Rowing team supports cancer survivors through camaraderie and resilience
A West Sacramento rowing team called ROWsist unites cancer survivors and fighters, offering them camaraderie and strength as they row together with the River City Rowing Club.
Laura Ousley, one of the athletes, shared her experience with the sport.
“I thought it would be easy,” she said.
Four seasons later, she said she’s come to see “how difficult it is.”
Despite the challenges, Ousley has earned admiration from her teammates.
“Laura is an inspiration to me,” said coach Jeanie Mascia.
Fellow coach Sheryl Leamer added, “She just keeps showing up.”
For Ousley, rowing provides a much-needed distraction from her health struggles.
“When you are rowing, you have to concentrate, and you have to listen, so you’re in that zone, that athletic zone, so your mind can’t go to other places, and if it does, you screw up,” she said.
Her life took a difficult turn in May 2022.
“I got a phone call from my doctor — which is never a good sign when your doctor actually calls you — and she said, ‘Laura, you’re severely anemic, and there is no reason at your age,'” Ousley said.
Further tests revealed colon cancer that had metastasized to her liver.
“I was healthy, didn’t have any of the risk factors, so it was a complete surprise. So I did the ‘Why me?'” she said.
Surgeries on her colon and liver, radiation, and months of chemotherapy followed.
“When I started rowing, I didn’t have any hair. They didn’t know me before. I’ve also thought if they could only see who I was,” Ousley said.
Her coach, Leamer, noted, “Depending on what kind of treatment she is going through, sometimes she can barely get her oar in the water.”
ROWsist was founded by Shari Lowen, who herself is a cancer survivor.
“ROWsist is a rowing program for cancer,” she said. “It came about because I had been a rower, and I was diagnosed with cancer in 2021. One of the first questions I asked my health care provider was, ‘How can I get back into rowing?'”
The team practices twice a week, showcasing grit and strength.
“Sometimes it does surprise me that they are so positive, but it makes sense. They’ve gone through what I can only assume is a very challenging and traumatic experience, and I think it has changed their outlook,” said Mascia, the coach.
Leamer added, “These women have been through horrendous things, some of them. Like, parts of their bodies have been removed and rearranged. They take a licking and keep on ticking.”
While many of the team members are in remission, Ousley still has cancer. Her cancer has spread to her lungs, and doctors have deemed the tumors inoperable.
“The goal is to stabilize the tumors and/or shrink them,” Ousley said.
She undergoes chemotherapy monthly.
“I would not choose this if I didn’t have to do it,” she said. “I mean, would anybody choose this?”
Despite the treatments, Ousley returns to the water just two days after chemo.
“She doesn’t give up,” Mascia said.
“I have to remind myself that I’m stronger than I think I am,” Ousley said.
The team’s motto, “Row for life,” encapsulates their spirit.
“None of us ever know what’s going to happen tomorrow,” Ousley said.
Together, they live for today, one stroke at a time.
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