A former Olympian taught me about rowing. Here’s what I took away from it

The idea of gliding along the water, with your rowing partner in stride sounds nothing short of relaxing. Or, so I thought. But once I tried my hand (or should I say both hands?) at double sculls, the saying of “things aren’t always what they seem” proved true.

My rowing teacher was Grace Luczak, a Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympian. Grace did an excellent job teaching me the terminology, helping me perfect my form, and reassuring me we wouldn’t fall in the water.

We only spent an hour on the water, but I can assure you rowing is a full-body workout and it requires more leg strength than upper body strength. Consistency and steadiness are key to mastering your stroke. And yes, you are rowing backwards the entire time.

As with all sports, mental toughness will carry you far as a team, and getting into a flow was easy with Grace as my teacher. I wasn’t competing with the best of the best and I definitely had a few bad strokes. Overall, the experience was quite calming.

You can watch me test my rowing skills in the video above.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: A former Olympian taught me about rowing. Here’s what I took away from it