Thursday, April 20, 2006
Why do I love Rowing?
People outside of the rowing world ask, "Is rowing fun?" I think about the routine of getting up at 5a.m. for practice, the constant forward and backward motion on the slide, the twist of the oar on my rough hands and I realize that for most people no rowing is not "fun". There is something else about rowing that keeps people in boats and on the water. It's the physical challenge, the mental toughness, and family that captures people in crew.
Every day I get to wake up at an hour I know that I have nothing better to do at and test myself. I go out on the water and push myself to row as hard and as strong as I can. It's then when I think I have nothing left to finish my workout that I realize the whole next level. My crew was rowing a set of eight-minute race pieces one morning. We were getting tired our splits were creeping up above two minutes, when we normally hold a 1:50 split. For our third race our coxswain was working hard to get us to pull. And finally it clicked; as if a weight had been lifted we all moved the boat together faster. Our split actually dropped to a 1:45. My boat had reached what we thought was the end, only to realize that we had so much left in us. Every day I strive to push myself to that limit. Because, the exhilaration of feeling great when you've worked so hard is indescribable. It's like being forced down a dark tunnel only to find there's a door at the end with light behind it, all you have to do is keep going towards the door. There is a mental and physical drive in every rower to keep going.
I also feel like my boat is a family. We all make a commitment together to be on time. You can't row an 8 with seven girls. Once we're at the boathouse nothing is done singly. We all help with the coach’s launches, and the oars. We all carry the boat together. We all get into the boat at once, we all swing in unison. The entire crew moves together, we push together and we can all tell if one person is off. Each pair within the boat creates a little bond between them. The pairs get each others oars, they share jokes, and they must link up their strokes. When our boat gets together outside of the boathouse and practice we talk about crew as well as everything else in our lives. Everyone gets along, and there is a bond between us that we are proud to be rowers, we are proud to row for RIT. I don't think you get that connection with any other sport.
Jenn Kolling
Every day I get to wake up at an hour I know that I have nothing better to do at and test myself. I go out on the water and push myself to row as hard and as strong as I can. It's then when I think I have nothing left to finish my workout that I realize the whole next level. My crew was rowing a set of eight-minute race pieces one morning. We were getting tired our splits were creeping up above two minutes, when we normally hold a 1:50 split. For our third race our coxswain was working hard to get us to pull. And finally it clicked; as if a weight had been lifted we all moved the boat together faster. Our split actually dropped to a 1:45. My boat had reached what we thought was the end, only to realize that we had so much left in us. Every day I strive to push myself to that limit. Because, the exhilaration of feeling great when you've worked so hard is indescribable. It's like being forced down a dark tunnel only to find there's a door at the end with light behind it, all you have to do is keep going towards the door. There is a mental and physical drive in every rower to keep going.
I also feel like my boat is a family. We all make a commitment together to be on time. You can't row an 8 with seven girls. Once we're at the boathouse nothing is done singly. We all help with the coach’s launches, and the oars. We all carry the boat together. We all get into the boat at once, we all swing in unison. The entire crew moves together, we push together and we can all tell if one person is off. Each pair within the boat creates a little bond between them. The pairs get each others oars, they share jokes, and they must link up their strokes. When our boat gets together outside of the boathouse and practice we talk about crew as well as everything else in our lives. Everyone gets along, and there is a bond between us that we are proud to be rowers, we are proud to row for RIT. I don't think you get that connection with any other sport.
Jenn Kolling
# posted by Anonymous @ 5:11 PM 
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Jenn, I think you summed it up very well! Crew is definitely a different kind of "fun" but there are moments that make every rower realize how all those early mornings, all the torture on the ergs, every hard piece on the water is worth it. And what you said about being a family is so true.. all of the heart we put into it and the friendships we make is really what this sport is about.
# posted by 
: 7:12 PM
: 7:12 PM
jenn, i love this entry! i think some strong aspects include adherence and motivation... we all have a steady and faithful attachment to crew and that's what makes it worth all the hard work. and... we've found something that causes us to act, and that is rowing, and once someone has fallen in love with the sport of rowing, it'll lie in him or her forever.
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# posted by : 8:16 AM
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