S6E8 - On Course: Rowing STEM with Coach Neil Bergenroth

Neil Bergenroth is an educator and rowing coach whose work with kids has developed successful rowers and students for nearly 40 years in his adopted hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma and across the country. Neil’s Rowing STEM curriculum introduces kids to concepts like data analysis, graphing, physiology, precision, and accuracy. And as an online rowing coach, Neil’s helping rowers of all ages dial in their rowing technique, and reach new personal milestones.

QUICK LOOK

00:00 - Podcast Series Introduction 01:17 - Episode intro: Hosts Rachel and Tara banter about their personal experiences learning about data from the Concept2 monitor 05:27 - Neils's rowing week on a scale of 1-10: 9 (or 10) because a client set a U.S. record on the slides 05:52 - The Huddle: A quick get-to-know Neil's rowing background 07:41 - The Hot Seat Q&A 11:07 - Neil's rowing origin story began at Kingston Grammar School in London 14:00 - Making the decision to attend Boston University 14:41 - When your new wife is from Tulsa ... you move across the Pond and volunteer at Tulsa Youth Rowing Association 18:54 - Aging, making time for family, stepping away from the launch, and deciding what to do next 20:20 - A vision for what online coaching could be: apps 22:37 -  Developing the Rowing STEM curriculum and app, and bringing it into the classroom 25:52 - Why rowing is a great way to teach STEM concepts 28:41 - Using the Concept2 RowErg for STEM experiments 32:17 - The future of the Rowing STEM curriculum depends on others stepping up 34:20 - Neil describes the perfect stroke  42:40 - Steady State Network news and notes

.

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

.

This episode was made possible in part by Breakwater Realty, RowSource, and our Patrons.

.

Steady State Podcast is written, produced, hosted, and edited by Rachel Freedman and Tara Morgan. Tara provides additional audio engineering and is our sponsor and donor coordinator. Rachel manages the website, social media, and e-newsletter. Our theme music is by Jonas Hipper.

.

SHOP SSN GEAR: www.steadystatenetwork.com/shop

SIGN UP FOR THE SSN NEWSLETTER: www.steadystatenetwork.com/newsletter

MAKE A DIFFERENCE: www.steadystatenetwork.com/support 

Check out more Steady State Network here: 

FB - /SteadyStateNetwork IG - @SteadyStateNetwork

FB - /AllieswithOars IG - @AllieswithOars

BLUESKY - steadystatenetwork.bsky.social

Connect on FB and IG with the hosts: Rachel Freedman - @RowSource Tara Morgan - @CmonBarber