In his speech at the 2023 César Awards, actor Brad Pitt stated, “which is most important, the journey or the destination? It’s the company.”
It encouraged me to consider what makes the sport of rowing attractive to newcomers and addictive to the experienced athlete. Rowing is a sport that, above all else, requires consistency, whether that be in training, putting yourself in the pain cave, or even looking after equipment. Largely, what you put into the sport, you get out of it. Racing is a minor element in the overall picture of the sport, with training requiring far more time and effort week on week. Race day is just the icing on the cake.
Training, particularly on the water, could be the motivating factor for a lot of rowers. In Australia, most training occurs in the early morning, starting off in the dark and the sun rising as training continues, a definite reward for the discipline it takes to arise in the early hours before 5AM. The tranquillity of the water before the city awakes, with only the sounds of breathing and the slicing of blades in the water, is mesmerising.
The longer mileage at slower rates also gets rowers closer to the desired swing rhythm.
“When you get the rhythm in an eight, it’s pure pleasure to be in it. It’s not hard work when the rhythm comes, that ‘swing’ as they call it. I’ve heard men shriek out with delight when that swing came…it’s a thing they’ll never forget as long as they live.“ – George Yeoman Pocock (Boys in the Boat)
For many, that beautiful feeling of being in sync happens in training more often than in racing, where the pressure is higher and there is less opportunity to tweak things to find that one percent. Boat Race winner Tom Lynch speaks further to this matter in his thought-provoking YouTube series about his training within Cambridge University Boat Club.
He said: “Suddenly the boat will turn a corner and will just effortlessly glide between strokes, something tiny and imperceptible will click and it will finally be worth it.”
Lynch suggests that perhaps it is all about the journey – the climb – rather than the peak of the mountain.
For others, it is about the destination. Race day and competition, the masochism of pushing past the breaking point and finding your limits, that also lures many rowers. Having something to work towards, no matter how big or small, adds a driving force to get people to do the hard yards. A famous quote by Australian swim coach Laurie Lawrence speaks to this notion: “The pain of a hard workout saves you from the agony of defeat.”
The goal of achieving the elation or relief of winning and achieving something you set your mind to is addictive.
Ultimately, perhaps it is the people, crewmates, club members, coaches, and friends in the sport that make people come back. The “company” of people can lighten the load of the hardest session, and even knowing someone is experiencing the same pain as you gives a sense of relief. While the training can be incredible, if there weren’t crew members in the boat with you, that feeling of synchronicity, uniform perfection that Pocock spoke about, commitment wouldn’t be possible.
At the end of the day, rowing seems to be about a community, where a common thread allows people to connect over a shared passion.
