Houser’s first task was to figure out a way to get two rowing shells into the YMCA pool. She cased the entire building and ultimately found a route that only required negotiating the boat through four sets of doors, up three flights of steps, across a fitness room and down another flight. Houser was able to persuade “volunteers” to wrestle two fragile boats through her maze, and they managed to do it without a scratch. Of course there was another large problem. The YMCA swimming pool is only 25 yards long, and a rowing shell could cover that distance in less than two strokes. Houser’s solution was to put a boat at each end of the pool and tether them with a stout rope. The most powerful strokes would only propel the boat a few feet. When the boat was half way across the pool it was reeled back in like a huge fish.
The rest was child’s play, if you do not mind bobbing in water for several hours turning into a prune. Houser and other volunteers did just that as they coached the rookies in proper rowing techniques. Thirty-four beginners tried rowing for the first time, including Dayton City Commissioner Matt Joseph, who rowed his boat with the ease of a politician on the campaign trail.
First time rower Nan Holler-Potter’s reaction to trying to row a shell was typical. Holler-Potter works at the University Of Dayton School Of Law and regularly exercises on rowing machines at the UD Physical Activity Center. She was familiar with knowing how to push with her legs and pull with her arms while sliding back and forth on a tiny seat. Still, she was much more comfortable knowing that a coach was nearby helping to steady the boat and that should she happen to fall over-board she would land in a heated swimming pool and not the Miami River.
Holler-Potter’s reaction to the challenge of handling the oars was also typical. The oars in a shell are not user-friendly to beginners, even ones who have puttered around in friendly rowboats. Holler-Potter asked, “Why do the handles of the oars overlap so that the handle of the left oar has to pass over the handle of the right oar?” “Were they designed by a sadist to insure that a rower’s hands are covered with scratches and bruises?”
I had the same questions when I began rowing. I assumed the answer had something to do with making the boat go faster, but now I was motivated to answer Holler-Potter’s query. Fortunately, my son-in-law, Amar Bhagwat, has a PhD in physics, and he was eager to enlighten his father-in-law. Amar told me that it is all about “torque,” and gave me the formula that provides the answer: (F x L1)/L2 = (F x L1)/(L-L1). I will not rob you of the thrill of working out the equation on your own, but I can tell you that by doubling the length of the handle end of an oar you can more than double the power at the business end of the oar. Consequently a rower would say “The bruised knuckles are well worth it.”
If you would like to learn to row and possibly bruise a knuckle or two, check out the GDRA website, www.daytonrowing.org.
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