Sports
Row, row, row your boat
Strokes members discovered athletic passion later in life
Sue Jacoby and Christine Wirth, a veteran and a rookie respectively, of the D.C. Strokes Rowing Club. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
In the continuing Blade series on the veterans and rookies that make up the LGBT sports teams in Washington, we take a look at two rowers from the D.C. Strokes Rowing Club.
The Strokes have wrapped up their winter dryland training and took to the Anacostia River for the first time this year just last week. The two women spotlighted here did not have sports backgrounds before joining the Strokes and have since redefined themselves as competitive athletes.
Christine Wirth, who is 25 and from Columbia, Md., noticed the Strokes at the Capital Pride parade and after graduating from the University of Maryland, decided to register for their Learn to Row program in the spring of 2014.
“I tried one semester of rugby in college, but other than academics, I had never been on a team,” Wirth says. “My only sports activities were recreational biking and running.”
Following the completion of her Learn to Row classes, Wirth attended a Strokes barbeque where the veterans were on hand to encourage the rookies to join the novice program.
Wirth signed on and during the first month of the novice program, the veterans serve as volunteer coxswains to help navigate the rookies in their boats so there are no crashes.
“The Strokes offer a lot of interaction with the veterans, which was important because I had so many questions,” says Wirth. “I also enjoyed the women of D.C. Strokes practices on Sundays.”
During the first year of the novice program, the rowers compete in one sprint race and three head races (longer distance). Wirth found that the sport agreed with her in several ways.
“It has been a crazy transition into being an athlete but it suits me really well,” Wirth says. “You use all your muscles in the sport of rowing. Everything burns.”
Wirth completed her first year of winter training and will continue in the novice program this year and compete in four sprint races once the sprint series begins in June at the Stonewall Regatta which is hosted by the Strokes.
“It’s been great meeting people outside of the bar scene,” Wirth says. “I also just ran in my first Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon and I could definitely feel the benefits of the extra cardio from the Strokes winter dryland training.”
Sue Jacoby also noticed the Strokes in the Capital Pride parades. When she was working on her doctorate, she also looked for them training as she crossed the river bridge. As a gift to herself for completing her Ph.D., she registered for the Learn to Row program in 2007, became hooked on the sport and never looked back.
Jacoby was raised in Florida, moved to D.C. 25 years ago and works as an educational administrator. She also had no experience as an athlete in high school or college.
“I had a phenomenal novice coach who helped me fall in love with rowing,” Jacoby says. “It is a combination of an individual and team sport. In the boat, you can be in sync with three or seven people only to have it change in a moment depending on the water or the team.”
Jacoby went on to join the competitive team and has since raced at USRowing Masters Nationals, the World OutGames and the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta.
Jacoby is quick to point out that the sport requires a huge commitment. Practices are at 5:30 a.m. and it is often cold and dark. As a veteran, she knows it’s important to welcome rookies, teach them the basics and show them the things that will encourage them to remain in the sport.
“The rookies are the future life blood of the team,” says Jacoby. “They will play a critical role in the growth of the team and furthering the team.”
Jacoby goes on to say that the rookies bring a level of energy, enthusiasm and curiosity that reminds her of all the great things that come from the sport and how lucky she is to be a part of it.
“I am 50 years old and I am mentally, physically and strategically stronger and faster than I have ever been,” says Jacoby. “What I get from this discipline also includes those small moments in practice and racing that I will remember forever.”
Last year at the Head of the Charles, Jacoby watched 86-year-old Mary Stone from California compete in the Senior-Veteran Singles Division and felt some added inspiration.
“I think this is going to be my most competitive summer yet,” Jacoby says. “I love being an athlete.”
(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
More than 40 openly LGBTQ athletes are expected to compete in the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics that open on Friday.
Outsports.com notes eight Americans — including speedskater Conor McDermott-Mostowy and figure skater Amber Glenn — are among the 44 openly LGBTQ athletes who will compete in the games. The LGBTQ sports website also reports Ellis Lundholm, a mogul skier from Sweden, is the first openly transgender athlete to compete in any Winter Olympics.
“I’ve always been physically capable. That was never a question,” Glenn told Outsports.com. “It was always a mental and competence problem. It was internal battles for so long: when to lean into my strengths and when to work on my weaknesses, when to finally let myself portray the way I am off the ice on the ice. That really started when I came out publicly.”
McDermott-Mostowy is among the six athletes who have benefitted from the Out Athlete Fund, a group that has paid for their Olympics-related training and travel. The other beneficiaries are freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy, speed skater Brittany Bowe, snowboarder Maddy Schaffrick, alpine skier Breezy Johnson, and Paralympic Nordic skier Jake Adicoff.
Out Athlete Fund and Pride House Los Angeles – West Hollywood on Friday will host a free watch party for the opening ceremony.
“When athletes feel seen and accepted, they’re free to focus on their performance, not on hiding who they are,” Haley Caruso, vice president of the Out Athlete Fund’s board of directors, told the Los Angeles Blade.
Four Italian LGBTQ advocacy groups — Arcigay, CIG Arcigay Milano, Milano Pride, and Pride Sport Milano — have organized the games’ Pride House that will be located at the MEET Digital Culture Center in Milan.
Pride House on its website notes it will “host a diverse calendar of events and activities curated by associations, activists, and cultural organizations that share the values of Pride” during the games. These include an opening ceremony party at which Checcoro, Milan’s first LGBTQ chorus, will perform.
ILGA World, which is partnering with Pride House, is the co-sponsor of a Feb. 21 event that will focus on LGBTQ-inclusion in sports. Valentina Petrillo, a trans Paralympian, is among those will participate in a discussion that Simone Alliva, a journalist who writes for the Italian newspaper Domani, will moderate.
“The event explores inclusivity in sport — including amateur levels — with a focus on transgender people, highlighting the role of civil society, lived experiences, and the voices of athletes,” says Milano Pride on its website.
The games will take place against the backdrop of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s decision to ban trans women from competing in women’s sporting events.
President Donald Trump last February issued an executive order that bans trans women and girls from female sports teams in the U.S. A group of Republican lawmakers in response to the directive demanded the International Olympics Committee ban trans athletes from women’s athletic competitions.
The IOC in 2021 adopted its “Framework on Fairness, Inclusion and Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity and Sex Variations” that includes the following provisions:
• 3.1 Eligibility criteria should be established and implemented fairly and in a manner that does not systematically exclude athletes from competition based upon their gender identity, physical appearance and/or sex variations.
• 3.2 Provided they meet eligibility criteria that are consistent with principle 4 (“Fairness”, athletes should be allowed to compete in the category that best aligns with their self-determined gender identity.
• 3.3 Criteria to determine disproportionate competitive advantage may, at times, require testing of an athlete’s performance and physical capacity. However, no athlete should be subject to targeted testing because of, or aimed at determining, their sex, gender identity and/or sex variations.
The 2034 Winter Olympics are scheduled to take place in Salt Lake City. The 2028 Summer Olympics will occur in Los Angeles.
Sports
‘Heated Rivalry’ stars to participate in Olympic torch relay
Games to take place next month in Italy
“Heated Rivalry” stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie will participate in the Olympic torch relay ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics that will take place next month in Italy.
HBO Max, which distributes “Heated Rivalry” in the U.S., made the announcement on Thursday in a press release.
The games will take place in Milan and Cortina from Feb. 6-22. The HBO Max announcement did not specifically say when Williams and Storrie will participate in the torch relay.
The Washington Capitals will host Pride Night on Saturday, Jan. 17, when they host the Florida Panthers at Capital One Arena. A special ticket offer featuring a Pride-themed Capitals rainbow jersey is available at washcaps.com.
Fans are invited to a pre-game Block Party at District E beginning at 5 p.m. The event will feature a performance by the band NovaKane. Specialty happy hour food and beverages will be available, as well as giveaways. There will also be a presence by several local LGBTQ+ community organizations.
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