#5 Your tape stays on your hands for the whole row

Spring rowing = blisters = painful hands

Future hand models.

Fresh blisters are ugly, and can be extremely painful to row with, but that's a pretty lame excuse not to row. Best solution? Medical tape. 

Your last tape job lasted through warm up and you ended up suffering through your main set, awkwardly holding your oar handles. You learned your lesson and this time you spend a good 5 minutes meticulously taping up your hands, and hope you've figured out the perfect taping technique for the nasty blister that's about to open up at the base of your middle finger. A good tape job will last through a whole practice letting you focus on your workout instead of how painful your hands are.

You look down at your hands just before you start your last piece and your tape is still intact.

Awesome!

#4 Spandex

You know you're a rower when the amount of spandex in your closet starts to out-number the amount of  your normal day civilian clothes. Rowing changes your life in many ways, particularly your wardrobe.

Every sport has their so called uniform. In rowing you need tight fitting clothes, making spandex a rower's best friend. You can't escape it, everyone wears it, even the middle aged men with beer bellies.

It's the only acceptable clothing in rowing as it allows you to move freely, where baggy clothing and your everyday sweats get in the way. Pretty much half of what the sport of rowing is all about, is showing off you jacked and uneven tanned body, what better way to do this than in spandex.

When you first start,  you think "No way am I ever going to wear that." Before you know it you are wearing spandex head to toe and you realize that it isn't so bad (and secretly love it). All the 'cool kids' are wearing it and let's be honest your butt doesn't looks to shabby either.

Awesome!

100% badass, yet completely safe

                                       

#3 The "Inches" Video

Rowing....It's all about inches.

It's one of the first rowing videos many new rowers watch (safety videos not included!)  and one of the most viewed rowing videos on Youtube. It's something every rower can relate to whether you're a National rower or Novice.  We all know what it's like to go that extra inch and succeed, but the real test is what you do when you fall short? It comes down to perseverance, no matter what, win or lose, you keeping on fighting for that extra inch.

Every race is about inches, every stroke is about inches. At the end of the day, it's just a game of inches and "It's the guy who is willing to die who is going to win that inch."

Awesome!

#2 Perfectly flat water

A sailor will never understand that one of the best feelings in the world is arriving at the club to a perfectly flat body of water. There's no wind, the water is like glass, and you feel as though you need to take advantage of these conditions. You have the opportunity for perfect puddles, and perfect rowing. Missing that 9am class for another row seems like a fair trade.

Some rowers are lucky enough to row on smaller lakes, or rivers, that rarely get more than a little chop when the wind picks up. At our club, when the winds are even somewhat high, we can get full white-cap waves. Most days we experience some chop or rollers,  so we have a huge appreciation for those perfectly flat water days.

There's something about flat water that is so calming. You don't have to feel like you are fighting with the rough water or wind and you can completely relax on every stroke, getting a fully loaded catch each time.

Sitting in your boat on the flat water, looking out on to the horizon, you feel the peacefulness of nature that surrounds you. This is one of the reasons why you fell in love with the sport.

Awesome!

Hanlan Boat Club at Dawn - Photo by: Caro.

#1 First row after a long indoor winter season

Erging can be fun, but let's be honest, it can also NOT be fun. We erg over the winter to get stronger, maintain our sport specific muscles, and so that on the glorious day of your first row...you don't die!

Getting out of bed at 5:30am on your first day back on the water isn't hard. You get down to the club, see all of the familiar faces, rig the boats you spent many hours in, and set out on your first row. Smiles are everywhere.

You take your first stroke, and it is unlike any other stroke on the erg. You move forward (or backwards, however you see it). After months of stationary training, this is exciting.  You feel the water on the back of the blade, the send of the boat (hopefully), and a few wobbles side to side as the feel of the boat starts to come back. You are now rowing, not erging.

Awesome!

Rowing is Awesome

In the sport of rowing, there are so many different components that contribute to its awesomeness, which makes it hard to answer the common question "Why do you row?". 

We row for so many different reasons and hope by highlighting all of rowing's awesomeness, we can help answer this question. 

As we keep posting, we hope that all of you can share with us why you think rowing is awesome, and by doing this we can strengthen the rowing community and build the sport of rowing so others can experience why rowing is awesome.