S4E9 - Coach Ann Strayer on Inclusion and Self-Worth in Rowing

This is the second episode in a special series on gender identity policies in rowing. We’re getting to know some of the people behind initiatives challenging the notion of fairness and inclusion in our sport.

Since December 2022, World Athletics, World Rowing, USRowing and other national governing bodies, have announced updated gender identity policies. The Biden administration is proposing changes to Title IX. In response, voices across the rowing community have stood up for "fairness for women" and alternatively "inclusion for marginalized athletes." We're taking a closer look.

Ann Strayer, OLY, was a self-described "natural" in a single in high school. She quickly earned a seat on the 1978 Junior National Team, and went on to row at Princeton 1978 to 1982. While at university she made her first National Team in 1981, followed by five more teams in the 1980s, culminating in a spot on the 1988 Olympic squad.

Today, Strayer is the Varsity Women’s Coach at Oakland United Rowing in Oakland, CA. In response to the ICONS petition seeking to define "eligibility for the women’s/girl’s categories to participants born female," Strayer and fellow OUR coach and Olympian Erin Cafaro have written a letter in support of USRowing's gender identity policy. They, along with 50+ Olympians and coaches who have signed the letter, strongly believe that the most important thing for scholastic transgender and non-binary athletes is to welcome them into boathouses, and allow them to row as the gender with which they identify.

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QUICK LOOK

00:00 - Rachel and Tara talk gender identity policies, the ICONS petition fighting for fairness for females, and the letter that Strayer and Erin Cafaro have written in support of gender inclusive policies.

08:15 - Team Huddle: Coach Strayer's bio in 45 seconds 

09:10 - Rapid Fire Q&A

12:40 - Growing up in Cape Cod, MA: sailboats, softball, and basketball. Being a “natural” rower in high school and making the Junior National team.

14:40 - Early post-Title IX experience at Phillips Academy, and how it was different at Princeton

19:10 - Balancing Olympic dreams and rowing for Princeton under Coach Kris Korzeniowksi

23:45 - The transition from coxed quad to straight quad

25:48 - On USRowing’s gender identity policy, Strayer’s own experience coaching trans kids, and the letter of support she and Erin Cafaro penned

32:27 – Contemporary perspective on gender, and why trans women should row in the women’s category

36:10 – Coaching with Erin Cafaro and the search for a media distribution of their letter

43:33 - Strayer's personal experience in the 1980s lining up against Russian, Romanian, and German squads that were doping

47:37 - Early days of coaching in Boston, and getting back into it decades later in California

52:25 - Coaching as a volunteer for OUR out of a passion for the sport

55:07 – A vision for the future of rowing

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

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