ROWER'S ANTHEM
You are a part of a select group of people.
You do something that few people are willing to do and most are afraid to
experience.
You push yourself, day in and day out to your limit, and beyond. Ignoring the
exhaustion and the pain, perhaps thriving on it. Mental and physical suffering
are common place, an accepted fact, yet you push through all of that, forever
keeping your eye on your goal. Striving, despite all else, for victory.
You are a rower.
Rowing is not easy, by any measure. If it was, everyone would do it. But they
don't, because they are afraid of early mornings, and long afternoons in the
winter spent on the ergometer. But most of all, they are afraid of committing
themselves one hundred percent to something as difficult as rowing. Because
rowing is the antithesis of instant gratification. The rewards are hard earned
and slow in coming, if they come at all. And most of us, whether we admit it or
not, are also afraid of these things. But we set ourselves apart, by refusing to
allow these fears to control us We can see past the long hard road of training
which leads to the possibility of victory, and still we accept the challenge,
knowing full well, it may never "pay off" in the form of a medal at the end of
the spring. But the sport is about so much more than the hardware you bring
home. These are not the true rewards of rowing, although, they may seem like it
at times. The greatest prize is not hung around your neck, it is formed inside
you, and it is won by all rowers. It is the strength of will, and sense of
determination which anyone, who has ever pushed themselves past their breaking
point, and still refused to quit, develops. Have pride in what you are doing.
Rowing is a great thing done by great people.
It is sweet pain, and it is noble madness.
It is what we do, and who we are.
This is the Rower's Anthem.