![\"Jason](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790394729_410_36d0c4fb-c5fc-4385-abfc-a6a010994686_1663882065.file.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nA West Sacramento rowing team called ROWsist <\/a>unites cancer survivors and fighters, offering them camaraderie and strength as they row together with the River City Rowing Club. <\/p>\n Laura Ousley, one of the athletes, shared her experience with the sport. <\/p>\n “Literally, I thought it would be easy,” she said. <\/p>\n Four seasons later, she admitted, “Little did you know… yes, how difficult it is.” <\/p>\n Despite the challenges, Ousley has earned admiration from her teammates. <\/p>\n “Laura is an inspiration to me,” said coach Jeanie Mascia. <\/p>\n Fellow coach Sheryl Leamer added, “She just keeps showing up.” <\/p>\n For Ousley, rowing provides a much-needed distraction from her health struggles. <\/p>\n “When you are rowing, you have to concentrate, and you have to listen, so you\u2019re in that zone, that athletic zone, so your mind can’t go to other places, and if it does, you screw up,” she said. <\/p>\n Her journey took a difficult turn in May 2022. <\/p>\n “I got a phone call from my doctor\u2014which is never a good sign when your doctor actually calls you\u2014and she said, ‘Laura, you’re severely anemic, and there is no reason at your age,'” Ousley said. <\/p>\n Further tests revealed colon cancer that had metastasized to her liver. <\/p>\n “I was healthy, didn\u2019t have any of the risk factors, so it was a complete surprise. So I did the ‘why me,'” she said. <\/p>\n Surgeries to her colon and liver, radiation, and months of chemotherapy followed. <\/p>\n “When I started rowing, I didn\u2019t have any hair. They didn\u2019t know me before. I\u2019ve also thought if they could only see who I was,” Ousley said. <\/p>\n Her coach, Sheryl Leamer, noted, “Depending on what kind of treatment she is going through, sometimes she can barely get her oar in the water.” <\/p>\n ROWsist was founded by Shari Lowen, who herself is a cancer survivor. <\/p>\n “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?'” <\/p>\n The team practices twice a week, showcasing grit and strength. <\/p>\n “Sometimes it does surprise me that they are so positive, but it makes sense. They\u2019ve 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. <\/p>\n 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.”<\/p>\n While many of the team members are in remission, Ousley continues her fight. Her cancer has spread to her lungs, and doctors have deemed the tumors inoperable. <\/p>\n “The goal is to stabilize the tumors and\/or shrink them,” Ousley said. <\/p>\n She undergoes chemotherapy monthly. <\/p>\n “I would not choose this if I didn\u2019t have to do it,” she said. “I mean, would anybody choose this?” <\/p>\n Despite the treatments, Ousley returns to the water just two days after chemo. <\/p>\n “She doesn\u2019t give up,” Mascia said. <\/p>\n “I have to remind myself that I\u2019m stronger than I think I am,” Ousley said. <\/p>\n The team\u2019s motto, “Row for life,” encapsulates their spirit. <\/p>\n “None of us ever know what\u2019s going to happen tomorrow,” Ousley said. <\/p>\n Together, they live for today, one stroke at a time.<\/p>\n See more coverage of top California stories here<\/a> | Download our app<\/a> | Subscribe to our morning newsletter<\/a> | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"West Sacramento rowing team supports cancer survivors through camaraderie and resilience A West Sacramento rowing team called ROWsist…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":476066,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[166384,101344,132902,4690,101114,9476,187051,187050,130792,187047,101912,187048,121,123,122,7590,3299,187052,646,2958,187049],"class_list":["post-476065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-camaraderie","tag-cancer-survivor","tag-cancer-survivors","tag-coach","tag-colon-cancer","tag-doctor","tag-fellow-coach-sheryl-leamer","tag-laura-ousley","tag-liver","tag-ousley","tag-rowing","tag-rowsist","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news","tag-strength","tag-treatment","tag-tumor","tag-water","tag-west-sacramento","tag-west-sacramento-rowing-team"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=476065"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476065\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/476066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=476065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=476065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=476065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}