Quote:
Originally Posted by pwd72s
Know nothing about the sport...but it's almost poetic to watch....
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Objectively, rowing is the best sport ever created. A boat is only as good as its worst rower. No one is a star, the boat has to function as one perfectly synchronized organism, including the coxswain. To be the best, you have to:
have the grace and body control of a ballet dancer
the strength of a bodybuilder
the stamina of a cross country runner
the muscle efficiency of a sprinter
the focus of a chess player
the grit of a warrior
and so on.
And you have to have all of those working together while you are using your entire body to absolute maximum it can go, for either 5-6 minutes in 2000m spring races or 17-20 minutes in 5000m fall races, your brain telling you to stop over and over while coxswain, and the rest of the boat is relying on you to use everything ounce of energy your body can muster.
When all of the boxes are checked, the boat achieves what is called run. It lifts out of the water and goes further and faster than the sum of all the energy the rowers are putting into the water. It is transcendent. It can feel like an out of body experience. The first time it happens the whole boat freaks out and then basically stops in the water as the coach comes over and laughs. Then it's all you think about. Once boats are set, you become as close as brothers and sisters. You form a deep emotional connection. There's no blaming and back-biting when a practice doesn't go well, only support to fix what's wrong and work together to be better.
There is no other sport like rowing.