SRA Stories: Kara McKown

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.” ​

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.”

​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.

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.”

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.

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.”

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.