One of the most common question's that any athlete is asked is:
'WHY?'
Why do you do it?
why do you put yourself through it all?
I have personally given this much thought and have found over the years that there has been one answer that surfaces the most and that is, 'Because I am drawn to it'. I can still remember the day I knew I would row. It was infact the first time I saw an eight up close, to be honest it was the first time (that I can recall) that I had even seen or at least noticed a racing shell, it was stunning, the lines, the polished and varnished timber, the beauty and the grace of it. Sitting on the trestles in the middle of the school hall, just sitting there waiting to be christened, waiting to be placed where it belonged, on the water, waiting not only for it's crew, but beckoning them to step forth, calling out who shall pilot me, who shall accept the challenge.
I had never stepped foot in a shell before this, yet I could hear the call, I could feel it in every part of my body, every bone, every muscle hearing the challenge and wanting to step forth. I knew in my heart that this was for me. And I was only 11. I could feel the rythum and I wanted to be a part of it. The first opportunity i had, my name was on the list to row. Since then I spent my time in in heaven and hell. There is no words to explain the absolute ecstasy when the crew, either an individual in the single, a crew in an eight, or any of the combinations in between, finds that point of harmony. On the other side of the blade there is more words then one can put down to describe the absolute hell of the blisters, the energy expended day in/day out traveling the same route every morning, the early mornings, nd most of all the pain. The pain of the lactic acid that is built up in the muscles of an athlete, and for those unfortunate ones that have to experience, the pain of losing
As a coach I ask every athlete emparted to my teachings the same question, not because i care but because i need to know what drives them. Most of my school age charges respond with 'because dad did', or 'my brother/sister did', infrequently i hear 'because i'm expected to' this is normally follwed by the 'my brother/sister/father/mother did'. Unfortunately it has been too infrequently that I have had a response where I could hear the underlying passion, the draw to be on the water, the need to sit in the boat. Without this drive to be there they just athletes going through the motion, and never reach their full potential as rowers.