on the water or on the erg. We got a few more people together started having zoom calls every month with the survivor programs and very quickly a passionate, strong community was formed.”

Fast forward to 2023, Survivor Rowing Network had 15 active clubs, many of which had interest in racing. Together, the programs entered boats in the Grand Masters 8+ and 4+ in the 2023 Head of the Charles. The network has nearly doubled in size, so much so that 27 teams are now involved and will be sending 99 rowers and 11 coaches to participate in the Survivor Row at the 2024 Head of the Charles.

“Overwhelming is the word we use almost every day–sometimes multiple times in a day,” said Kohl. “I’ve had many great jobs but never one where the doors always opened, where positivity prevails, where many conversations and meetings include tears. We are building a global community of women and men united by their love of the sport.”

The Upper Valley Rowing Foundation, an active member of Survivor Rowing Network, started CReW or Cancer Recovery Through RoWing in June of 2019.

“My daughter was diagnosed with cancer when she was a freshman in high school—this was 2012,” said UVRF CReW coach Carin Reynolds. “She stayed on the team all through her treatment. It was the one place where she wasn’t ‘the kid with cancer,’ she was just another part of the team. When CReW was starting in 2019, I instinctively knew that this program would be a great thing. It’s so important to have a team at your back.”

What started at UVRF as a six-week program turned into a 45-person team open to survivors of all forms of cancer who meet three times a week to do a mixture of rowing on the water and virtual erg workouts.

CReW is just one of many programs making the trip to the Head of the Charles to come down the course as part of the Survivor Row.

“Exercise it the greatest deterrent to recurrence and in 2025 we are on a mission to educate the medical community around the world on the benefits of rowing for recovery and rehabilitation,” said Kohl. “We can’t even imagine what it will be like when we all meet for the first time at HOCR. For most it is their first Head of the Charles and for many it is their first regatta of their lives. There will be many tears, I’m sure, and I can’t wait.”

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