S4E5 - RowAlong Founder John Steventon on Rowing, Rubbish, and Racing

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.

John explains: "I wanna’ be the rowing buddy talking rubbish to them while they're rowing. And of course I talk technique, but there doesn't need to be another Shane [Farmer of Dark Horse] or another Training Tall because they're really good at what they do. What I found is there was a tiny niche for some idiot Scotsman to fill and I filled it perfectly."

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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

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To see photos of John, and get links to the people, clubs, and events mentioned in this episode, check out the show notes on our website.

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