Looking for a sport that will float your boat? Grab an oar
Life is but a dream: 17-year-old Sally O'Brien, who is a member of Neptune Rowing Club at Islandbridge, pictured on the Liffey
Rowing is a sport that's often overlooked even though it's an activity that can benefit males and females of all ages. It's also an effective way to build strength and achieve cardiovascular fitness -- not to mention that it's one of the few sports that uses every part of the body.
In addition, because it's still a relatively small sport, it boasts a great sense of community.
Sally O'Brien (17) has formed strong friendships with teammates who train with her on the Liffey weir in Neptune Rowing Club at Dublin's Islandbridge.
"I don't go out on Friday and Saturday nights with my school friends because I have training early on Saturday and Sunday mornings, but being down here at the club makes up for it," she says.
Youngsters usually don't take up competitive or club rowing before the age of 13 or 14 because they wouldn't be able for the oars and the boats.
Pia Dolan (14) joined Neptune last autumn after doing a summer camp at the club.
"I knew I'd get to meet new people and make good friends for life if I joined and started rowing competitively."
Her club mate Sally discovered rowing around the age of 14 as well, and the timing could not have been better -- it was just as she was about to leave her GAA club.
At the age when many girls are beginning to give up team sports, rowing can renew interest in fitness activities while building social skills.
"Girls dropping out of team sports in their early teens is an international phenomenon," explains Sheila O'Flanagan, Director of the Irish Sports Council.
"We are doing our best to create an environment where girls will continue with team sport, but there's no simple solution," she says.
According to Lisa Hayden of Rowing Ireland, the sport suits virtually all types of adults and teens, and all levels of competitiveness.
"What's nice about rowing is you can take it up as a recreational sport quite late. A lot of women will start when they're in their thirties.
"In Commercial Rowing Club at Islandbridge in Dublin, there's a veterans' crew made up of women who rowed competitively in their youth, while in Municipal Rowing Club, they even run an active age group where they have retired men and women out rowing.
"Because it's a non-weight-bearing activity, you can do it until the end of your days," says Lisa.
Rowing requires flexibility, strength, balance and coordination. It also demands concentration, especially when working on technical aspects of a stroke.
For example, when sculling in a double -- a boat where each of the two rowers has a set of oars -- the two sets of oars should be moving simultaneously. The rowers have to be virtually of one mind.
Although it's a challenging sport, the benefits of rowing are phenomenal.
"Rowing demands a lot of commitment and you'll find that the more you get into it the more you'll be training, but the sport is addictive," says Lisa Hayden.
Sally O'Brien's mum Caroline has found this level of dedication among rowers typically goes beyond the training and racing.
"Rowers are people who are absolutely driven in every facet of their lives and they achieve a high level of success in so much of what they do."
Pia Dolan's mum, Dara, thinks rowing is especially beneficial for teenage girls.
"It keeps them busy and active and it's also a great learning experience. The need to work together is probably more important in rowing than in other team sports. The crew is depending on each other and every member must work in unison."
With just 80 clubs around the country, rowing is still a minority sport, although a secondary schools programme, organised by Rowing Ireland, aims to raise greater awareness of it.
Jim Campbell, captain of Neptune Rowing Club, attributes this minority status to its low profile when compared with team sports such as football and GAA. He also explains that rowing skills can take years to perfect.
"People think they can just come down to the club, quickly pick up the rowing and be off. It takes at least a year to learn the skills and it takes five years to make someone a rower.
"Rowing involves more than just work on the water," he continues. "There's a lot of conditioning in the gym with weights to build fitness and power."
According to Aidan Woods, who was physiotherapist to the Irish Olympic rowing team between 2002 and 2008, it is an ideal sport for females. In fact, he says, some of the best rowers in this country have been women.
"Sinead Jennings, one of the finest female athletes in any discipline to come out of Ireland, won the World Rowing Championship in 2001.
"But the numbers are very small and we need to encourage more females to take up the sport in order compete at an international level."
Activities take place around the country during the year. For details about these and for club contacts see Rowing Ireland -- www.iaru.ie Neptune Rowing Club -- www.neptunerowingclub.com
Originally published in
