So, when I saw one boat heading into the boat house on the bay off Lake Monona I started thinking about when I might be able to see the Wisconsin team in competition.
A few minutes later I saw two teams gliding across the lake followed by three people in a motor boat (not pictured).
The person to the far left of the boat in the upper right picture is the coxswain. The coxswain is responsible for verbally keeping those rowers together and adjusting their speed, direction, and timing as needed for the best possible performance.
The coxswain is usually pretty small so not much weight is added to the racing shell.
Other than rowing - sliding back and forth in their seats - only the boat seems to move.
The two boats on the water when I saw them were concluding practice, yet it was still very impressive to watch the boats glide in short powerful bursts.
When ever I tried to row a boat by myself it was all I could do to have it go straight across the lake. Maybe a coxswain in the stern of the boat would have helped my sense of direction.
In my defense it is difficult to see where you are going when you face backwards while moving the other direction.
It's an activity known mostly as an Olympic sport - which means that unlike basketball, football, and maybe hockey and volleyball (at least for U.W.) spectators don't attend in big enough numbers to produce supporting revenue.
The sport traces its origins back to contests staged between professional watermen who worked the River Thames in London early in the 18th century.Colleges in England developed teams in 1815 while Yale introduced the first American team in 1843.
All these years later - the shell, oars, and athletes have changed - but it's still another way to see who can go the fastest from point A to point B.
And another one of those activities you won't see just anywhere, but in Madison it's not a surprise at all.
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