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SAMMAMISH ROWING ASSOCIATION
  • Inside SRA
    • FAQs, Forms, and Resources
    • Facility
    • Staff | Coaches
    • History
    • Board of Directors
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    • Member Resources
    • SRA Stories
    • Calendar
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Sammamish ROWING
​SRA Stories

SRA Stories: Jonny Smith

3/4/2019

 
Rowing can be a transformative sport for junior athletes. The discipline, grueling training, and tough competition can be shocking to those outside the sport, but for rowers it is just a part of daily life. Jonny Smith is one of the many junior rowers who instantly fell in love with the sport in high school, and has continued to keep this passion in his life. Smith began rowing for Sammamish Rowing Association (SRA) the summer of 2014 leading up to his freshman year of high school.
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Smith, right, proudly displaying his achievement with his teammate
Previously an avid soccer player, Smith took what he thought would be a quick break after he broke his foot during a match. Rowing would soon capture his heart. Smith said, “Rowing has been a special part of my father’s side of the family and my father found SRA online and suggested that I have a go at it. Initially I only treated rowing as a stand-in until my foot healed and then I thought I’d go back to soccer. But it was after I completed fall season of my novice year that I decided trying something new could be good for me, and it was the best decision I have ever made to this day.”
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Smith embraced the rowing culture and became captain for the Experienced Men’s Team for the 2017/2018 season. The sport instilled confidence and discipline in Smith, but also had plenty of other benefits. He added, “I have nothing but amazing things to say about SRA and the community it has created for me. The friends and connections I have made during my time there cannot be matched by anything else. My experience as a rower for SRA couldn’t have been as great as it was without the coaches and teammates I worked with.” Even though he had nothing but amazing things to say about his team, that didn’t mean he always had perfect days.
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Smith with his teammates embracing at a regatta. Smith described his teammates as a second family
Sammamish Rowing Association is unique from other northern programs in that our lake does not freeze over in the winter, allowing us to practice in the winter. The dark winter months grouped with cold temperatures and unpleasant rain can make some practices particularly gloomy and unpleasant. The junior rowers, including Smith, learn to develop grit and persevere through the bad days.  There was something to be gained from those “bad days” though. Smith said, “There were many challenging days where my commitment was tested but getting over every one of those challenges made my love for rowing stronger. The races we took part in, the friendships we made with rival teams, and enjoying time with my teammates on and off the water made SRA a second family for me.”
One of the races he took part in turned out to be one of his favorite memories. In 2017 his teammates had their hearts set on winning regionals. They put up a good fight but didn’t quite have enough to win. The following year things had changed. Smith described being a part of a truly special boat. He said, “The trust that ran through that boat was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. To know that my teammates trusted my performance as much as I trusted theirs made our chemistry that much stronger. Sure enough, as race day came, we obliterated the grand final and became 2018 Northwest Regional Champions in the Varsity 8+. That memory is truly something special for me.”
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Rowing benefitted Smith in many ways. He commented on how his fitness and overall well being improved from his involvement in the sport. Additionally, he feels special from his part in crew (rowing) culture that not many people are familiar with. Rowing tends to be a niche sport so being a part of a rowing team often makes an athlete feel unique. Although he also juggled band involvement starting in sixth grade, he quit to focus his time more on rowing since it became so important in his life.
Although he is not currently rowing, Smith has no intentions of ever leaving it out of his life. He spent a short amount of time at Western Washington University and was a proud member of the Viking Crew. As of now, he has big plans for the future. Sad to be leaving WWU, but excited for the future, Smith said, “The friends I have made there will always be family to me and I’ll always be a WWU Viking at heart. Now, I am taking a year to complete core classes at Bellevue College with the intent of transferring to the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in the fall of 2020 and enroll in the Scripps Institution of Oceanography to explore my love for the ocean and marine science.”
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Smith and his crew exhausted after a race
As a dedicated student and athlete, it is clear Smith puts one hundred percent effort into his passions. Rowing gave him strong friendships and a fiery passion for athletics. He also loves returning to the boathouse to catch up with new and old rowers as well as offer his advice to younger rowers. Around Christmas break he rode in a launch with Coach Dennis Ferrer for an entire practice just to watch and support his old team. He made sure to add a message for SRA rowers, “reach out to me if you have any questions at all or if you simply want to catch up and talk. I’ll always look for an excuse to come down to SRA and see how the teams are doing. If those of you reading this have an interest in rowing or know someone who has an interest in rowing, I highly encourage you to start rowing and learn at SRA. There’s no better team for it.”
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Jonny Smith and the sport he loves
With rowers like Smith, there really are not any other teams better for rowing than SRA. Our community is supportive, strong, and determined. Jonny Smith exhibits all those qualities and more and even though he isn’t at the boathouse as often, the benefits of his leadership and friendship are still thriving within the team culture today. We look forward to seeing what Jonny accomplishes in the future and SRA will always be one of his biggest fans!

SRA Stories: Kara McKown

3/1/2019

 
In 1998, Kara McKown wanted to try something different after years of competitive swimming. She joined SRA as a novice rower and was coached by Ryan Monahan. At the time, boy and girl novice rowers were grouped together in order to make up enough bodies for an 8+. McKown said, “One of my close friends on the swim team was also ready for a change and her mom, Kate Julin (the one the boat is named after), saw a sign for SRA and signed us up.” ​
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Taken in 1999, this photo shows McKown and her SRA teammates
There were too many positives during her time at SRA for McKown to count, but she said one of the initial things she loved about rowing was the newness and unique aspect of the sport. As a novice she learned that the rest of the athletes came from different schools and lived in different towns. As novices none of them had ever rowed before so the excitement of a new experience in a new place with new people was invigorating. McKown commented that rowing, “was a complete separation from everything that I was used to and in many ways, tired of.”

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Additionally, the sport helped her navigate and cope with tragedy. After her novice season, McKown’s dad was diagnosed with lung cancer and passed away shortly before her senior year of high school. “Rowing was critical to how I moved through those two years to graduation.  It was a complete reversal where the mental was in control of the physical- much the opposite of my Dad's situation. It was something in which I had complete control, and was something where I was learning something new every day- all while being surrounded by good things,” she said.


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McKown, far right, at the 2001 NCAA's with her Boston University teammates
The nature of the sport proved to be a great way to leave troubles or problems outside the boathouse. “There are very few things that allow you to completely empty your mind and be 100% present in the moment like trying to follow someone while simultaneously taking the perfect stroke while making sure you are pulling as hard as you possibly can, sustainably, in a boat while balancing it and moving it through the water with eight other people,” McKown reflected.  “It's the most consuming mental and physical combination that allows everything else to disappear in the best possible way.”
Following high school, McKown went on to attend Boston University from 2000-2004 while majoring in Anthropology. Even though she enjoyed rowing, she did not let it become a factor in where she attended college. However, once at Boston University, the allure of the Charles River running through campus made rowing hard to resist. She said, “I walked-on, and ended up rowing all four years in the 1st Novice 8+/Varsity 8+.  I got to compete at NCAAs both freshman and junior year when we qualified, rowed at Women's Henley and Royal Henley in England my senior year, and was Team Captain my junior and senior years as well as MVP my senior year.” Evidently rowing worked out quite well for McKown in her collegiate experience.
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Once she graduated, McKown biked home from Boston. She says that somewhere around Montana she received a call from the then executive director at SRA, Gretchen Frederick, asking if she was interested in a coaching job. With no other post-graduate plans McKown happily accepted and began her first job with SRA as a coach. She joked, “My first day coaching was as an assistant to Marcy Chartier with the 5am Masters. It was a blast. Anything with Marcy Chartier is a blast. And Patrick and Marc, of course.” (Patrick and Marc are well known rowers with the 5am group.)
From her time as a rower to her time as a coach, McKown said, “The best part about coaching is seeing people experience success. It is fantastic to see kids start rowing and fall in love with a sport and constantly be hungry for more as they grow with it.  For adults it’s particularly fun to watch people that never considered themselves athletes, or even capable of being an 'athlete,' win their first race and be completely transformed. For any age, rowing helps people redefine who they are in a more positive way and surround themselves with people that see them in that positive role.  To be a small part of that, even as just a witness, is incredibly rewarding.”
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McKown's lineup from the 2003 NCAA's
With experience on both sides of the oar, McKown couldn’t name one favorite memory. Instead she reflected on the power of community and the extraordinary people she met and interacted with at the boathouse on a daily basis. For her- favorite memories centered around people. A killer sunrise with Mount Rainier in the backdrop tended to be at the top of the list as well.
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McKown worked other jobs and volunteer positions after her coaching stint and is now a full time mom of two children, Sanna who is four, and Toren who is two. She and her husband, Tom, married in 2011. She jokes that her current job responsibilities include picking up strewn Legos and making mac and cheese. However, she has and still is enjoying an active life of travel, mountaineering, bicycle tours, backpacking, skiing, trail running, and hiking.
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McKown smiling in her Henley Royal Regatta blazer
Reflecting on her time as a rower and coach, McKown said, “What I have learned from rowing is probably most easily described as the importance and power of community, positivity and ability of the mind to dictate physical limits. If you want to find life-long friends that are dedicated, determined, hard-working and positive people that you respect, hang out at a boathouse for a while.” For advice she looks back on her high school coach, Tony Valluzzo, who wisely said, “Rowing will always give you more than you can give back to it.”

Many who enter the SRA boathouse hear this phrase ring true everyday. Rowing can give you friendships improve your health, give you purpose, provide a sense of community, show you your unbounded potential, and so much more. McKown continues to feel the effects of rowing on her life every day even though she has stepped away from the placid waters of the Sammamish slough and the constant happy hum of the boathouse.
Kara’s impact is still felt at the boathouse today. In one of our past SRA Stories, our featured rower remembers Kara as the first person to truly believe in her ability as an athlete. McKown looks forward to many more adventures with her family, and hopes to tackle an ultramarathon, bike Glacier National Park, climb a 6,000 meter peak, hike the Pacific Crest Trail, and much more. With her incredible goals in mind, McKown said, “rowing definitely has helped the mindset that, if you can think of it, you can probably do it.  Rowing has also helped me realize that, for me personally, I have to know I committed to something 100%. For now, while my kids are still both at home, that commitment is family.”
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McKown toured part of the United States on her bike in 2004
Thank you Kara for your lasting impact and legacy at Sammamish Rowing! We look forward to watching you crush your goals like you always have.

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​Sammamish Rowing Association
​5022 W. Lake Sammamish Pkwy NE
​Redmond, WA 98052
info@srarowing.com
​425-653-2583
Mailing Address: 
Sammamish Rowing Association
P.O. Box 3309
Redmond, WA 98073
  • Inside SRA
    • FAQs, Forms, and Resources
    • Facility
    • Staff | Coaches
    • History
    • Board of Directors
    • Jobs
    • Member Resources
    • SRA Stories
    • Calendar
    • Contact
  • Programs
    • Adults
    • High School
    • Middle School
    • Row for a Day
    • Learn to Row
  • Support SRA
    • 2023 Gala
    • Scholarship Fund
    • Steady State Giving
    • Donate Now
    • Sponsors