Before this summer, I didn’t know much about rowing at all. I’d never seen it in person, at most maybe saw a few clips of it in the Olympics on TV. None of my schools had rowing so it was completely off my radar. Back in summer 2023 I listened to the Lessons in Chemistry audiobook during my long commutes into DC for my internship and the main character (also named Elizabeth lol) learns to row in it. I think that planted a seed in my head.
When I moved to Albany I did look up rowing out of curiosity and saw that there was a rowing club. It took me two years to look it up again, and then have the guts to sign up. The page you sign up on warns that you need to pass a swim test certification (and you had to find a lifeguard on your own to administer it) and that you should be capable of lifting 25-30 pounds overhead, since an 8 person boat can weigh 200 pounds.
Upper-body strength is not my strong (ha) suit and in general I was pretty nervous about applying myself in an athletic situation. I would not use the words sporty or athletic to describe myself. I am a former marching band nerd, recreationally ride my bike on preferably flat surfaces, and my most recent group physical activity has been tap dancing. So I am perhaps “active”, but I have never gone to the gym.
However my love of boats (mostly kayaks and ferries up until this point) overrode all that. So I signed up, slightly comforted by the “no experience required” messaging.
I drew a doodle diary on a sticky note following each practice. Pardon the typos! I know how to spell sculling now. Here they are:
For no reason in particular I thought that it was a “do learn to row 1 this summer and then advance to learn to row 2 next summer” situation. Somehow that got in my brain, but that was false! So I signed up for Learn t0 Row 2. Due to vacation, I had to miss 2 weeks and they graciously let me make them up… in the morning.
I had a fun time, boats are cool, I learned a lot, and I liked being active after sitting at work all day. If you’re reading this you should try rowing, I just think it’s neat.
The most surprising thing I learned is that the shoes you put your feet in are bolted inside the boat and it’s the seat that moves! And it is not an “arm” sport. The description of “hanging off the oars” or seeing the oars as a weight you are lifting (lift with your legs! wrists flat!) helped me grasp the correct motion.
At any rate, thanks for reading. Last weekend I had a good time riding around at the regatta in a launch boat (despite the persistent rain) and am still scouring facebook marketplace.
