An old friend asked for help from several rowing friends in defining ‘swing’ for non-rowers. For rowers, swing is a sensation that occurs (rarely) when the crew feels like it’s going faster than ever, while working less. My friend wanted to explain the feeling in a speech to a bunch of engineers at Intel (team-building exercise? motivational speech?). Here was what I came up with:
Swing is…
Physical evidence that everyone in the boat is REALLY thinking about the exact same thing at the exact same moment. Not a single distraction is crossing anyone’s mind… no “when is this piece going to end?,” no “did I remember to tape that show?,” no “I haven’t talked to my father in a while,” no “I’m hungry,” nothing. No stray thoughts.Physical embodiment of unity of purpose.
The reason you lose it is because it’s so startling to feel that the swing itself is a distraction. Someone, or everyone, starts thinking about how good it feels and isn’t this amazing and “I could go all day like this” — rather than everyone single-mindedly thinking about the same thing, which is what produced the swing in the first place.
It feels like you’re doing it right. Finally, fleetingly, after months of thousands (millions?) of strokes, and untold exhortations from the coach to each/all of you, the collective crew figured it out. Knowing you _can_ do it right makes it frustrating at times that it’s so hard to do right.
I’m sure every discipline and sport has its own analog, but the required teamwork to achieve this state in rowing is particularly inspiring. I’ve had endorphin rushes in individual athletic endeavors, but never the calm physical communion of a well-rowed boat. All this from someone who hasn’t rowed competitively in five years, and not even recreationally more than three times in that period. Some things both stick with you and (maybe) earn greater respect with distance.