Rowing doesn't feel good. Winning feels good.

There's nothing limiting how good your next stroke can be.

Every stroke is a choice. It is an individual and personal decision whether or not you want to win or you want to lose. Whether it is 150 strokes, 200, or 5000, every single time you come up to the catch you have to decide. Because that conscious decision is the difference between first place and last place. Every time you come up to the catch and bring your oar back into the rushing water, you must push off and churn the water with every fiber of your being. No one else can do that for you and you have seven other brothers and/or sisters giving it their all for you.

But in the future, you will face obstacles. Don’t let  them scare you. Fear is part of the game. Trying things  outside of your comfort zone is essential because your ability to grow as a person is directly related to the amount of  insecurity you can handle.

Bruce Jenner

The driving effort is carefully quantified in the psyche of every practicing oarsman. Half-power is like walking up a flight of stairs; three-quarters power is the same as a steady jog up those stairs; full-power is the equivalent of running to the top of Mt. Whitney. Then comes race-power. This is a special category, reserved for the ultimate in physical expression. At the completion of the final stroke of a close race, an oarsman should collapse over his oar, having spent every possible ounce of energy. Fainting from exhaustion at the finish line, although rarely seen, is greatly respected among competitors.

Brad Alan Lewis 1984 USA M2x

Races are won by those who refuse to be beaten.

Champions do not become champions when they win the event, but in the hours, weeks, months and years they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance itself is merely the demonstration of their championship character.

T. Alan Armstrong