On an erg, extra force produces an immediate improvement in the split. On the water, I started to notice strokes that felt extremely powerful while the boat still felt heavy underneath. That’s when I realized producing power and converting that power into speed are two different skills.
Power is still essential, though. A 2024 study of junior and elite single scullers found strong relationships between rowing power, gate force, distance per stroke, and boat speed (Legge et al., 2024).
Not all power applied to the handle becomes useful propulsion. The blade has to transfer that energy into the water while the rest of the body transfers force through the feet and the shell. In an on-water study of 21 crews, biomechanist Valery Kleshnev estimated that about 77.6% of the mechanical energy applied to the handle contributed to propulsion, while 17.8% was lost through the blade moving water and another 5.6% through fluctuations in shell velocity. Blade efficiency was linked to the ratio of average handle force to peak force — sustaining pressure mattered more than one enormous spike (Kleshnev, 1999).
There’s also the idea of “check.” Throughout each stroke, the rower’s body moves relative to the shell, which accelerates and decelerates the boat. Rushing the slide, stopping suddenly at the catch, or throwing the upper body around disturbs that momentum. Because water resistance rises quickly with speed, these fluctuations waste more energy than they save — larger speed changes within a stroke mean greater energy loss (Hill and Fahrig, 2009).
Crew boats add one more variable: synchronization. If rowers don’t apply pressure at the same time and to the same peak force, the boat can’t reach its maximum speed. In a study of elite junior crews, feedback aimed at improving synchronization produced significantly faster boat speeds without any increase in handle power or physiological effort — the same power, applied more effectively (Schaffert and Mattes, 2016).
The goal isn’t to row softly. It’s to connect before accelerating, apply pressure smoothly, move patiently on the recovery, and match the crew. Power creates potential. Technique determines how much of it moves the boat.