Two months with the UOM rowing crew

University of Moratuwa won the 29 th annual Inter University regatta beating University of Colombo rowing team by 40-2.

 This is what many (If you haven't read it anywhere, this is one of the many reasons why you should follow me on Twitter) would have read in a Facebook status or in Twitter. But what goes unsaid behind that status is that the amount of hard work that was put behind that victory. 

 I am just a novice in our university rowing crew and have only been training with the crew for a paltry 2 months. So my knowledge about rowing is no better than yours. So I will not be blabbering  about the technical area of our victory (Which I couldn't do even if I wanted to) , But as I see it, our victory was not about being better technically!! But it is about the passion we have for the sport!!

Mora Rowing crew

They Hate Land
Most important thing about the Mora rowing crew is that they hate land. Every second on land is a second wasted for them. They come to practices at morning 5.30 and practice till 11 15 and as though it is not enough they come in the evening also. To think they do this 6 days a week, you will get the vague picture of how much they hate land and love water. Even during practices they rarely spent time on land. They are either in water practicing or in the land doing exercises. For them Land is the place where you do the fitness exercises so you can improve your rowing skills.

They only talk about rowing
I have rarely seen them talking anything but rowing!! Talking about how they can improve their style, their timing, their fitness and some other things (which I am pretty sure also would have been about rowing, I stopped listening after a while). I have to mention Thilina aiyya, he is so important when it comes to talking about rowing. When I came for the practices for the first time I was one of the the two tamil guys in the crew and had some problems in communicating with others. And he is the one who came and talked with me (of course about rowing) and helped me a lot during the practices. He is the classic example for Rowing talk, he talks about rowing as though it is the second best thing to be discovered after bread!

This is Rowing club not the fighting club!!

Even the jokes they say in the dressing room are about rowing. I cant even understand half of those jokes, partly because they say it in Sinhala and partly because it is about rowing. Simply they all are what you call Rowing nerds!!
Even During the Bus ride to our university after winning the regatta 40-2 the first talk they had was about giving that 2 points to the opposition!! They genuinely regretted giving away that 2 points to them thus not being able to white wash them. What kind of victory talk is that, But that is rowing.
All this passion and love is not limited to the seniors of the crew, junior crew members are also equally passionate about the sport.
The main thing you need to know about rowing before joining it is "Rowing Is Hard". They make you to do all kind of fitness exercises available. Our running practices makes you wonder whether you are practicing for the athletics team or rowing team. But these guys from my batch they just don't understand the hardships of rowing. If the coach asked us to do 100 push ups their response would be "what just 100 push ups, I can do 150 and I will do 150". Some might call it 'over enthusiastic' but I prefer the word 'crazy'. But to be fair I am the different one among them.
Maybe that's why we won the Inter Uni Regatta!! Their dedication and commitment to the game.
But the best thing about them is how they motivate the people who are struggling to do the fitness .
The way they shout and cheer us to the end does actually work. Whenever they shout "You can do it Sutharman, Rowing is not for every one, only for the committed and motivated" it does give you the urge and the energy for you to finish. Rowing people maybe the meanest guys in the world when it comes to fitness sessions, They never let you to stop in the middle. But they are also the nicest after those fitness sessions. The way they come and talk with you after those sessions does help you in recovering.

Practicing in the boat is a whole another dilemma. You have to row for one full km without stopping. That's not the hard part. Hard part is when they ask you "Are you tired machan, can you row for another km ??". There is no correct reply for this question. If you say Yes, then you will get some water and some advice. "Rowing is hard machan, If you are tired after rowing 1 km how are you going to do all the races, see other rowers they row at least 12 kms a day, and here you are saying you are tired after rowing for one km.". If you say no then you have to row without any water. It is a no win situation for you. I still dont know how to reply that question.
But as I said earlier these little things are what makes us the champions of water. Technical supremacy is there but the passion they have about rowing is what makes them different from others. I don't know anything about the rowing crew of University of Colombo, But it is very much improbable to have another team which shares this kind of passion to the sport.

One guy in the crew actually said to me that he came to University of Moratuwa just to join the rowing crew. If the team which has a guy like this doesn't deserve to win the regatta, then which team deserves it more!!!