rsr coaches
HOLLY AUSTIN - "HONEYBADGER"
Be the Hunter.
Favorite RSR Lesson: Performance DOES NOT EQUAL Performer. Your erg time, squat number, SAT score, college admissions letter - these do not equal your value. You are deserving of love and joy just because. You do not have to PR to be "enough." You do not have to attend your top choice college to be happy.
Favorite Song to Erg to: Three 6 Mafia feat Tiesto "Feel It"
Favorite Happy Song: Todd Rundgren "Bang the Drum All Day"
Favorite Personal Lesson from RSR: Maximum Perceived Exertion DOES NOT EQUAL Maximum Exertion and it never will. Once you understand that the goals of training are to 1) push out the limits or extend your fitness so that your maximum exertion level is farther out on the scale and 2) push out your mental limit of your maximum perceived exertion level then you will see that it's all about your perception of the physiological sensations. Those sensations feel different if you are on target or off. They feel different if you are mentally tired or not. Once an athlete understands all of this - you start to see the door open where they are willing to take more risks and see the numbers as facts rather than emotional interpretations of their value. I still need to remind myself of this.
What Makes RSR Different? RSR focuses on building the internal capacity and "youth development" of our rowers. We use rowing as the medium by which we can teach these important and critical life skills. Yes, we want boats to go fast but we want them to go fast because there is an army of amazing young women who can do hard things - pushing themselves and each other to go that fast.
Learn more about Holly.
JACKIE KLEINHANS - "ORCA"
Favorite RSR Lesson: The brain is also a muscle and it can be trained. Training our brains in conjunction with our bodies helps us do hard things.
Favorite Song to Erg To: Survivor "Eye of the Tiger"
Favorite Happy Song: Pharrell Williams "Happy"
Favorite Personal Lesson from RSR: Food Macronutrients! Salad is a carb, peanut butter is a fat, and cheese counts as a protein! Also, I always eat healthier when I'm near Coach Holly, even virtually.
What Makes RSR Different: RSR combines physiology and mental training. The result is fast athletes who also have a fast mindset, a healthy mental relationship to their training, and the ability to overcome hard things (rowing related or not).
Learn more about Jackie.
michaela donnelly
Favorite RSR Lesson: Recognize and celebrate the process, not just the outcome.
Favorite Song to Erg to: "Champion" by Three Days Grace
Favorite Happy Song: "NUEVAYoL" by Bad Bunny
Favorite Personal Lesson from RSR: It is not only the athletes that grow through their experience at RSR. Every coach grows and learns new things that make them better at what they do.
What Makes RSR Different? We care about transformation; we want every athlete to leave camp not only as a better athlete but a better person.
KATE BROWNSON - "LADY GLITTER SPARKLES"
Favorite RSR Lesson: I love to educate the athlete about different “mental roads” they have the opportunity to use when working with habits. I love the fact RSR informs the athlete the “old road (habit)” will still be present in your mind, you can see it but that doesn’t mean you need to take that road. The athlete can start to create a “new road (habit)” that helps support them towards their goals. Oh lordy, I love working with the athletes through this transition of how to build new roads/habits and giving them the tools to know they can control their thoughts. It gets me pumped up thinking about it!
Favorite Song to Erg to: Salt-N-Pepa "Push It"
Favorite Happy Song: Spice Girls "Who Do You Think You Are"
Favorite Personal Lesson from RSR: One of my favorite improvements for myself since working with RSR is the acknowledgement that I can be BRAVE but still acknowledge I have the emotion of “fear” in a situation. This thought has made me more empowered with my actions to do things that make me feel extremely uncomfortable. For example, last night instead of killing a spider I found in my kitchen with a shoe, I challenged myself to take it outside and let it live. I mean I frantically ran with it outside verbally saying to myself “I’M BRAVE! I’M BRAVE”. While my husband was probably thinking where’s the fire? I like how this improvement of mindset has helped me with small and large tasks that “life” brings.
What Makes RSR Different? When I look back on the person I was when I started rowing at 14yrs old compared to the person I am now 20yrs + years later, I am extremely proud of the qualities the sport of rowing has challenged me with to help me evolve into a humble, confident, self-compassionate, challenge seeking woman. What took me decades to learn for myself in my rowing career, RSR is teaching athletes at the beginning. I can’t imagine the even “stronger force” I would have been if I had the mindset I do now when I was at the beginning of my competitive rowing career at 14yrs old. The mindset to: except challenge, have self-compassion, be confident in my ability, to always keep learning and not succumbing to the thought of failure; took me 20+yrs of me figuring out. It is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING RSR puts a concentration on all of this in their training so athletes can be coached at this level while they are still young and growing.
Learn more about Kate.
KELSEY ANDERSON - "Rooster" “
Favorite RSR Lesson: A plant can only grow from the darkness of the soil. You have to go through the darkness in order to grow.
Favorite Song to Erg to: Mulan “I’ll make a man out of you”
Favorite Happy Song: Walk Off the Earth “Anthem”
Favorite Personal Lesson from RSR: One of the things that has stuck with me from RSR is having a brave mantra. Something to tell yourself to keep you going, even when the workout is hard or the challenge seems super daunting. I find myself using it often, whether it be having a difficult conversation with someone or when I am struggling on a run.
What Makes RSR Different? RSR is different because we focus more on helping people succeed in their own personal goals as well as their athletic goals. The coaching is meant to help them as an entire person, rather than just an athlete. It teaches the lessons I wish I had known before I was a college athlete, instead of just figuring them out on my own.
greta ohara - "Sunflower"
Favorite RSR Lesson: Taking a risk, attempting a challenge head on, and failing is better than shying away from a challenge and choosing the easier road. Failure is where we learn, grow, and get closer to becoming our best self, athlete or otherwise. Failure can be vulnerable and scary, but chasing it down with bravery is empowering and courageous!
Favorite Song to Erg to: KALEO "Glass House"
Favorite Happy Song: "Music for a Sushi Restaurant" by Harry Styles
Favorite Personal Lesson from RSR: You are not defined by one performance, race result, erg test, or moment. If we all had great days everyday, the journey would be boring. Learning to love the process and take ownership of successes and shortcomings make us better athletes and better people. Each of us brings something unique and special to the RSR community and with that, we have the ability to elevate one another. We are all capable of accomplishing difficult tasks and what better place to face your fears, than rowing at RSR!
What Makes RSR Different? Mental training is just as valued as physical training. This program provides the support, resources, and space to embrace the secret sauce of the sport of rowing - the mental game. What RSR offers around mental training, is everything I would have wanted as a competitive athlete, prior to competing in college. When you can train your brain to work through mental barriers and understand why they are there, you take a big step in increasing your ability to perform under pressure. The mental training tools you learn at RSR will live in your tool box forever and can be applied to any rowing or non-rowing experience.
STEWART TUCKER
Favorite RSR Lesson: You can do much more than you think. You can master challenges and steer your own growth.
Favorite Song to Erg to: “Badlands” by Bruce Springsteen
Favorite Happy Song: “Domino” by Van Morrison
Favorite Personal Lesson from RSR: The RSR experience shows that high-performing teams move with purpose at the speed of trust and are always trying to improve.
What Makes RSR Different? RSR provides a transformative experience for young people, well beyond rowing and boat speed. Participants develop mental skills to help them grow as confident, self-aware young adults of good character; prepare to perform at their best in a variety of contexts; and lead with integrity. The skills RSR athletes gain extend to the rest of their lives.
Learn more about Stewart.
JOSH FIEN-HELFMAN -“"FH"”
Favorite RSR Lesson: There are several factors in boatspeed. Therefore, having the fastest rowers in a boat doesn't always generate the fastest boat. You learn what else drives boatspeed (and erg speed) at RSR. Then you practice it. And at Youth Nationals, you demonstrate it.
Favorite Song to Erg to: grandson "Blood // Water"
Favorite Happy Song: Macklemore "Thrift Shop"
Favorite Personal Lesson from RSR: RSR has helped me define results and performance differently. Whereas I did not think this way as a competitor 20+ years ago, I now believe that you can't define or judge yourself (or others) by wins and losses, as those are not within your control. Instead, all that matters is what you do -- how you perform, act, race, react, challenge, and fight. These things, you can control. But this control is easier said than done, as it gets much harder to control what you do in the moments that matter most, when you are red-lining the frontier of your human potential. RSR will change your definition of "result" and prepare you for these intense moments that matter.
What Makes RSR Different? RSR evaluates its own performance using many different metrics and is focused on far more than simply how RSR boats place at a summer regatta. Athletes will experience and feel this difference in RSR's focus, and recognize it in their personal growth and who they have become by the end of the 4 weeks.
RSR consciously and explicitly builds confidence and capabilities within athletes to handle challenges with bravery, positivity, and resiliency. RSR equips athletes with tools and methods to deploy in an array of difficult life situations, far beyond the narrow application within competitive rowing.
RSR coaches are more than just coaches; they are master teachers who articulately and compellingly teach and demonstrate from deep personal experience. RSR coaches understand what is required to truly learn and grow, and know how to recognize both (a) when this is occurring in RSR athletes and (b) when this is not occurring, why it is not.
RSR is not just a team — it’s a community. Teams disband when competition is complete; communities do not. The unique RSR bond is the underlying force driving the continuity and durability of the RSR community. You can row for many different teams over the summer, or you can join RSR.
CARLA NOWICKI - "Land LLAMA"
Favorite RSR Lesson: My favorite RSR lesson is the "what would you tell a friend with this problem" lesson. Positive self talk is a game changer.
Favorite Song to Erg to: Imagine Dragons “Whatever it takes”
Favorite Happy Song: Taylor Swift “22”
Favorite Personal Lesson from RSR: Every time I go to an RSR camp I can work on the same lessons (and new ones) and find new pieces of inspiration and directions. My favorite personal lesson I have learned from RSR is that no matter how much you master a subject, there is always other perspectives that you can learn from to help you grow even more into the subject or ability. Go into every day with an open mind and you will take in so much more.
What Makes RSR Different? RSR encourages you to dive deep into becoming more than just a good rower, it challenges rowers to find out what is inside of them that can uniquely take them to their best qualities as a person. The mental skills taught through RSR impact so far beyond just rowing, but help develop the abilities to communicate with and understand yourself. This basis is transitional to almost every part of your life and ability to grow.
Chris luff - "Stretch"
Favorite RSR Lesson: Shoulder Packing! I wish I had heard it as a youth athlete myself and it's taught really well.
Favorite Song to Erg to: The full Turn Off the Light album by Kim Petras
Favorite Happy Song: Attention by NewJeans
Favorite Personal Lesson from RSR: I find the motivation talk can be really beneficial and introspective. Asking yourself how you would best feel supported helps with motivation for your whole rowing career because after the talk you can search out your best performance environment.
What Makes RSR Different? I think the environment makes RSR different than other programs. Everyone has similar goals and are there to improve, coaches included.
Kate Woll
Favorite RSR Lesson: "Step into the Fire"- recognizing fear and utilizing it to take action to become more brave.
Favorite Song to Erg to: American Authors "I'm Born to Run"
Favorite Happy Song: One Republic "I lived"
Favorite Personal Lesson from RSR: The idea of cognitive reappraisal has really stuck with me since camp. The idea that anxious anticipation can be transformed into excitement creates so many opportunities both in rowing and in life.
What Makes RSR Different? RSR is an amazingly constructive, empowering environment. Holly and Jackie have lined up lessons both on the water and in mental skills that fit together like a dovetail joint, each holding the other up. The athletes and coaches that come to this camp walk away with a giant tool kit of constructive lessons that benefit them both in competitive rowing situations and in life. This is my favorite kind of rowing and environment- the kind in which human potential is revealed and supported.
anne horton
Favorite RSR Lesson: Performance does not equal the performer. What you are doing on the erg, on the water, in the classroom, everything is not tied to your intrinsic value as a person. You are a person first, and then you are an athlete, a student, all of the other things. What your 2k is or how many seats you win your seat race by does not make you a better or more important person than any other person on this team. I value our athletes as people, and it is important to remind them of that when things are getting tough, and it’s hard to remember that.
Favorite Song to Erg to: Breakin’ Dishes by Rihanna
Favorite Happy Song:T-Shirt Weather by Circa Waves
Favorite Personal Lesson from RSR: Bravery can be learned and developed. Stepping into a space with confidence and knowing I belong will only help me in the long term. Bravery and fear go hand in hand, and one cannot exist without the other. In developing my brave pitch, I have learned so much more about myself and what I am capable of. I am ready to dive in and get to work.
What Makes RSR Different? We are looking at the people behind the athlete and helping them grow and thrive. We are creating a training plan and working on their physical fitness, and we are creating an environment where they are growing their mental game. Both the physical and the mental training create an environment where our athletes are able to work towards ideas and splits they never thought possible before.
kris mickey - "MICKEY"
Favorite RSR Lesson: With positive self talk your mind can be trained to support your physical goals. Positive self talk is a game changer for athletes! The mind typically gives up before your body and you have a lot more in the tank than you think you do. With preparation and planning you can break through barriers and climb over walls. You are a warrior.
Favorite Song to Erg to: Macklemore "Can't Hold Us"
Favorite Happy Song: Layup "Who you Share it With"
Favorite Personal Lesson from RSR: Coming to RSR has just shown me with a growth mindset and open mind anyone can learn to be a better version of themselves. Through the mental training and the memories created at camp anything is possible. The supportive environment that is created allows for both coaches and athletes to face fears and become more BRAVE.
What Makes RSR Different? RSR is a transformative environment that meets athletes where they are and takes them beyond their goals. It's a safe environment for everyone to take risks and grow physically, mentally, and in their rowing technique. RSR prepares you for stepping into the fire and learning how to thrive alongside your teammates. It prepares you not only for summer racing but all the lessons learned are life lessons that can be applied to many facets of life.
ROSE Greenspan
Favorite RSR Lesson: Move the bar and the star, because I think it is important to understand that you are so much more capable than you realize.
Favorite Song to Erg to: I usually don't erg, but when I run it is for sure Pon De Replay- Remix by Rihanna.
Favorite Happy Song: Green Light by Lorde!!!
Favorite Personal Lesson from RSR: This goes back to move the bar and the star, but one of my biggest personal lessons from RSR is my perceived maximum effort verse my actual maximum effort. And I apply that in all areas of life like school, running, and more, not just rowing to give everything my best effort and then a little more.
What Makes RSR Different? The attention to the athlete's mental skills and mental toughness, not just physical performance. Being fully equipped with as many mental tools as possible makes athletes better at their sport, and I feel like it is something that is not fully addressed a lot of times. rose
