About Rowing on the Square

Hi, I'm Adrien.

I'm a Doctor of Physical Therapy and a USRowing Level 3 Coach. I built Rowing on the Square to fill a gap I kept seeing: the space between rehab and performance, where most rowers fall through.

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Adrien Reidy, PT, DPT · USRowing Level 3 Coach · Para Classifier · Rochester, NY
My story

Why I built this practice

I got into rowing in 1996 by accident. I was a freshman at the University at Buffalo, and a high school friend's roommate wanted to attend the rowing info meeting at the Student Union on North Campus. I tagged along to see my friend. They passed around a clipboard for emails and phone numbers; I filled mine in to be polite. The next day they called me to set up a ride to the boathouse. I was hooked from then on.

Coaching happened the same way. Senior year, at a race in Rochester, a man stood on a bridge wearing a sandwich-board sign recruiting rowers to coach. A teammate pointed him out and told me I'd be good at it. He turned out to be the founder of Fairport Crew. I started coaching there after I graduated from PT school. That was sixteen years ago — with a break in the middle to have four kids.

By 2018 I was a head coach for a rowing team, and I kept watching the same thing happen. Rowers would tell me about their aches and pains, but as the coach I didn't have the time or the structure to address those needs one-on-one. I had the clinical training as a Doctor of Physical Therapy, but the coach role wasn't where it could be used. The clinic idea sat in a drawer for two years.

Then COVID hit. I was furloughed from my hospital job, and decided that if I was ever going to build this, now was the time. Rowers are my favorite people. Rowing on the Square is what happens when one person holds both halves — the injury and the boat, the biomechanics and the rigging, all in the same set of eyes. Same evaluation, same training plan, same person from the moment something hurts to the moment you're under your old 2K, or past it.

Credentials

Trained as both. Practiced as both.

Doctor of Physical Therapy (PT, DPT)

Licensed in New York State. Orthopedic specialty focus. Out-of-network, concierge model — meaning more time per session, no insurance-driven productivity quotas, and superbills available for HSA/FSA and reimbursement.

USRowing Level 3 Coach

The certification that opens up technical coaching at every level — from learn-to-row through high-performance competition. It's the qualification that lets me actually adjust your rigging, your catch position, and your stroke profile in a way most PTs can't.

Para Classifier

Trained to assess and classify athletes with disabilities for adaptive rowing competition. This part of my work means I see rowing biomechanics across an enormous range of bodies and ability levels — and that range makes me better at the standard work, too.

26 years practicing. 16 years coaching.

Over my career as a Doctor of Physical Therapy I've worked with more than 10,000 patients. In the last four years alone I've worked directly with more than 1,000 rowers through PT, coaching, classes, and online programs. I'm a recurring presenter for the USRowing Level 3 Cohort Biomechanics Module and have served as a guest PT at the USRowing National Team Training Center in Princeton.

Speaking & selected events

Where the work shows up.

A small slice of where I've taught, presented, classified, and raced — plus some of the events I help run behind the scenes. The depth shows up in the small list as much as the headline ones.

Aug 2023
Guest Physical Therapist — USRowing National Team Training Center, Princeton NJ
National
2023–2026
Recurring presenter — USRowing Level 3 Cohort Biomechanics Module (Sept 2023, Aug 2024, Mar 2025, Sept 2025, Feb 2026)
National
Feb 2023
Presented "Practical Biomechanics: A Physical Therapist and Coach Perspective" at RowCon 2023 — USRowing's first in-person convention since 2019, Atlantic City NJ
National
Mar 2024 & Mar 2026
Presented at the USRowing Virtual Masters Conference / Summit — "Practical Biomechanics for Rowers and Coaches"
National
Sept 2024
Bayada Classification Event, Philadelphia PA — Para athlete classification
National
Nov 2024
Rowing Class Instructor Training Course, presented live in Dayton OH
Education
2023–2026
Crew team talks & clinics — St. John Fisher, Fayetteville-Manlius, Brighton, Our Lady of Mercy, McQuaid, Wilson High, and more
Education
2022–2024
Recovery / mobility tents — Head of the Genesee, Niagara & Wright Regatta, Syracuse Chargers Junior Invitational, McQuaid Row for Hope
Events
Oct 2024
Rowing in Color, Black Women's Eight Crew — 2 seat, Head of the Charles weekend
Competition
2023–2025
Racing — Shamrock Row Masters 1K, Pittsford Regatta, Lift Bridge Regatta, Pull the Plug Regatta
Competition
Jan 2024
Education
Nov 2025
Rowing on the Square Clinic Open House for Coaches + Small Business Saturday
Events
Podcast

Rowing on the Square — the podcast.

Conversations on rowing health, performance, and the long game — from rehab-to-row stories to technique deep dives. Hosted by Adrien.

What's different

Why most rowers fall through the cracks.

Even if your physical therapist is a former rower, they typically don't have the coaching knowledge to recommend the rigging changes and position adjustments you'll need to return to the sport fully after injury. A rowing coach without a PT background won't fully understand the biomechanical changes from your injury — or how they affect your ability to complete the stroke as load and tissue demands increase.

Most PTs and most coaches
Rowing on the Square
Diagnosis
Identifies the injury. Treats the tissue.
Diagnosis
Identifies the injury and traces it back to your stroke — what compensation patterns the boat will demand, and how to retrain them before they become the next injury.
Return-to-row plan
Clears you when you're "pain-free."
Return-to-row plan
Doesn't clear you until you can complete the stroke under sport-specific load — and adjusts your rigging, seat height, and catch position to fit the body you're rehabbing into.
Performance ceiling
Coaches your technique, but can't tell what the injury changed.
Performance ceiling
Reads the biomechanics through both lenses — what the injury did, and what the stroke needs — so the gains come back without forcing the body somewhere it can't yet go.
The experience

What working together actually looks like

01

We talk before we work.

Every relationship starts with a free 15-minute strategy call. No paperwork, no commitment. You tell me what's going on; I tell you whether Rowing on the Square is the right fit — and if it's not, I'll tell you what is.

02

One hour, one person, one full picture.

Your first session is a full hour with me — range of motion, strength, rowing technique (if applicable), and time to actually understand your goals. No rushed quotas. No handoff to a tech. By the end of the session you have a written plan.

03

Reset, restore, reload — and you'll know which phase you're in.

I use a three-phase framework: Reset (get out of pain), Restore (rebuild the base), Reload (build to performance). You'll always know which phase you're in and what we're working toward. Sessions happen in person at our Rochester clinic, virtually for New York residents, or a mix.

04

I follow up. Even when I don't have to.

Between sessions you get a custom program in our app. After we wrap, I check in. The relationship doesn't end at the end of a package — it just changes shape.

Real client stories

In their own words.

The longer-form stories are below. There are more reviews on the Home page — these are the ones that say something different.

5.0 · 19 reviews on Google
★★★★★
"I injured my shoulder when I flipped a single last year. Adrien has worked with me to restore range of motion, and to strengthen muscles so that I won't be so susceptible to injury in the future. It is wonderful to work with a PT who understands rowing! I have referred several of my friends to her with non-rowing issues and they are also raving about her. Rowing on the Square is out-of-network for my insurance; Adrien helped me with paperwork so I could submit charges to my insurance. She is curious, thoughtful, and great fun to work with. I actually look forward to PT!"
B
Beverly
Master rower, referred her non-rowing friends
★★★★★
"My teenage daughter has been a virtual client of Adrien's since 2024. I was concerned about overtraining and preventing overuse injuries on a young growing body. Adrien created an offseason training program that addressed my concerns and complimented my daughter's rowing goals — helped her maintain her cardio level, with exercises to strengthen and protect her muscles. With Adrien's expertise, my daughter has continued to PR on 2k and 5k erg tests. My daughter loves how nice and personable Adrien is and how genuinely interested Adrien is in her progress."
T
T.
Parent of a teen rower

Same client. Two stories. Both sent unprompted.

These came in from a 69-year-old client — not as Google reviews, just as messages she sent because she wanted to. They're the kind of outcomes I work for.

Story one
The Deadlift Hero
"I was walking through the basement with a friend. He noticed the Olympic bar with sizeable weights attached and asked who was the weightlifter. 'I am,' I said. He was impressed. As a watchmaker he was not getting much exercise. After we located the boxes of parts he wanted, we needed to carry them out to his car. Misguided chivalry not being quite dead, he seemed determined to carry all the heavy boxes. When I pointed out that I was more than capable of carrying a box or two, he looked at me thoughtfully, then handed me one of the heavier boxes. Off we went to load his car."
69-year-old PT client · Sent unprompted
Story two
Deadlift for the Life Win
"After Saturday erg class I returned home to find our house smelling like dozens of rotten eggs had exploded. Why do these things always happen on the weekend? Many hours of trying various potential solutions followed. Out of desperation I checked the batteries for our backup sump pump. To fill them I needed to remove them from their water-tight containers. Those batteries are heavy! It was only because I knew proper deadlifting technique that I could move them, fill the cells, and put them back in place, without injuring myself. Thanks, Adrien, for keeping me healthy and able to solve the rotten egg mystery!"
Same 69-year-old client · A few weeks later

Read more reviews on Google

Testimonials reflect individual experiences. Results vary based on condition, effort, adherence to the recommended treatment plan, and other factors. The testimonials shown are not a guarantee of outcomes for any specific person.

Let's see if we're a fit.

Book a free 15-minute strategy call. Tell me what's going on — I'll tell you whether I'm the right person to help, and if I'm not, where to look instead.

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