As a rower myself, I'm massively biased towards the sport, however, I have spent years of my life playing and taking part in loads of different sports and moved on from them all, apart from rowing. Here's why.
Boosts self-esteem and confidence
You learn to be confident out on the water, yes it may take a few sessions but the feeling when you head out in a small boat for the first time and do your first session alone or in a pair is an amazing feeling. Having your hard work pay off has a positive impact on your self-esteem, such as winning a race for the first time. When achieving your goals on the water or land, such as ergos or weights, it allows you to be open about pushing yourself and teaches you about setting yourself realistic goals.
Helps develop teamwork and leadership skills
Working as a team to reach common goals helps everyone develop communication and problem-solving skills that will benefit on and off the water. You don’t need to be in a crew of four or eight. Simply being in a single allows you to develop teamwork skills with your coach and other single scullers around you. Sharing advice and tips with other rowers is a great way of developing leadership skills and could put you in a good place for club captain. There will always be a sense of private information in a highly competitive environment such as sport, however, have an open mind and listen to coaches and other athletes on how you can improve boat handling and team management skills which makes every boat you go in faster.
It’s a natural stress reliever and helps you time manage at a professional level
Exercise is a great way for everyone to loosen up and let go. Sports also help us develop tight bonds with teammates and make new friends from all over the region, country and the world. When older athletes start moving into the public exam stage, the time spent away from revision and examinations is key. When training at a club level, or at an international level, everyone has the ability to succeed at both sport and academics without the constant pressure of running low on time.
Develop lifelong healthy lifestyle habits
Regular physical activity improves fitness and helps keep us stay in shape. Rowing is a sport that works a very large set of muscle groups at once, allowing you to be pretty free with what exercise you do out of the boat. Chances are, if its increasing muscle mass, cardiovascular strength or others, the boats going to move faster. Nutrition advice is plentiful both here at AllMarkOne as well as in rowing magazines such as Rowing&Regatta and is one of the key parts of all sports. If you have any questions regarding nutrition or recovery, the team at AllMarkOne have lots of links to international level athletes and coaches who can help you out with some tips.
It’s surprisingly fun!
At the end of the day, you shouldn't take part in a sport if you don't enjoy it. There will always be a few exceptions to this rule, however the more you are interested in the sport, the more likely to are to take training seriously, making boats go faster. The memories made when rowing will last a lifetime. You may forget the name of the boy who fell in because he didn’t do his gate up on day one, but the memory of winning a gold medal at a club level, Nationals or International Championships will always stay with you. Take this with a pinch of salt though, December to March is a tough part of the season for even the most 'rowing-mad' of us.
If you want to get into rowing, visit your national rowing website and look for club finder to find your local club to give rowing a go! If you have any questions just ask us here at AllMarkOne by leaving a comment below or messaging us on social media (there's even a button in the bottom right of your page). Our team are incredibly passionate about the sport of rowing and we have members all over the world, so we are sure we can find someone to help you out.
Dan- J16
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