You have to put the squared and moving blade into a file folder using an 11 1/2' pole while traveling 12mph backwards on an unstable platform and in perfect unison. Oh, and don't forget that you are committing athletic suicide at the same time. As one approaches the catch, any extraneous movement that interferes with the rower's ability to change direction, get the legs on, stabilize the body, or control the handle(s) must be eliminated.

The thing about rowing is that you'll get punished, tattered, you'll sweat, you'll bleed, you'll cry, and you'll be in more pain than ever before but every time you will get back up, possessed by the power to win, and you will never give up.

That's the thing about rowing - you always have that option to quit. With 750m to go you are totally allowed to say "fuck this", get off the erg, and never look back but every rower I've ever met has something to prove, whether it's to their team, their coach, their parents, or themselves, they have to prove that they are stronger than they think. That's the thing about rowing. It proves that just because you have the opportunity to give up, doesn't mean you will.

Character is a lot like the wind or gravity. You can't see it, you can only see evidence of it. Character, at least as it pertains to athletics, means persevering through adversity, a willingness to keep grinding it out when you feel like you can't and putting the success of the team ahead of individual success.

It’s addictive, it’s painful, everything hurts, everything burns, rowing is hell.

At first glance, rowing seems like the simplest of sports: blades go one way, boat goes the other. Pure, uncomplicated, elegant. But just as we're seduced by its beautiful simplicity, we all eventually become obsessed with its complex parts - and there are plenty of complex parts to keep us entertained. We've all got something to learn, whether it's mastering the set in a single after sweeping for eight years or lowering our erg scores just before the dawn of spring. Indeed, perhaps if we had it all figured out we wouldn't keep coming back for more.

Kate Siber

Every stroke must be your best stroke, otherwise, you’re just a waste of a seat on the boat. Anyone who cheats the stroke, cheats their boat.