Voices in Rowing Summer 2025 Progress Report

USRowing is pleased to deliver a progress report from our Voices in Rowing efforts thus far. Click here to see the report. The report includes a summary of our findings from Rowing Forums, the member survey, conversations with stakeholders, and the all member meeting. 

We launched Voices in Rowing earlier this year to get closer to our membership, hear from them, and serve them better. Between May 1 and July 31, we hosted seven Rowing Forums (adaptive, club, coastal, collegiate, regatta directors, scholastic, masters), administered two surveys (all member with 1,300 responses, masters survey with 1,200 responses), held one all member meeting with 240 registrations, had 40 one-to-one conversations to gather feedback, and launched Leadership Groups.

These experiences surfaced some themes from our membership – and some unique opportunities for USRowing to collaborate, improve, and adjust our course, as necessary. The tone of the conversations was positive with an eye toward the future sustainability and growth of our sport. 

Members highlighted the importance of fair competition, safety, and access to high-quality events, while also calling for more practical tools, improved SafeSport compliance processes, and expanded learning opportunities.  

USRowing is committed to building a more responsive, accessible, and athlete-centered organization grounded in community input. We aim for Voices in Rowing to be a meaningful starting point for engaging our members, but despite these experiences and surveys, we are working with a small sample size. We encourage continued feedback and engagement from all members and encourage you to visit Voices In Rowing to learn more about how you can participate and have your voice heard. Visit our Voices in Rowing page to learn more about upcoming opportunities.

In the meantime, we will process the responses from the masters survey, take what we have heard so far, prioritize the matters of importance, and apply the considerations into our work, including in our strategic planning for the organization.

Additionally, we are encouraging members to nominate themselves to join the Voices in Rowing Leadership Groups. We are accepting nominations through August 31, with groups launching in September. The data and feedback collected from Voices in Rowing to date will be used to guide, plan, and inform collaboration with these groups.