This photo from rower's world, posted on The Angry Platypus Blog got me thinking about technique. Of course the difference in that race could be attributed to just about anything. But, whether it was the Lance Armstrong as a rower series, or the discussion of the impeller's ability to reflect intra-stroke changes in technique, no matter how we break down the science of rowing, technique always comes into play.
Let's take a 2000 m race as being about 220 strokes - more for some, less for others but there's an approximate number. What could you do to improve your technique and add one cm to the length of each stroke - just one little centimeter. How much length do you normally miss at the catch? Multiply by 220 and what do you get? 220 cm, or 2.2 meters (7.22 feet) a lot more than the race in that photo was won by. Small changes can make a big difference 2000 meters later!
