SRA Stories: Tamara Stevens

Stevens winning the first gold medal in the brand new Jeff Young 8+ at Green Lake in 1997

In April of 1996, Tamara Stevens was browsing the newspaper when she spotted an article about Sammamish Rowing Association. She and a friend thought the sessions being offered looked fun so they signed up for the class starting in May at Idylwood Park. While her friend only lasted one session, Stevens has stayed with it ever since. “I started at 9am, tried one evening session, moved to 5am for 10 years while my kids were small, and now I’m back at mid-morning which I think is the best time to row,” Stevens said. “I rowed in singles during the pandemic in 2020. I didn’t think I would like it since I had never really learned to scull, but I loved the new lightweight Hudson single enough to get a few of my lightweight racing friends together and name the Light Speed.”

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Stevens is a third generation Washingtonian. She grew up in Lake Hills in Bellevue and her father was a park ranger on the Olympic Peninsula. She attended Sammamish High School (in Bellevue), went to college at Western Washington University in Bellingham, and raised her children in Redmond before moving to Seattle in 2023 after her kids went off to university. Stevens had never considered herself an athlete. She never made the cut on high school sports teams, but once she found rowing she finally felt at home. 

“I loved the community, the fitness, and being outside. I liked the technical aspect of the sport and being able to follow and not have to make decisions (I’m a lifelong starboard.) Once I started getting the chances to row competitive boats like Opening Day and the Head of the Charles Regatta– a competitive streak took over. I like pushing myself to row in races with the best rowers from around the world,” she said.

Stevens with her family in Chicago in 2023

Since Stevens moved to Seattle, she still comes back to row for the mid-morning team at Sammamish. “There are many Seattle crews I could choose instead,” Stevens commented. “I have a lot of history and many long-time friendships at SRA and the commute isn’t any worse than Eastside traffic. I am inspired by our older mid-morning rowers and hope to follow in their footsteps to keep active later in life. It’s really exciting to me to see people get addicted to the sport. Anyone can row as long as you want. There is no age limit. Our 70- and 80-year-old rowers inspire me every day. I feel like in our class, everyone is welcome and has a place and a chance to row how they want to, whether it’s recreational, for fitness, or for competition. It’s not an elite clique you have to earn a place in.”

The friendships made at SRA are strong and lifelong. Stevens has made many incredible friends in her years at Sammamish Rowing Association and credits them for getting her through both the good times and the bad. In 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, Stevens was feeling down about her 50th birthday happening during lockdowns and social distancing. She expressed her sadness to her rowing friends over a zoom call only to realize they were all on her lawn when she noticed her car in the video background! While sitting on her lawn, they celebrated her birthday with cupcakes and presents. Stevens added, “I love that community feeling that I’ve had at SRA and that’s what keeps me coming back.”

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Stevens racing at the Head of the Charles Regatta in 2017 in the Women's 50+ 8+ that placed 6th! Stevens has been to HOCR six times.

The friends Stevens has made during her years rowing at SRA have also been amazing teammates— providing her with the opportunity to row in some of the nation’s most prestigious regattas. Stevens remembered her first experience at the Head of the Charles Regatta (HOCR) in Boston. As one of the best known regattas in the world, the excitement in the city was palpable. “My dad took me to lunch after the race and I was still in my uniform and sweats at a white tablecloth restaurant and they didn't blink an eye. They asked if I had raced, where I came from, and how we did. That was really validating for all the hard work I had put in to get there,” Stevens shared. Experiencing that regatta and rowing among athletes from all over the world made it one of her favorite rowing memories.

Stevens had returned to the HOCR many times including 2016 when she stroked SRA’s 50+ 8+ to 7th place— a huge accomplishment for a world renowned regatta. “Everyone in the boat had learned to row at SRA, there were no high school or collegiate rowers in our crew. Plus everyone except me had been rowing 5 years or less. We were so excited to pass former Olympians in our race. That was an amazing accomplishment for SRA,” Stevens said proudly.

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Stevens summiting Mount Fuji with her son, Pascal, in 2023

For novice rowers, Stevens has some excellent advice. “Row with experienced rowers any time you can and learn from them,” she said. “Join the off day workouts to meet people and be pushed to improve. Try out for competitive boats to get experience and have fun!”

In 2002, Stevens left her Digital Imaging job at Wizards of the Coast to raise her two boys. Since she grew up camping and hiking, her kids now enjoy sharing those hobbies with her too. She and her son, Pascal, summited Mount Fuji together in 2023— an endeavor her rowing friends helped her train for. Stevens loves traveling around the world and takes photos of her adventures which she then scrapbooks. Her scrapbooking hobby turned into an Etsy business, Paper Hedgehog, where she has been selling journals and scrapbooks for 12 years. 

From her very first session at SRA back in May 1996, Stevens has found a home where she can truly thrive. With friends who push her to be her best or show up for her when she needs their support, it is not surprising that Stevens has kept coming back to the Hod Fowler boathouse for nearly 30 years. Who knew that reading the newspaper could alter your life in such amazing ways?

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