Three-time Olympic gold medallist Marnie McBean is one of the most decorated Canadian rowers of all time, and a driving force in our sport’s history. She’s been a mentor and leader for generations of athletes and now she’s also serving her country as a Senator in the Canadian Parliament, bringing that same curiosity, leadership, and commitment to service to national issues.

Get ready to hear about her early experiences testing on the gjessing erg, what rowing taught her about growth and resilience, and how those lessons shape the work she’s doing now to support Canadian citizens on and off the water.

QUICK LOOK

00:00 - Intro 01:45 - Rowing Week scale of 1-10: amazing 04:55 - The Huddle 06:13 - Hot Seat Q&A 09:03 - Rowing origin story 13:00 - Advice for young athletes: don’t worry about fear and doubt 13:52 - Before rowing, Marnie was athletic but  didn't know there were avenues to be ambitious in sport 15:20 - Making the junior national team by “being fast but looking bad” 19:58 - Rowing with 2x partner Kathleen Heddle felt like an “arranged marriage” until they learned to pay attention to each other 26:04 - Rowing with legendary Olympic coxswain Leslie Thompson Willie was all about preparation, listening, and trust 30:10 - Life lessons from rowing: you can recover from a bad stroke; “Can I/Will I” moments 34:20 - Empowering young rowers to work hard and “quit last” 37:02 - Serving Canada as a Senator 42:32 - Speaking up and speaking out against policies that negatively affect participation in sport 45:09 - The perfect stroke 46:42 - Steady State Network news and notes

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To see photos of Marnie,  and get links to her socials plus the people, clubs, and events mentioned in this episode, check out the show notes on our website.

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This episode was made possible in part by RowSource and our Supporters.

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Steady State Podcast is a production of Steady State Network. It is hosted and edited by Rachel Freedman and Tara Morgan. Tara provides additional audio engineering, books show guests, and is our sponsor and donor coordinator. Rachel writes our scripts and e-newsletter, and manages the website and social media. Our theme music is Open Mind by Soundroll.

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