Rowing Over Cancer: The Story of ROCCREW
By Emily Topnick
On any given Tuesday or Thursday evening in the summer, you can find two ROCCREW boats on the Genesee River, stacked from bow to stern with cancer survivors and supporters adorned in purple. ROCCREW is more than a recreational rowing club; it is a community built around movement, strength, recovery, and connection. The mission is bigger than getting stronger on the water: it’s about finding confidence, connection, and healing among people who understand the courage it takes to keep showing up.
Cancer survivors are ROCCREW’s priority, but in 2019 the organization welcomed cancer supporters: people who don’t personally have cancer but support the mission and want to be a part of something meaningful. Entirely volunteer-run, ROCCREW is supported by coxswains, coaches, board members, donors, and friends who help make practices, fundraising, and events possible. Rowers range in age from 27-84 and represent a wide spectrum of cancer experiences, including breast, brain, colon, ovarian, thyroid, and bone cancers, among others.
I joined as a supporter two years ago, after my friend Andrea, a breast cancer survivor and six-year ROCCREW rower, brought me into the fold. Having lost my own mother to breast cancer nineteen years ago, I find something meaningful in being surrounded by strong, capable women on the river. Men are welcome in ROCCREW too, and the group reflects the full range of people touched by cancer: those who have faced it themselves, and those who have carried it alongside someone they love.
ROCCREW’s story began in 2006, born out of a six-week women’s oncology program at Camp Good Days and Special Times in Mendon, New York. The seed was planted a few years earlier, when Gary Mervis of Camp Good Days read about “One in Nine,” a crew of breast cancer survivors who raced at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston. He saw rowing as a natural fit for the women’s oncology program, and Jennifer Shulman, the group’s original coach, brought that vision to life. Seven cancer survivors picked up oars that first season, and something took hold.
Rowing, however, is an expensive sport. It requires boats, gear, and a boathouse the group didn’t have. When that first rowing season ended in 2006, the women weren’t ready to stop. What followed were a few years of shoestring determination: borrowed boats, volunteer coxswains from local university crew teams, and practices scattered across boathouses throughout the city, wherever they could find space and someone willing to help. Funding was never guaranteed, and neither was the next season. But they kept showing up.
Gail Koch was one of the original seven. She rowed with ROCCREW for nearly fourteen years. She describes the founding idea simply: cancer survivors could stay active, nourishing mind, body, and spirit on the water, finding support and connection without judgement. “If you’re wearing a lymphedema sleeve and can’t pull as hard, that’s OK. If you need help in and out of the boat, we’ll help you. You might not say a word the whole time on the water, but you know you’re with people who understand what you’re going through. That’s still there. The core idea hasn’t changed.”
By 2009, the group had officially incorporated as Naiades Oncology Rowing and in 2023, the organization rebranded as ROCCREW Naiades Rowing Over Cancer to reflect its Rochester roots and its mission. “ROC” represents Rochester, but it also carries the heart of the organization’s work: Rowing Over Cancer.
As the organization grew, so did its investment in its own equipment. Today, ROCCREW owns three boats: the Spirit, the Dragonfly, and the Shelley B. All three boats, along with 24 oars, are inscribed with the names of more than 1,000 people affected by cancer. Each year, those names are remembered during the Honor Ceremony, a tribute to those who have made this community what it is.
From April through October, rowers take to the Genesee River. In 2025, ROCCREW participated in three local regattas and the Head of the Charles. The work is physical and includes carrying boats to the dock, but it is also deeply collaborative. Eight rowers moving in perfect sync across the water: there is something almost magical about it. Everyone has a seat, everyone has a role, and the boat only moves the way it should when everyone is working together.
For many rowers, ROCCREW becomes more than an activity on the calendar. It becomes a source of friendship, confidence, routine, and support. As Pamela Krause, who has been rowing with ROCCREW for 16 years, puts it: “The river in the evenings, the exercise, and the focus it takes—that’s my favorite part. But being around people who truly understand what you’ve been through and the support we all give to each other is what keeps me coming back to this team.” Those moments, the conversations before practice, the shared effort, the quiet rhythm of rowing together are what make the group feel so meaningful.
Community support keeps ROCCREW moving. The annual ROCCREW golf tournament fundraiser, held every summer since 2013, is the organization’s largest fundraiser. This year’s tournament takes place on Sunday, August 16th at Lima Golf and Country Club. These events give the broader community a chance to show up for ROCCREW the same way ROCCREW shows up for its survivors.
As someone who joined as a supporter, I see ROCCREW as a place where strength is understood in many forms. Sometimes it looks like pulling hard through a workout. Sometimes it looks like trying something new after treatment. Sometimes it looks like returning year after year because the people beside you matter.
For those interested in getting involved, ROCCREW continues to welcome new rowers through its Learn to Row program, a low-pressure introduction to rowing in a supportive environment. No experience is necessary, just a willingness to show up and try. Whether someone joins as a survivor, a supporter, or a volunteer, there is a place to connect with ROCCREW.
Interested participants can complete the interest form here: https://forms.gle/QWR99xirmGVYht1f7
Published August 10, 2026.
