January 04, 2025

S6E1 - Behind the Lens: Row2k Founder Ed Hewitt

49 minutes

In 1997, just 36% of adults went online. Websites from this era were known as "Web 1.0." Google didn’t exist yet. And a guy with information to share about Eastern Sprints decided to cobble together some HTML and get the word out. And so, row2k.com was born.

Twenty seven years later, founder and owner Ed Hewitt joins us to talk about how his own rowing journey – from Atlantic CIty High School, to Columbia University rower and coach, to 7x National Team member – influenced the development and success of Row2k, one of the most visited rowing-related websites in the world.

QUICK LOOK

00:00 - Intro

01:45 - Rowing Week on a scale of 1 to 10

02:10 - The Huddle

03:13 - The Hot Seat Q&A

09:05 - Rowing origin story: Football player convinced by “clowns” to row

13:01 - Walking on at Columbia

14:27 - Being young and driven: developing the new women’s program at Columbia in the 1980s

21:31 - Launching Row2k with HTML and chutzpah

24:33 - Row2k as archive, scrapbook, news source; and the people behind the scenes

28:34 - On being a Row2k photographer

30:30 - Row2k galleries mold rowers perceptions of themselves, their crews

34:06- Brutal Row2k message boards of the 1990s

35:54 - The necessity of watermarks on photos (aka stop stealing from Row2k)

38:10 - Just how many shots do Row2k photographers take at a regatta?

39:20 - Surviving the dot.com bubble

40:50 - Supporting, engaging with, and being a part of the rowing community

44:22 - Steady State Network news and notes

To see photos of Ed, 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 coordinator. Rachel manages the website, social media, and e-newsletter. Our theme music is by Jonas Hipper.

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