Many people do not know what crew is. Crew is rowing. Many do not know what rowing is. So, no, I do not just row a boat. Yes, I row a boat, but it is not as simple as that. It is so much more than that. There are many misconceptions about the sport of rowing and what exactly it is. So, let me tell you a little bit about this beautiful sport and the hard work that is involved with it. There is sweep rowing and there is sculling. Sculling is when you use two oars. You have one oar in each hand. Sweeping is when you only have one oar. There are two sides in rowing: port and starboard. Port is to your right when you are sitting in the boat. Therefore, starboard is to your left. The seat moves and your feet are strapped into Velcro shoes in the boat.
Here are some questions that people often ask me about the sport of rowing, also known as crew:
1. Oh you row, you must have really strong arms, right?
Thank you, thank you. However, rowing actually involves mostly your legs. In all fairness, crew is really a full-body sport, but you mostly use your legs to generate speed and power in the boat. So, next time, just say we have really strong bodies in general. That would be such a nice compliment.
2. Who is that person that says, “Row”?
That is the coxswain (pronounced cox-in). She is small, excited and extremely important. She does not only say row, she is the brain of the boat and without her (or him), we would not be able to do what we do. She literally steers us in the right direction, and she makes calls to motivate us. She gives us our drills during practice and she comes up with our race plan. So, don’t just call her that person. Call her a coxswain.
3. What is a regatta? Sounds like a cheese.
Ricotta is a type of cheese. Regatta is what we call a race. So, this is what our competitions are called.
4. Do you sit in the front of the boat or the back of the boat?
Stern is considered the front of the boat. Bow is considered the back. We generally row in fours and eights. In a four, you have your stern pair (front two) and your bow pair (back two). In an eight, you have your stern four and bow four. You count down from bow. So, technically bow is 1 seat, then 2 seat, 3 seat, 4 seat, 5 seat, 6 seat, 7 seat and 8 seat (stroke). This may be confusing, but that is how we refer to our seats in the boat.
5. Don’t you get up really early for that?
Yes, but not every practice is a morning practice. Right now, we have three morning practice days. On Wednesdays, we all have practice at 5:45 a.m. Rowing really early in the morning is actually breathtaking and beautiful. It’s cool outside and when the sun rises, you get the best view from the boat. However, we also have 4:30 p.m. afternoon practices. So, it varies. However, rowing in the morning calls for flat water and smooth running, and I absolutely love that.
6. Is crew hard?
Yes, it is very hard. I came from a sport where strength and muscle memory played a huge part. I did gymnastics for 14 years, so going to a sport like crew was a big difference. Crew is heavily focused on endurance, but being strong is also a benefit. Every stroke you take matters. Every stroke uses your entire body and all your energy. Every practice, we row at least 10,000 meters on the water. That is 6.2 miles. So, yes, it is hard. The difficulty is what makes the sport so amazing and fun.
7. Don’t you have to be really tall to row?
Being tall is definitely a benefit in the sport of crew. Think about it, a taller person will complete more meters per stroke than someone who is shorter. However, short people can row as well. I am only 5-foot-3, and I think I have figured out how to row efficiently as a person on the shorter side.
8. What is an erg?
An ergometer (erg) is a rowing machine. You know those weird looking things you see in the gym? Yeah, that is an erg. We do a lot of test pieces as well as winter training on the erg. It is quite a good exercise if you are ever looking for some fun endurance workout at the gym.
9. What season do you guys row in?
What season do we not row in? We have races in the fall as well as the spring. In the fall, we do distance races, which consist of 5,000-meter races. These are time trials, meaning the boats start at different times and you have to try to beat the times of the other boats. These are called head races. However, in the spring we have sprint races. These consist of 2,000-meter races in which you start at the same time as your opponents and try to outdo them. In addition, we do weightlifting during all seasons. In the winter, we row in the pools, weightlift and erg a lot. Yes, we set up these contraptions by the side of the pool and row in them to keep our technique up and don’t forget how to row.
10. What do you do when it rains and snows?
We still go out on the water and row. We practice six days a week for about 15 hours. The weather never holds us back.
I hope you all have a better sense of what crew is and how you do it. Many people do not know what it is and they do not know how great and different of a sport it is. So, I recommend that you try it sometime. Go on the rowing machine at the gym. You will burn a lot of calories, and it is a fun thing to do. It truly is the ultimate team sport. We are all really close and supportive of each other, and I do not know what I would do without the sport, my teammates and my coaches.
