Beth O’Kain is a writer/marketing communications professional (over a decade in the asset management industry), avid rower and scuba diver, and likes to travel and sail. Her short stories and poetry have appeared in several publications. Her novel manuscript, Rowing Nowhere, based on her 2,600-mile, 43-day row across the Atlantic Ocean, January 31st to March 15th 2011, is in progress. Beth believes the only limits we have are in our own attitudes. Beth lives in Lakewood near Cleveland, Ohio, holds an MFA from the Cleveland State University’s NEOMFA program, and is originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Rowing Experience
Beth started rowing in 2000, at age 30, with Western Reserve Rowing Association’s Summer Rowing League (SRL). She continues to row with her SRL team, 19x, today, and considers the Summer Rowing League a great way to get into rowing. Beth has also competed in regional regattas, usually in a Women’s 4+. In 2008, her love of distance rowing started when she competed in a Men’s 4+, sitting bow seat, in the Marathon Rowing Championship in Natchitoches, Louisiana. The Marathon Rowing Championship is a continuous 42.195 kilometres (26.219 mile) rowing regatta on the Cane River Lake. In 2011, she rowed 2,600 miles across the Atlantic Ocean, over 43 days, with an international crew of 14.