Day 33 - Cox-less Four
A day after getting my Dragon Boat paddle I'm swapping it (for the morning at least) for a sweep oar and getting into a rowing boat for the first time in a few weeks.
Rowing is a tough sport to pick up. It's exceedingly rare for someone to just get into a rowing boat and be expected to get it to move in any meaningful direction straight away. Or even stay upright to be honest. This is not to demean dragon boating, but compared to rowing it’s a much easier sport to start as within fifteen minutes of being told roughly what the technique is you are plopped in a boat and thrashing away at the water with all the other paddlers. Life isn’t so simple for a rower. It can take weeks of coaching before you are really ready to get into a crew.
The rowing club I'm a member of here - Easter Rowing Club - has a very different way of working to what I'm used to. You need to be much more self motivated. I think because getting people who can actually row, or even dedicate the time to learn to row, is hard. So instead of there being any set trainings, or assigned crew lists, there is basically a rental system. They have boats. If you want to row one you book it out and you row it. If you want to row in a double or a four, then you organise it. How often, how hard and how you improve is kind of up to you. And that’s fine, but I definitely need a kick up the arse sometimes and having a squad you are part of and competitions to enter really helps with the motivation.
I think in the three months i’ve been in Singapore i’ve only been out rowing two times so far. That’s not very good really.
Today was a lovely change though as I got invited by some of the contingent at the club who really wanted to go out in a four and needed their fourth person. This boat turned out to be a cox-less four which is a new experience for me having only experienced single sculls or double sculls where you are left to your own devices to steer clear of any obstacles. It was good fun and great to get back out in a rowing boat. Even if we did veer all over the reservoir and have to stop every two minutes before we crashed into something.