5 Life Lessons from 6 months of rowing on the Po
Written by: Wenlin Tan, technical info reviewed by Emanuele Giacosa (in italian)
Life is a river, learn to flow with it
Image from Il Giornale del Po
How I started this journey with the art of rowing and how this article arose
Unlike many others who came to rowing as a sport or to be in contact with nature, my encounter with the art of rowing and the Water is peculiar. I work as a Creative Flow coach and my work is deeply influenced by the structure of the 5 Elements and the Creative Cycle.
In the lunar calendar 2023 was the year of Water. From the beginning of my life journey I intuitively knew that Water would become a crucial element in allowing me to live my best life and realize my full potential. So I made 2023 my year of learning from Water in various ways, including teaching Water Yoga and offering Water Massage, and became a student of the art of rowing at Canottieri Cerea.
Of the Five Elements, Water is closest to the Source / Divine / God. If we learn from Water, through the art of rowing we learn Water’s qualities, states and how to flow with it, we can also harness the secret to be in flow with life itself: with minimal effort we can achieve maximum results. In Daoist philosophy, also in martial arts, the name for this is called WuWei (无为) (“Effortless Action”). And that’s what this article is about.
1. To row better, faster: Learn and follow the 4 seasons and rhythms (of life)
I have observed that the most obvious difference between expert rowers and novices lies their knowledge and embodiment of the rhythm and quality of the 4 seasons of rowing. Like the four seasons or the four phases of the moon, each rowing phrase (Finish, Recovery, Catch and Drive) has a unique quality and a different pace and quality:
RECOVERY (Water, Winter): Time to rest and let what you have done and time do the magic. Gently prepare the next stroke unhurried, orderly and important (arms, pelvis, torso, legs). During this phase, recover and let the boat flow beneath you. In the project cycle this is intention-setting & ideation. More about Recovery (article in Italian).
All GIFs created by me from a video by Coach Fede, stroke demonstrated by Emanuele, Stefano, Edoardo and Maurizio of Reale Società Canottieri Cerea
CATCH (Wood, Spring): Acting without adequately preparing means failure. This is the time to precisely yet gently position your body and the oars well to prepare for the next phase, the Drive. In the project cycle this is vision & planning. More about Catch (article in italian).
DRIVE (Fire, Summer): If you doubt yourself or hold unnecessary tension you cannot access your full power. There is no time for self-doubt or playing small. Execute the stroke completely and smoothly without hesitation. In the project cycle this is execution.
FINISH (Metal Autumn): The time to finish the stroke, balance yourself, reflect on what went well and what wasn’t good, let go of what you’ve already done and prepare for the next stroke/cycle. In the project cycle this means reviewing and refining.
Transitions (Earth, Crossovers): Each of the four stages need to seamlessly flow from one to the over for the stroke to be effective.
Experienced rowers know the differences well – for example, during the Drive one has to push quickly and with all their strength without hesitation. And during the Recovery one must patiently let the boat slide under without haste.
To row fast and proficiently, one must learn and know when to be fast, when to be slow, gentle, when to pause to recover. This is the same in life – you must learn when best to pause, take time to recover, and when to act with full power without hesitation.
2. To row further effortlessly: Don’t interfere, Let time do its magic (let the boat slide under you)
Like a spreading wave, every action we take takes time to take effect. In rowing, you have to take your time during the finish, to let the boat slide underneath you.
Your boat and your oars move in opposite directions
Image from Rowing In Motion
However, if we become impatient and immediately make the next stroke, we waste energy and nullify our previous efforts, because the movement of the boat (forward under you) is contrary to the movement of the oars and stroke (backward). Embrace the rower’s way: Don’t interfere with life. Act when the time is ripe, let time do it’s magic. More about it here.
3. To feel less stressed: Learn to discern when problems resolve on their own
In the first weeks of rowing, I often felt stressed, because there were so many other boats in the river, and I was afraid of colliding with others or hurting them. An important skill for beginners is learning to discern when to shout to warn others and when to widen to avoid collisions (without telling others).
Life is a river: each of us is in our own boat trying not to collide with each other
Immagine da Mole24
I later learned how to shout to alert other boats of my presence and how to steer my boat to avoid them, which helped, but I still felt nervous and tried to pre-emptively change course when I noticed an oncoming rower.
The turning point came one day when I realized that, more often than not, I was seeing a problem when there was none. In many cases I have predicted a collision but in reality, if I let things take their course, there would be no collision.
This is the same in life: we must learn to discern when we are interfering unnecessarily by trying solve a ‘problem’ that will resolve itself, and when instead we must take decisive action by adapting our behavior or influencing others to change their behavior.
4. To move beyond stagnation: Recognize and overcome your perceived limits through intentional practice
Through rowing I discovered that I have countless self-imposed, perceived limits. For example, after rowing we have to return the oars. Once, the others took the boats, but I went to get the oars. I saw that there are 6 oars left. I’ve never seen anyone take more than 4 oars, and never tried. But I didn’t want to make 2 trips or wait for help. I wanted to try and so I did, I carried 6 oars, without straining! In reality, if positioned well, carrying multiple oars can be easy:
Knowing the right technique can make carrying the oars much easier
Image from Decent Rowing
So why did I have the impression that 4 oars are the maximum to carry? The reason isn’t because it’s not possible to carry more than 4 oars but because it’s usually never been necessary. In rowing we row in multiples of 2: single, double, quad and eight. In the single, 2 oars are carried, in the double, a maximum of 4 oars are carried; in a quad, 2 people clean the boat and the other 2 carry the 8 oars (4 each), and so on. There is typically never the need for any person to carry more than 4 oars.
The only way to know if you can carry 5, 6, even 10 oars is to try and fail. Many of us don’t like to fail, so we don’t try. If growth is important, it is important to constantly question your perceived limits. These questions may be helpful:
- Wha’ts holding me back? Is self-doubt in my ability (perceived limit) or that I really can’t right now (true physical/mental limit)?
- Who established these limits? Where do they come from?
- What technique / tool / support do I need to get to the next level?
5. To realize your full potential: Stop over relying on your strengths
We live in an age where there is a strong emphasis on identifying your strengths and relying on them to move forward in your career, relationships, and personal life. And there are people who rely on their strengths all their lives without recognizing or working on their weaknesses. Strengths are powerful but they can only take you so far. At some point your growth will plateau and you will reach stagnation.
If you truly want to reach your full potential you must stop over relying on your strengths and identify, recognize and work on your weakness, your dark side. This is especially evident in sculling, because it is a bilateral sport. Before I started sculling I knew that my right side, which is my dominant side, was stronger, but I had no idea how much I was overly relying on it.
In my first months in 2023 sculling in a duo or quad as a novice, often only my left forearm felt fatigued by the end of the training. One Saturday during the first months rowing, I couldn’t even keep the boat centered because my left hand couldn’t turn the oar properly.
It is not easy to turn the oars correctly using only your fingers (instead of your wrist)
Image from Neil Bergenroth: Rowing Coach
No amount of correction or guidance from my instructor Bruno could help me: I already knew the mistake I was making, but I couldn’t correct it because I had reached a real physical limit. What I needed was dedicated practice over a period of time aimed at improving the strength and mobility of my left hand.
Later on, this costly weaknesses showed up in November 2024 during the first race I ever attempted: Silverskiff, Italy’s longest endurance regata of 11km, where my left arm failed me and I struggled to keep the boat centered, turn and even complete the race.
Another example applied to rowing is strength versus flexibility and agility. The best rowers are strong while having a great degree of flexibility and agility. If you are naturally flexible but lack strength and power, then this should be your goal. If you are strong and have a lot of power but lack flexibility, especially in hip mobility and bending forward, this is the key to your growth, practices like Yin Yoga can help you.
This extends beyond rowing. In most situations, to achieve the best possible result, we must be able to balance our strengths and weaknesses, for example, we must freely access both left and right hemisphere thinking, being able to rely on habitual patterns and learned behaviors (left hemisphere), while having the openness and agility necessary to find new solutions and respond uniquely to situations different from those we have encountered (right hemisphere).
To reach our full potential we must embody Yin-Yang
Image from Wenlintan.com
The same goes for masculine and feminine energy – we need a blend of both in our interactions in life. If you find it easy to be decisive, create clarity in chaos, narrow down options, take charge and speak up, then what will take you to the next level is learning how and when to allow and be patient, being comfortable sitting with uncertainty, openness to new possibilities, take a backseat and allow and co-create with others, and vice versa.
The journey continues…
The next part of this series will share a simple action you can take to get to the next level, how to manage and live in a time of uncertainty, and other topics to row with others.
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