At my prime I weighed 100KG/220LBS and measure (still) 190cm/6'3''. If I seem "BIG" to you, I want to tell you that I was shorter than the rest of my single scull competitors. Even worse, I was shorter AND weighed more, bad combo if you don't have your rowing technique ducks lined up.
The point I am making above is that you don't have to be built like big beast to row fast. Below are a couple examples of fast crews:
- French Men's Pair Olympic Gold 2000.
- Australian Men's double Scull Olympic Gold 1992.
- Way back in 1972, Freddy Bachman and a Swiss beast in the Men's Pair 2-, won silver in Munich at the Olympics. This result is especially interesting because Freddy was a spare AND a lightweight. Freddy replaced the regular rower who had fallen ill. Because of Freddy's great technique and ability maximize his body for a highly effective stroke, that ODD Swiss couple walked away with a medal.
- Annelies Bredael won the Olympic silver medal between HUGE Women, Anne Marden USA, E. Lipa ROM, and S. Lauman.
- Katherine Rutchow Stomporofski
The key to rowing fast is to make sure that the larger muscles are used at the appropriate time during the rowing stroke. When a rower masters the power application sequence, he or she can go really fast no matter what size they are.
When I do private slow motion studies of rowers, obvious inefficiencies come to light. With the visual feedback, the rower can see the issues and hear my commentary, which makes improving technical deficiencies much easier. Without the visual feedback, a rower is reluctant to change because "change" does not feel "right".
I have had a lot of fun helping people on all continents with their rowing technique and training program. Currently I am advising the Mexican National Rowing Team. :-)
