The love story about me and rowing

Okay, so I thought I might tell you a bit about how and why I started rowing today. You know, the lovestory about me and rowing.

Once upon a time (last summer) there was a young princess (yes, me) going on a canoe trip with her faithful esquire (one of my very good friends), not knowing how her life would change drastically once she got home. It was a very exciting canoe trip where the princess and the esquire had to fight their way past frightful weather and horrible monsters (some very VERY aggressive swans) and more than once they thought they would never get home alive (honestly, there wasn't a single second where we thought that). But eventually they returned safely to the castle where they lived, having had a very good canoe trip.

The princess was so excited about the trip that she started to follow the rowing tournament (the Olympic Games) because rowing is as close to canoeing as you can get. The princess found that rowing was much better than canoeing and one day when the queen (my sweet mother) got tired of the princess watching the tournament all the time, she said the following to the princess: "My dear, if you enjoyed your canoe trip so much, and if you like watching the rowing tournament so much now, why do you not start rowing yourself?" And the princess thought to herself, well, why not?

So she started to look into the business and discovered that: a) there was a rowing club in her kingdom (my town) and that b)  the rowing club was having a rowing week for novices (kids between 11 and 17) just like her where they would introduce new people to rowing. The princess immediately sign up for it and for weeks  she looked forward to it. She convinced one of her maids (yet another of my very good friends) to go to the event with her.The week finally came and for five days from 10 am to 3 pm the princess and her maid went down to the local rowing club and learned how to row.

How I felt after summer rowing school

When the week had come to an end the princess had to choose weather to continue at the rowing club or resign and never row again, there was no doubt in her heart. She had found her knight in shining armour and from that day on the princess and Rowing lived happily ever after.



So as you can see, it was love at first sight with me and rowing. If you understood nothing from my little fairy tale (I wouldn't blame you), here is a short summery: I went on a canoe trip and liked it a lot. I started watching rowing in the Olympic Games and liked it even more. I started at a summer rowing school in the local rowing club where I was introduced to rowing and the people down there. I loved it and joined the club. End of story.

Now one of you guys asked how the people in the rowing sport are, if they are reserved and very closed, and yes, to some amount they are. Rowers like their safe and comfortable community, where they know everybody and everybody knows who you are. So perhaps yes, a little reserved. At least reserved until you show just the tiniest interest in rowing. Then they come at you like hungry wolves and try to recruit you at all cost. That is what happened to me. When I went to the summer rowing school I met a girl who needed a partner for a double sculler, and she took good care of me (and still does). She showed me the do's and don'ts in the rowing world and I think meeting her and her unconquerable enthusiasm about rowing is part of the reason why I kept rowing after the summer rowing school. Of course apart from the total awesomeness of rowing, obviously...

I think I could keep blabbering on and on about the joys of rowing and why I started, but I suspect it might start boring you guys, so I better stop now while the going is still good. So, see you next week guys!

Love Christine