Why I Row
I am a member of the Sarasota (SRQ) Crew Masters Program at Nathan Benderson Park. Last year, we were asked by our coaches to help them understand what each of us wanted from participating in the program. They asked us to let them know "why we row." A little while later, I was watching an inspirational movie, and this popped into my head, so I jumped off the couch and wrote it down.
I was in Costa Rica ten years ago at a "health retreat," and one of the speakers was this doctor from the U.S., and one thing he said has stuck with me every day since. He said, "Never tell anyone your age!" His rationale for that was "a large majority of age-related dis-eases are socially learned!"
Ever since that day, I never have told anyone my age, and I have banned my family from ever saying that number out loud, or in a birthday card, or any means or form of communicating my age. :). In fact, the only two places I have disclosed my age since that day is at the DMV and the US Rowing website. Having to disclose my age to US Rowing is the ONLY thing I hate about rowing :)... but I'll take the 30 seconds or so adjustment to my race times it gives me.
Since that day in Costa Rica, I've adopted a few sayings on the topic of age, one being, "age is just a number and is usually wrong," and "yea, we don't do ages in my family." I've seen 90-year-olds in 50-year-old bodies and 25-year-olds in 50+ year-old bodies.
I recently heard the term "health span" used in replacing the term life span. I like this, as it emphasizes the real desire of most people. That is; not to live a long life as measured in years, but how long we can live in a healthy, fully functioning physical and mental state.
It's my opinion that rowing has the ability to keep the body and mind in suspended animation. It has so many facets involved in promoting healthy longevity. Keeping active, mobility, flexibility, balance, VO2 Max, grip strength, low impact, a top, if not THE top, cardio and muscular fitness exercise, community — rowers are a great group of people to hang with — keeps one socially connected, a natural focus on proper nutrition and hydration, to name a few.
At the back end of a 20, 30, or 40-year career, when is the last time the majority of people learned a new skill, got outside their box / comfort zone, or really challenged themselves? If one elects to compete in Masters Rowing, then you can add learning to overcome fear, anxiety, self-doubt, and gain confidence and an improved self-image. I had a billionaire tell me one time that "everyone suffers from a low self-image." You can experience the old ABC Sports slogan, "The thrill of victory ... and the agony of defeat." You can get up and dust yourself off and try again. Isn't that what life is all about?
There was a line in the movie I was watching that went something like..."when you're young, every year has a milestone: a 1st birthday, learning to walk, your first tooth, first tooth to fall out, becoming a teenager, getting a driver's license, a first kiss, etc. When you're older, there are just two: grandkids and death."
For me, SRQ Masters Rowing keeps the exhilaration of feeling alive at just the point in life when so many people are losing, or have lost, that feeling and, in many ways, their lives, though they may not physically pass for decades to come. Ben Franklin is often recognized as having said, "Many people die at twenty-five and aren't buried until they are seventy-five." Meaning that most people are in a daily rut by age 25 and don't change much — they are just going through the motions until they die at 75. For me, rowing is one of the BEST parts of the day.
Last May, one of my fellow SRQ Masters rowers asked me to race a double with him at the Florida Masters Regatta in Orlando, to which I said yes, but with much reservation. Then another rower said, "Hey, I have a friend you can row a mixed double with also." Gulp... quickly remembering the atrocity that was my performance in the last Sarasota Invitational Regatta. My second race of that day, a quad, where I was so tired from my first race and didn't recover a bit by the second race, to the point where I was hitting the oars of the person in front and behind me! Well, in for a penny, in for a pound, as the expression goes.
Between the 4 rowers, we were in 10 total races and we won 10 medals. More importantly, I gained new and better friendships with my three fellow Master Rowers. I also gained a renewed self-confidence in myself and my rowing. My second race of that day was the mixed double. We got 3rd, finishing 2 seconds behind second place. What a blast! And I rowed my best race yet, rowing beyond my current mental limits. Which inspired me to strive to achieve a greater level of competence and lower race times in the future. That Saturday was a great day!
As we drove home, we discussed the day's activities and results, and what rowing brings to our lives.
We agreed: rowing is the #1 thing we have done recently to add to our quality of life.
This.... is why I row!