If you love the water, you can learn a lifelong sport that provides an aerobic and whole-body muscle exercise. Well maybe you don't have to love the water, but it helps. Single Scull Rowing for Beginners can help you learn to row in a single scull. The ebook and paperback are now available.
AL Jenkins always wanted to scull. She didn't grow up by any suitable body of water. Her colleges didn't have teams, and she was working while in college. Motherhood and gradschool filled decades. She still wanted to row. Now she has a scull, knows how to use it, and has co-authored the guide: Single Scull Rowing for Beginners.
Jenkins had seen single sculls in the Olympics, and she was inspired by the opening scene of a Meryl Streep movie, The River Wild.
River Wild.’ Steep seemed so strong and healthy as she rowed: the academy-award-winner sold Jenkins on the sport. She moved to a lake that seemed perfectly suited to sculling and Jenkins could picture herself and the Zen of gliding across the water with rhythmic strokes powered by all four limbs. No one else on the lake sculled.
The more she looked at the lake, the greater the urge became. Jenkins, also a nurse, learned about the full-body benefits from cardiac health to muscle strength. She’d only rowed in a scull twice and never had any formal instruction. But she bought a scull and was determined to learn to use it. When asked about her attraction to sculling, Jenkins replied:
“I love the water, and I love to row. As I age, I’m looking for ways to get a full-body workout that isn’t likely to cause injury. Sculling gets me outside and on the water as it builds cardiac health and muscle strength.”
Teaching herself presented a challenge. Most books seemed too complicated and offered competitive advice for athletes. Where was a book to learn the basics for those who are drawn to the health benefits and joys of sculling? Jenkins has authored hundreds of articles and essays and is the award-winning author of ‘Every Natural Fact,’ Holy Cow Press.
She connected with Peinert Boatworks, a boat builder in Mattapoisett, Massachusetts. They had commissioned a basic instruction pamphlet that she found helpful. Jenkins and Peinert teamed up to write a guide that would help anyone begin the sport of single scull rowing. She picked up the pen name AL Jenkins for this project and wrote about her personal experience in learning to row as well as information about the history and health benefits of rowing. The short, practical book explains how anyone who is lucky enough to have access to a body of water can learn to scull. Jenkins adds:
“I might not look like a college athlete out there, especially as I get in and out of the boat. But it sure is fun, and it sure is good for me. That’s a winning combination. I’d love to see others pick up this sport.”
Her guide to sculling Single Scull Rowing for Beginners is available in print and ebook formats booksellers like Amazon, or through your favorite bookstore.
In 1947, Kelly Jr. won the Diamond Challenge Sculls (single scull) at the Henley, the event from which his father had been excluded. In recognition of his accomplishment, Kelly was awarded the 1947 James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States.
By the way!
Thanks much for the great info about Kelly.