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a legacy built on the Water
How Rowing Shaped and Saved the Dow Family
Some families may pass down recipes or heirlooms, but the Dow family passes down rowing. And after talking with Melissa Dow, it’s clear the sport didn’t just influence their lives, it once saved her mother's.
Where Strength Begins
Melissa’s mother, Susan, discovered rowing in the 1950s, long before women had the opportunity to participate. She spent time around the sport helping carry oars, cleaning boats, watching practices and absorbing everything she could even though she couldn’t climb into a boat herself. That early connection stayed with her. Thirty years later, when she was 40 and raising a family in Indianapolis, the Purdue men’s rowing team came to town for summer training and opened a learn-to-row program for the community. Susan finally had her moment. And she didn’t just row, she helped build something. When the Purdue athletes returned to school and told the community rowers they needed to form an organized club, Susan was among the people who stepped up. That group went on to form the Indianapolis Rowing Center, which later became a major rowing hub and hosted national championship events.
The Race That Foreshadowed Her Resilience
Just four years before the moment that would later test her strength in a profound way, Susan experienced one of the most defining athletic achievements of her life In 1997, she competed in a pair against former national team rowers, including some from Seattle, known for producing powerhouse athletes. Despite being only 5'2", and paired with another 5'2" rower, Susan won the event.
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Rowing a pair is one of the hardest challenges in the sport. Every blade, every movement, every piece of timing has to sync perfectly; you have to move as one. Even national champions who excel in singles or fours often find the event demanding.The night before the race, Susan and her partner sat together, closed their eyes, and imagined rowing the race stroke by stroke, matching power, rhythm, and timing. They wanted to feel in their minds what they needed to become on the water. When they launched the next day, it was as if their bodies were already ahead of them. Spectators later said that at the 500-meter mark of the 1,000-meter race, they were actually in last place, but inside the boat, they didn’t notice and trusted their plan. Every twenty strokes, they increased their stroke rate (an “up-and-up,”) and repeated this sequence three times, moving quickly through the other racers. By the finish line, they surged into first place.
A Moment That Defined Everything
To this day, Melissa describes one story about her mother as the defining moment in their family’s relationship with the sport.
“The strength she built through rowing is the reason she survived that attack. Without it, things could have ended very differently.”
In 1994, while caring for a neighbor’s Rottweiler, Susan was attacked inside her own home. The only thing that protected her was the leg power she had developed after years of rowing. She used that strength to hold the dog back and pull herself to safety and astonishingly, she returned to competitive rowing just four months later. This moment sits at the very center of their story.
Finding Her Way Back to Rowing
Growing up, Melissa naturally gravitated toward rowing because it was woven into her family’s story. But as adulthood set in kids, schedules, responsibilities, rowing slipped into the background. Years later, when her children were older and more independent, she returned to it. The sport came back into her life easily, almost as if it had been waiting for her. Then COVID created distance in an entirely different way. Susan was living alone in Utah, isolated after the pandemic. Melissa knew bringing her mom to Michigan would give them a chance to reconnect and to row together, something they had never been able to do consistently before.
Creating Community in a Place Without One
When Melissa moved to northern Michigan in 2005, she found herself surrounded by lakes but with no rowing community. She eventually connected with two local clubs, one too far away and poorly structured, the other great for teaching beginners but lacking opportunities for experienced rowers to grow. For a while, Melissa rowed alone in her single on the beautiful Glen Lake. As peaceful as it was, she missed having a team, a coach, and something bigger to belong to.
Meanwhile, she noticed other rowers scattered around different lakes in the area. None of them were connected. None of them had a home base. And many had left other clubs for similar reasons.That’s when Melissa began considering the possibility of starting something new.
In 2019, she began the process of building a nonprofit organization: Northern Michigan Rowing (NMRC). It wasn’t simple, COVID slowed paperwork, resources were limited, and everything had to be created from scratch but she kept going.
Today, NMRC has multiple locations, a growing fleet, and a community of rowers who finally have a place to learn, progress, and connect. The club is intentionally flexible, designed to support rowers across the region rather than tie them to a single lake. Melissa now coaches both recreationally and privately, helping new rowers find confidence and experienced rowers find new challenges.
The Double That Brought Everything Together
Last summer, Melissa found exactly what she needed: a mid-weight double from The Foundry. Lightweight boats are hard to come by, and this one was the ideal fit for her and her mother. It also works perfectly for coaching. The mid-weight construction gives Melissa the ability to work with rowers of different sizes without worrying about boat limitations. Teaching in a double allows her to sit behind a new rower, watch their technique closely, and guide them through adjustments in real time. This boat has become part of the Dow family’s story, something that supports their rowing, their coaching, and their connection.
A Legacy Still Growing
Today, three generations of Dow women row: Susan, Melissa, and Melissa’s daughter, Amanda. Their story was recently featured in Rowing News under the title “Legacy on the Water,” highlighting the rare and meaningful tradition they’ve built together. At 83, Susan still rows. Melissa still coaches. And a new generation is already carrying the legacy forward. As Melissa shared, rowing teaches you that you can work through hard things on the water and in life. Their story is a testament to that belief.
“Rowing teaches you that you can do anything. You can get through whatever challenge comes your way, and once you do, everything from there feels easier.”
To learn more, check out the “Legacy on the Water” story in Rowing News on page 42!