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SARATOGA SPRINGS — Kristi Wagner achieved her dream in 2021, qualifying for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo as a member of the United States rowing team. Now, she’s back at it, and she’s inviting everyone along for the ride.
Wagner is hosting a new podcast titled ‘The Other 3 Years,’ hosted by Bright Sighted Podcasting. The show, which is set to release its first episode on April 21, will document Wagner’s training process and time spent between Olympic Games.
The podcast was born after Wagner met with Christine O’Donnell, the founder of Bright Sighted Podcasting. O’Donnell is a Saratoga Springs native who rowed at the Saratoga Rowing Association before joining the team at the University of Minnesota, and said she was put in touch with Wagner by SRA head coach and executive director Eric Catalano.
Wagner said the podcast will provide insight into what an Olympic athlete does during the time between Games, and the work that goes into preparing for the Olympics.
“Every year kind of looks similar, in that we do all of our training and competing and selections and camps and everything, but we just have a world championship, world cups, and domestic races and stuff instead of the Olympics,” Wagner said. “I think that’s something that people don’t really know.”
A native of Weston, Massachusetts, Wagner said she began rowing in high school before eventually joining the team at Yale University. After deciding to begin her Olympic journey, she moved to Saratoga Springs in 2016 to train with ARION (Advanced Rowing Initiative of the Northeast), a rowing team consisting of Olympic hopefuls.
“The whole idea was, there’s this elite team which will bring athletes in and give them subsidized housing and also give them a job,” said Wagner. “I coach the middle school and high school rowers at Saratoga Rowing. We had coaching, a training plan, equipment, transportation to races, and that kind of thing.”
Wagner said her experience in Tokyo at the 2020 Olympic Games (which were delayed to 2021 due to COVID-19) “was awesome,” despite the precautions taken.
“It was bigger than life, almost,” said Wagner. “I really wish that my family had gotten to go, because they have made a lot of sacrifices and done a lot to support me.”
Wagner said that due to COVID-19 restrictions, the rowing team traveled home almost immediately following their final race.
“Literally 24 hours after our last race, I was walking down Broadway,” Wagner said. “That was a really weird aspect of it, to watch the closing ceremonies on TV and be like, ‘Was it a fever dream? Was I actually there?’ But it was really awesome.”
Wagner placed fifth in the double sculls at the 2020 Games. Now, she’s aiming to make it to Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics, saying she feels she can keep improving and that she is still enjoying the sport.
“I just think it’s a very cool and special thing, to try to get the most out of yourself, in any regard. I feel like I’m not at my best yet,” said Wagner. “I feel like I can still improve, and I’m still having fun in the process. It’s also a bit addictive. Finding that level of success is like, ‘OK, well that felt so good. I want to try to feel it again, but I want it to be even better.’”
O’Donnell said the experience of working with Wagner on the podcast has “been really awesome,” so far.
“Kristi is magnetic. She’s really easy to be around,” said O’Donnell. “I enjoy spending time with her and producing these episodes. I actually feel like producing her show has helped me become a better human. It’s been really cool.”
Wagner said she is a huge fan of podcasts, and also said working with O’Donnell has been “incredible.”
“She’s really awesome. She’s made the whole process very smooth and seamless for me,” said Wagner. “But it’s also been really nice for me to kind of reflect on things. I feel like normally, this is true with anything, you kind of have some sort of goal or something you’re working towards, and you just kind of work and do it. It happens, and then you kind of reflect. This has been more, in the process, I’ve had to reflect. Which has been fun, and exciting.”
Wagner also said that while the Olympic aspect of her story is unique, many parts of her life will be relatable to a wide audience.
“I just think that my story, it’s unique in that there aren’t that many people that do this, but also a lot of things in my life are the same as anybody’s life,” said Wagner. “I still do a lot of the same things that other people do and have the same concerns and worries. I just wanted to share that, because I think sometimes people get afraid or think that they can’t have big goals because they’re so far away.”
O’Donnell echoed this, saying Wagner feels “like someone they already know when they listen to her.”
“She just is very relatable,” said O’Donnell. “But I think people are going to listen to her because she’s reminding them if they have a dream or a goal or this thing that they want to do in their life, they have to go all-in to make it happen. That’s what she’s done during the three years between the last Olympics and this Olympics. Anybody who has a dream who wants to make it a reality should listen to this show.”
Ultimately, Wagner said she hopes the podcast inspires people “to chase their own dreams.”
“I think I’ve spent a lot of time in my life feeling that people who accomplished really big things had tons of confidence and woke up like that. Just everything was easy for them, and they had this goal, and they just did it,” said Wagner. “That hasn’t been my experience. You fail a lot on your way to success. But there’s no reason that other people are allowed to have bigger dreams than anybody else.”
‘The Other 3 Years’ will release its first episode April 21 on all major streaming and podcasting platforms.
