When rowing is done right, it looks effortless, graceful and powerful. Eight athletes completely in sync, working together to propel the boat across the water.
Like a baby learning to walk, prospective members took their first awkward strokes on their way to mastering the ultimate team sport during the LSU rowing club’s annual Learn to Reaux event last Thursday and Friday.
Over the course of the two-day event, almost 200 students came to the dock to give rowing a try. Coach Kyle Parker credited the club’s strong presence at last week’s Student Involvement Fair for the record turnout.
“A lot of people who come to talk to us at Learn to Reaux days think you need to have a ton of experience or you need to be 6-foot-7 in order to row,” Parker said. “As soon as they find out that you can just be Joe Schmo, … they get really interested.”
Parker compared a rowing stroke to a golf swing, noting the tendency of beginners to try to make big changes to their form when only a minor adjustment is necessary. The motions are unique to each sport, which makes them difficult to verbalize to a complete novice.
Since the majority of prospective members have no experience, returning members spent most of the event patiently coaching them through the basics of the rowing stroke. Using four stationary rowing machines, or ergs, beginners slowly started to feel the rhythm of the stroke.
“Legs, back, arms, then arms, back, legs,” English junior Selena Johnson said to a group on the ergs. “If it feels natural right now, you are probably doing it wrong.”
Once they felt comfortable on the ergs, prospective members moved to the dock. Six of them joined two returning members in a boat launching from the dock, along with a coxswain — a person who faces the rowers and gives instruction.
Almost immediately, the new members appeared to forget everything they learned on land. They focused on their own strokes, trying to recall the cadence they learned earlier in the day. In doing so, they lost sight of the fact that stroking together is more efficient and easier for everyone.
After spending around half an hour on the water, boats started to come in to dock and pick up new groups of eager freshmen. Many getting off the boats got right back in line, hoping to get another chance on the water.
Petroleum engineering freshman Joe Coleman said ergs are great for conditioning, but they only vaguely resemble the
feeling of rowing on the water.
“[On the water] you have to balance with the whole [boat], and timing your strokes is an issue because you have to work with the person in front of you, and the person in front of them, and so on and so forth,” Coleman said. “On the ergs, you just sit there.”
Parker and the returning members were thrilled at the turnout for Learn to Reaux and openly wondered what they would do if all of the prospective members arrived at the dock for their first practice at 6 a.m. Monday morning.
While some of them are bound to be turned off by the thought of working out before the sun comes up, Coleman knows he will be there.
“I’m not thrilled about having to wake up for my 7:30 [a.m.] class every day, and I’m not too happy about waking up at 5:45 for practice either,” Coleman said. “But [rowing] is a lot of fun and this is what you have to do, so I’ll do it.”
“As soon as they find out that you can just be Joe Schmo … They get really interested.”

Gallery • 3 Photos

Richard Redmann

LSU biological engineer sophomore Jake Braum explains the motions of rowing Sept. 12, 2013 to a group of participants in the Luthern Student Center's parking lot.