#25 - Trying not to talk about rowing and talking about it anyways

It's hard to have a conversation without mentioning ROWING. It always somehow, some way sneaks into just about every conversation.

'Hey, did you go on vacation this summer?' 

- No, I was rowing.

'Oh, did you even get a chance to go away somewhere for the weekend?'

- Not really, most of our races are on the weekend.

'Hey, we're going out thursday night for some drinks, it's going to be crazy!'

- Sorry can't,  I have practice early in the morning.

'Are you going to make it to my birthday this year, the party is August 7th?'

- No, that's during Canadian Henley. Just like every other year I'll be away racing...sorry!

(you show up to a party)

'OMG! So glad you could make it, don't you have rowing? Do you still do that?'

- Oh hey, yes I do still do that and tomorrow is my day off. 

'Oh you just graduated! Do you have a job yet?'

- Noooo, just still rowing!

'So are dating anyone these days?'

- Well, rowing takes up a lot of my time...soo not really. 

Wearing Rowing Canada socks will only lead to more conversations about rowing!

Even when you try to deflect the conversation it always somehow, some way reverts back to rowing. Mostly because rowing is a huge part of your life and the social circles that you run in are either filled with rowers or everyone knows you as the rower. 

The truth of the matter is, if you can't stop talking about rowing it's clearly something you are passionate about that you enjoy doing and because of this your inability to avoid talking about rowing is....

Awesome! 

#24 Recovering from an epic fail

Over 2000m anything can happen - you can have a bad start, another boat can row in to you, you can catch a crab, or hit buoys. In more extreme cases equipment can malfunction, or you can flip.

2000m is a long race, there's always the opportunity to come back. Mistakes happen, forget about them, and keep on going. Use that burst of adrenaline to make up what you've lost. Because it is possible to go from first, to DFL (dead fucking last), to first.

Awesome!

#23 - 396 days until 2012 Summer Olympics

It's the dream of many rowers to go to the Olympics and win Gold. How will you prepare?

Check out this video made by Canadian lightweight rower Cam Sylvester. The video sheds light on how much time and work it really takes to get to that Olympic level.

Inside The Olympic Dream from cameron sylvester on Vimeo.

Rowing, it's more than just your day job - it's your life.

Awesome!

#22 Having someone else load the trailer for you

Getting boats to a regatta is a process. The driving there is the easy part, getting your equipment and boats properly loaded on the trailer is the tricky part. When taking a lot of boats, it's like a puzzle and possibly the most annoying puzzle you've ever done.

You would think by making a map of where the boats will go on the tailer would make things go smoothly. But, as we know, people aren't perfect and boats get left out of the map, boats end up being wider than anticipated or there's always that one crew that realizes they've forgotten to load their riggers on a fully loaded trailer.

What should be about a 1 hour job can easily turn into a 2 hour struggle. However, there are those times when you are one of the last races of the day. The last thing you want to do is load all the boats after a hard race. As you approach the trailer, you see all the boats are already loaded and yours is the last one that needs to go on. Thanks to your team mates everything is all set to go and your boat is last piece needed for the puzzle.

Awesome!

It's a team effort!

Don't forget to strap...There's a reason why this boat is named Road Rash!

#21 Waking up before your alarm and getting to go back to sleep

Despite the fact we often tell others "Oh, it's not that bad! You get used to waking up that early in the morning", as rowers we know that's somewhat of a bluff. The reality of the situation is if we had the option to wake up later we would. We'd take anything, even an extra 15 minutes!

The standard practice time for competitive Canadian rowers is 5:30am. The reasons being, water conditions are often better and there are zero scheduling conflicts.

Your typical wake up time is something around 4:40am plus a 5 minute snooze window. And for those nights when you wake up in the middle of your sleep and look over at your clock to realize that it's only 3:40am and you have ONE more whole hour of sleep, you put your head back down on your pillow and think...

Awesome!

Early morning practices - you never miss a sunrise!

Fall Rowing - 7am and the sun has just risen. 

#20 You miss hitting a buoy by an inch

At every club there are always obstacles on the water. Sometimes you see them, sometimes you don't.

Once you get comfortable with the course, it's typical to get a little lazy with your bowing.  Being the overconfident person that you are you "forget" to check your surroundings and allow yourself to get caught up focusing on your stroke. Recipe for disaster.

You take one half-hearted look over your port shoulder - nothing. You continue rowing and call in your power piece. 3 strokes in and whoosh the buoy appears out of nowhere just skimming the end of your blade. Your heart skips a beat at the thought of almost disaster. Thankfully the rowing gods were on your side this time, and you managed to miss destroying your boat by an oar length.

AWESOME.

In the moment, sometimes you just forget to check your course...

#19 - Row New York

For those that know rowing, it's expensive and often not the most accessible of sports, especially for youth.  We came across Row New York and were inspired by what they do and how they help improve the lives of inner-city youth who would otherwise never be exposed to rowing.

Row New York is a unique non-profit organization that empowers youth from New York City's under-resourced communities to pursue excellence in all facets of their lives by combining competitive rowing and individualized academic support.

It was founded in 2002 on the belief that a sport improves physical and mental health and teaches the invaluable lessons of teamwork, tenacity, and commitment to self and others; all things that should be available to the youth of New York City.

So far, 100% of all graduates have gone on to college, with half of them on rowing scholarships. Pretty impressive!

Row New York is about competitive rowing, academics and having fun, making this non-profit organization the definition of AWESOME.

Next time you are in NY go and check them out!
To find out more information on how you can help or become a part of RNY, see their website: http://www.rownewyork.org/