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A Healthy Addiction: Rowing as a Life Sport by Eileen Nicol

A rare peace prevails before the rest of the world wakes up. The U District’s Roosevelt Avenue is eerily deserted. But once across the University Bridge, headlights converge like fireflies as the rowers park their vehicles and haul their bodies, still bleary or already energized, into the George Pocock Rowing Center. It’s not yet 5 a.m., but, as local rower Mary Jane (MJ) Swindley puts it, “When you know people are waiting for you to show up, you get up and go.”

Inside the building teenage girls wait for their teammates, hunkered down against the wall in the glaring light, rubbing their eyes. The older rowers, with their naturally graying hair, mill around in their spandex and greet each other quietly. At this insane hour the conversation is subdued but the dedication is apparent. Whether blonde or gray, young in years or just young at heart, these women all share an addiction — to the lifelong sport of rowing.

All the rowers I know are fun, fit and incredibly disciplined, and the ones I met for this story are no exception. Sue McKain, co-captain of the Montlake Rowing Club, is a petite woman with a friendly, professional demeanor. She has been rowing for more than 20 years and was delighted to agree to meet with me and proselytize for her sport. Then came the e-mail: Maybe I would like to watch a practice? When I walked into the Pocock Rowing Center for the first time early one April morning, I felt the pull of the team sizing me up as a potential recruit. Despite the chill and the early hour, my morning in the launch with coach Ann Geier followed by French pastries and coffee with five of the team members fanned the temptation to put my own oar in the water.

SWIMMING IN JARGON

The lingo associated with rowing could drown an otter! Briefly, competitive rowing is broadly divided by the number of oars in your hands. Sweep rowers (think “broom”) hold one long oar in both hands. Scullers have an oar in each hand, one on either side of the boat or “shell.” Modern shells are made of lightweight carbon fiber, and an “eight,” a shell that holds eight sweep rowers plus a coxswain, is 60 feet long and 200 pounds. Sweep shells are called after the number of rowers they hold — pairs, fours and eights. Scullers row in singles, doubles or quads, which is the largest sculling shell. All rowers face the stern, or back of the boat, which means they either rely on their coxswain to guide them, or must glance over their shoulders to see where they are going.

The seats in a multi-athlete boat are numbered from the bow, the part that crosses the finish line first, the first seat being number 1, the second number 2, and on down. The person closest to the stern is known as the stroke. The stroke and the number-one rower must demonstrate strong technique, as their strokes most influence the direction and pace of the boat. While members of college crews typically specialize in one boat position, a coach at the masters level will move her team around during workouts, both to capitalize on current strengths and to build for the future.

Montlake Rowing Club’s coach Ann Geier arranges wooden sticks with the rowers’ names written on them to convey the morning’s boat positions. First there were 10 sticks — enough for two coxed fours. But someone didn’t show, so the two designated coxswains briefly discuss which one of them will row instead, and Ann shuffles the sticks on top of the cabinet into a row of eight, plus cox. If anyone is less than happy about her assignment, it’s not evident as we get in the elevator and descend to the shell house.

Sweep boats may or may not carry a coxswain (pronounced “cox-in”), the non-rowing person who sits facing forward, steering the shell and calling out strokes. Most masters clubs rotate coxswain duty. The coxswain has unique duties and responsibilities: to keep the boat safe and to execute the drills and workout that the coach has planned. The cox directs the crew in handling the boat both in and out of the water. During a race there is extra pressure on the coxswain, to implement the race strategy, to judge the team’s position, to know when to call for the “power 10” — the “give it all you’ve got” 10 strokes that can put a boat in position to win. “It used to be I couldn’t sleep the night before I had to cox — it was such a responsibility,” says Georgia Oistad, a retired speech pathologist in a bright green cap who’s assigned to 3 seat today.

Down in the shell house the women retrieve the “eight” from its rack in a nearly wordless, militarily efficient way. It’s still dark as I follow Ann with her megaphone and handheld floodlight down a dock to the launch, past a sign on a houseboat reminding us to be considerate of the neighbors who are still sleeping. On the adjacent dock the women have the eight in the water and adjust the rigging to meet their body types — putting in spacers to raise the seats which move backward and forward on four wheels as the athlete completes the full stroke. Water bottles are stowed and the human-powered eight and the Honda-powered launch set forth.

Once away from the dock, coach Ann calls out a drill plan to the coxswain. There’s no chitchat among the crew. As they warm up heading east through the Montlake Cut, Ann relates stories about “catching a crab” — which in rowing indicates a faulty stroke that either misses the water or digs in too deeply. At racing speeds the error can even throw a crew member into the water, but this morning the women have it all together. Just north of the 520 bridge, a rest stop allows time to shed a layer and drink some water, then “spin” the boat back toward Lake Union. The full moon shines a dull orange through clouds above the city. Geese keep the increasing number of shells company as the daylight slowly grows. Ann calls the drills and during the pauses, gives the women individual pointers. Toward the end of the workout, the rowers close their eyes for 10 strokes, the better to feel the weight of the water against their oars and the positions of their bodies in the boat. “Being on the water is almost a sacred experience,” Sue McKain tells me later. “You forget about everything else.” And the good thing about the early hour is that by 6:45, you’re in the shower, ready to move on to work or parenting, taking that exhilaration and fitness with you.

Sacred or not, rowing is a very complete and intense workout, using all of the body’s major muscle groups. The upper body work is evident, but the strength of the stroke actually comes from the legs. It’s aerobic, but low impact, comparable to cross-country skiing. And in addition to fitness, mental discipline is required, to keep on going when your body is telling you to stop. A good crew makes it look effortless, Ann explains in the launch. The easier it looks, the better they are, because what is desired is a smooth, fluid motion from start to finish, heads aligned in a row, no flailing or extra effort. I look for red faces, for heaving chests when they stop, but while the team is clearly working hard, they look calm, exhilarated and focused.

COMPETITION

“I remember thinking distinctly, I’ll just do it; I’m sure I’ll never go to Saturday regattas and I’ll never get up early,” says Margaret Laliberte, an MRC member who has been doing all those things she was never going to do for ten years now. Some adult rowers choose not to compete, and simply row recreationally. But for many, regattas provide motivation, camaraderie and just a chance to “get out of Dodge” — way out of Dodge. Sue and Georgia, who’ve been rowing for 25 and 17 years respectively, fondly remember regattas (and some gold medals) in Florida, New Jersey, Italy and France, as well as regattas closer to home in southern Washington or British Columbia. Regardless, a regatta is a chance to compete in your own age group and see how you stack up.

For many of the masters-age women, rowing is their first chance at an organized sport and their first chance to compete. Elizabeth Coppinger, a redhead who learned to row in New Jersey, is one of them. “There are things you learn in team sports that you don’t learn in other places,” she says. “If you’re on the same team you have to be focused, you have to have strategy. And that competitiveness . . . you can be friends with people, but when you’re on the starting line, you’re there to win.” And yet this club has a team feeling that overrides an always-need-to-win attitude. “That’s the ultimate team piece,” says MJ. “That flexibility. You’re a competitor, then you have your competitive race, then you have your race to give everyone a chance to race.” In their smaller boats, scullers can focus more on winning. “People who feel pretty strongly about wanting to control their own destiny as a rower tend to be a sculler. It sort of self-sorts,” explains Sue. Regardless of your age and level of competitiveness, in a region blessed with so much water, a strong University program and a long rowing tradition, you can find the right team for you.

WHEN YOU’RE READY

There are many places in the Seattle area to learn to row, from private clubs to Seattle Parks & Recreation programs. Most learn to row classes cost around $100 and meet eight to 12 times, teaching correct techniques in a classroom and on indoor rowing machines called ergometers, or “ergs,” before taking it on the water. Students are generally introduced to both sweep rowing and sculling. While some classes are scheduled in the early morning hours, many clubs offer afternoon or evening classes in the spring and summer, so you can find one that fits your schedule as well as your geographical location. Lake Union Crew offers learn to row classes year-round. A float test at your local pool is a prerequisite for learn to row classes. This requires having a certified lifeguard document your ability to tread water or swim in place for ten minutes.

Curious, but not sure you want to invest all that time? June 7 is National Learn to Row Day, and Seattle Parks & Recreation has a one-day program on the water for only $27. In addition, many clubs sponsor free learn to row events on the water, where you may receive an orientation on land, then spend some time in an “eight” with experienced rowers. Call them (see sidebar) to see what they have planned.

But be careful — you might get hooked. Rowing inspires passion, promotes fitness and concentration, and builds strong team bonds. “I’m always telling people,” says Coppinger. “I told a waitress the other day, ‘you should try a learn to row class.’ There are a lot of women who are really intrigued, but they think it’s too late or that there’s not a way to learn. That’s the most important message to get out: There are opportunities and it’s never too late.”

Eileen Nicol is a frequent contributor to Seattle Woman.

©2008 Caliope Publishing Company