Gladiator Sculler

Meet Robin Coleman, AKA Hellga from NBC's American Gladiators. Robin has a highly diverse athletic background consisting of professional strongwoman, body building, boxing, and mixed martial arts. She is also an avid rower. In between destroying contenders in the Gauntlet, she takes strokes with the LMU Masters Lions club in Los Angeles, CA. row2k sat down with Robin for a very powerful 10 questions.

row2k: You were an accomplished athlete prior to getting in to rowing. How did you get from throwing trucks around to pulling on an oar?
Robin Coleman: That's funny! My first interaction with the rowing world was while I was training for the World's Strongest Woman, actually! I was in front of Gold's Venice rowing a Ford F-350 to me on a rope tied to it's axle when some rowing coaches from UCLA saw me and asked if I were interested - at the time I thought rowing was kayaking! My focus in the gym didn't allow me to explore any other sports.

Fast forward to 2004 - I was a bit burned out on the fluctuation between strength events and dieting for bodybuilding / figure shows, and a friend I had lunch with put rowing into my head. He was someone I'd actually taught in terms of fitness and nutrition, and he had discovered rowing on the east coast as a follow up to his newfound fitness and knew that a tall strong girl was perfect for the sport. I immediately searched online and found the LMU Masters Lions program and squeaked into a learn to row class. My first day in an eight I was hooked!

row2k: What interested you in the sport initially?
Robin Coleman: Except for playing basketball badly at the University of Houston, I've been in solo sports for 12 years, primarily body building and strong woman competitions. When I was beginning to row, the teamwork and camaraderie of the sport got my attention. The precision and focus of each rower is astonishing! I don't think any other sport can possibly compare. Being in nature was also truly great after years of being locked up in a gym. Then there was the difficulty factor! To the naked eye it can be hard to see just how much technique and training it requires to be able to function in the boat! Rowing became my biggest challenge - I loved it.