What if you weren’t scared? What then?
30/8/2013

Yesterday I swapped sides … I’m not talking politics or gender reassignment here … but I overcame a massive fear and had a go …

You may be aware that I row, mostly sweep oar at Stroke (back of the boat, setting the pace, single oar on the right). Now most rowers have a “natural” side where they feel most comfortable and stick with it until rowing the other side becomes intolerable – perhaps like trying to dance on ice in flip-flops. Until last night, that was me. However, there were only two of us down to row – me as stroke for the ladies eight and Ashley, the stroke for the men’s eight. There ensued a battle of wills…

Ashley: “I’ve never rowed Bow side, it’d be a disaster – rowing in a pair (just two of us) is unstable enough as it is”

Me: “Yes, but last time I tried we returned within minutes to the landing stage, almost in tears”
Ashley: “OK, no problem, you go out in a single scull and I won’t row”
Me: “But you’ve driven almost thirty miles to be here!”
Ashley: “No, it’s fine …” (several minutes passed, I got out blades for a scull, growling softly.)
Me: “OK … I’ll row bow, but don’t blame me if we go swimming …”

I swapped the blades and helped put the boat in the water with as much grace as I could muster (I get bolshie when I’m scared!) My heart was pounding, I felt sick, every muscle in my body was taut. I just kept telling myself …” you can do this, it’s the same, just the other way around.”

Duncan, who was coaching a scull, grinned encouragingly at me as I picked my way through the weeds. Bow can spend a lot of time in the weeds when the river’s busy, as they always row closest to the bank. Getting your blade caught when rowing at full pelt is just asking to catch a crab (lose your blade and even your seat and crash flat on your back in the boat – both painful, embarrassing and potentially very wet!)

Bow also has to turn around to check for obstacles and steer the boat by altering the pressure and communicating with Stroke. Ashley, a teacher, was very encouraging and instantly responded to all my requests “ease up stroke side/firmer your side to get us around the bend”. I began to relax, well, my shoulders at least, that’s about the only part of one’s body that is relaxed in rowing, apart from the scalp! I was completely focused, I concentrated on the process, began to trust my muscle memory, just adjusting my arms in the stroke and feeling for the balance.

We had a brilliant outing! The weather was perfect, the river was like glass, there was no breeze and the sunset was superb. With so few light evenings left we had made the most of it and I overcame my belligerent (frightened) refusal to try and had a go! And, I know that whoever’s down to row I will always get an outing because I can row both sides!

How will you push your boundaries this week? What heart stopping stretch could you make to have more … fun, friendship, business, success?