I walk into the boathouse slowly. My body is buzzing with a mix of fear and excitement. It has been about two years since I got into the boat since my injury. The instructor Doug introduces himself and asks if I have ever rowed before. I hesitate then tell him my story. He said he has also had a neck injury and is confident I can return to rowing again.
We begin with some instruction on the erg [rowing machine]. I strap my feet in and lean forward to grab the handle. I scrunch my body forward , arms straight. I then push back with my legs , lean back and pull with my arms. I push my arms forward before letting my legs come back forward, the seat sliding to the front .
Doug stops me mid-stroke to remind me to keep tension in the hamstrings. He explains that to keep stability in the hips I need to turn my heels slightly towards each other - balls of the feet away - softly on the recovery and aggressively on the drive. He says it looks like I am not pressing as hard on my right foot. When I explained I broke my right foot a few months ago he nods and says that would explain it. Doug reminds me to sit up straight and to look straight ahead , not down at my hands.
We flip over a boat and carry it out to the water . Doug shows me how to screw the oars to into the oar locks to secure them. I hold both oar handles to steady the boat as I get in .I roll my seat forward as I “feather” the blade by flattening it on the water. I scrunch my body forward until I am holding the oar handles still between my stomach and knees. My left hand is over my right and my grip is loose on the oar. I then “ square” the blades so that they are dipping straight into the water. I look up towards the front of the boat and pull . The long paddles crash into the water, pull the water and boat forward and then skip flat along the water on the return. The sun reflects like a million tiny diamonds on the water. My muscles feel warm and I am falling into the rowing rhythm quickly. As John Dryden said ," Sweet is pleasure after pain."
I am moving backwards and have to look over my shoulder after about 5 strokes. I see the dock behind me and square my blade to hold water so I can begin to turn around . I realize I waited too long to turn and am soon backed into the dock pilings. Doug notices me and screams out to feather my left blade and row with the right to get out. After a few minutes of figuring out the turn , I am out and paddle back to the beach.
Doug tells me another coach offered to go over to over in a boat to rescue me but he told them I would not need any help. Sculling is very different than other types of paddling I have done. With dragon boating or sweep boating there have always been other paddlers in the boat. Now it was only me. Doug showed me I would be just fine on my own. He had faith in me so I did too. The boat was also now going backward but I was getting more comfortable with each time I launched.
We next take out a double and Doug sits behind me to further work on stroke mechanics, backing up , and turning. We pull the boat ashore and lift it on our shoulders to carry up to the boat racks. I look at the boat. It is gray and in yellow letters says “ I CAN , I WILL”. I smile.
The journey back into the boat has been long and hard but I have come back with a new appreciation for my time on the water. It is my release , my solace , and where I belong. In rowing , we face backwards in order to see how far we have come instead of how far we have to go.
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