Why Adult Learn to Row is BETTER than Summer Camp

When I started rowing in June of 2002 I had no idea it would be something that would stay with me for so long.  I hadn’t done many team sports, a little basketball at Johnson Junior High and a lot of street kickball in Lordship during the 60’s.

Rowing started so innocently.  The first time that I was in a boat with a sliding seat was around 1988. It was a company picnic at the home of one of our consultants somewhere in the southeastern part of CT.  It was on a lake.  I know now that the boat was an Alden Shell, a very forgiving wide boat that could be converted from a single to a double.  I’ll never forget the great feeling of moving across the water through the sheer power of leg drive.  It was probably good that I really didn’t know anything about the basics of rowing because once I did start thinking about it any natural ability seemed to go away!

And that was it, an experience that left as quickly as it entered my life.  I was just starting a new life as a single mom; my son and my job were my priority. There was never even the opportunity to think about what I was missing.

Fast forward to 2002, my job that I had in New Haven had moved to the Seattle area and I followed in 1996. One Saturday I’m walking through the Farmer’s Market on Bainbridge Island and lo and behold there is a rowing shell there and a big sign saying “Learn to Row and Race.”  Well I wasn’t so much interested in the racing part and I explained to Jay Trinidad and his wife Sue that I just wanted to get in a boat and learn more about the sport. They said I could sign up for the recreational program.  But it turned out that not enough people signed up for that program! So what the hell…. I said I’d be there at 5:30 in the morning to be part of the “Learn to Row and Race” program.  I sure was amazed when I got to the makeshift boat yard on the side of the hill in Eagle Harbor Park and was one of over 20 women mostly in their 40’ and 50’s who had also signed on. 

From that point on all I ever thought about was how much there was to learn. New terminology was at the top of the list. But it was very fun because we were all learning something new.  Most of the women had not done team sports mainly because our education took place before Title 9. 

The sport did not come by me easily, but I loved being on the water so much that I was determined to stick with it and so I did end up racing that year and for many years after and made some of the best friends in my life. And three years into it when no one wanted to teach Learn to Row I some how got persuaded to do so and continued on until 2013.  I probably learned as much by teaching others how to row than trying to figure it out through the many coaches we had through out the years.

One of the reasons I realized Learn to Row was so much fun was because it was kind of like going to summer camp. I had always enjoyed going to camp, loved swimming and all of the other activities that went along with it.  It was always fun to meet new people and do something other than kickball.

Now I have moved away from all of my friends at Bainbridge Island Rowing and am getting reacquainted with my home town of Stratford. I sure do miss rowing and was very happy to learn that Great River Rowing on the River Road would give me a shot at organizing some Learn to Row Programs. But how to get started?  Baby steps as usual for me.

I started to think about how Learning to Row as an adult was like going to summer camp for me.  And I shared them with the head coach at Great River Rowing, John Leonard, and he came back to me with the Top Ten Reasons Why Adult Learn to Row is BETTER than Going to Summer Camp. 

10)   Because it happens on the water and not in the woods with all the mosquitoes

9)   You don't get dropped off at a cabin with a huge suitcase

8)   You don't have to make conversation with the person sitting next to you

7)   You are learning something new each day and its not archery

6)   Each day you can go home to eat good food and not something brown in a pot

5)   Instead of camp counselors with bull horns there are coxswains with microphones

4)   When you go swimming in rowing, its a surprise!

3)   On the water everyday and no getting homesick

2)   For a couple of hours everyday there are no phone calls, no emails, no texts, and no one telling you to make your bed

1)    And the number 1 reason for rowing instead of camp, Its the most fun and exercise you can get while sitting down!