By Zach Key
Rowing; A sport that consists simply of propelling a boat down a body of water using oars. At first glance, there is a striking simplicity to the sport, especially in comparison to other, more mainstream sports.
I was first introduced to rowing by my sister, who started rowing her freshman year of high school. Prior to her involvement, I had no idea what the sport was or why people would even consider it over other sports. It wasn’t until I was forced to watch her row in the Head of the Charles, one of the largest regattas (races) in the world, that I began to understand why people row. Watching racers walk past, I could see the passion in their eyes and feel the exhilarating energy radiating off of them. They were about to put themselves through incredible amounts of pain, yet they were happy, excited, even eager to get on the water. As I watched each boat cross the finish line, I began to notice a pattern in their behavior. No matter how their boat finished, the rowers held their heads high, smiling and high-fiving as they paddled back to the dock. This team comradery and motivational atmosphere would ultimately pull me into the sport and has kept me enthralled for three years and counting.
Like anything one does at first, I was not very good. I had the worst personal time on the team and was struggling to keep up. The 4.3 mile runs, 5k rowing pieces, and intense bodyweight circuits quickly reminded me why I was reluctant to join. It wasn’t until my first race that I finally experienced the beauty within the pain that those Head of the Charles racers had revelled in two years prior. I was holding a 200 pound boat at waist-level, along with the seven other members of our novice crew, waiting for our turn to get on the water. Feeling the weight of the boat strain my arms and having too much time to sit with my thoughts, my nerves quickly set in. Fortunately, however, the panic left just as quickly as it had arrived, when a fellow teammate began cracking jokes. Laughter filled the air, and I knew in that moment that the pain I was about to push through would be worth it. Soon after, I found myself flying down the race course with a team I knew I could depend on. In that moment, we all came through for one another to achieve something great. That is the beauty of rowing. Every race or practice after that, no matter how hard it was, I knew I would never be alone.
Rowing is painful. I realized that day that I had to really love it, and love the team I was doing it with, to be able to drive through that pain without giving up. My eight-person crew had come so far together, from not knowing how to properly sit in the boat, to being able to row together in sync, and it was through that hard work that we had formed a bond. With every stroke I take, I am rowing for my boatmates, who are putting their all in every stroke for me.
If you are looking for a sport to do in high school, I would advise you not to count out rowing. While the sport is rapidly growing across the country, I know that for many it is still not yet available. Even so, I would encourage you to find some connection with the sport. A great way to do that can be watching races and training online. You can learn a lot from what these athletes do, and you may see the same thing in them as I did watching the Head of the Charles. Rowing has taught me the importance of teamwork and its ability to create long-lasting friendships, as well as shown me how consistency and hard work pays off. These are lessons will carry with me long after my last season ends, and ones each of you can learn with or without a boat.
The Lost Canadian 