Valent Sinkovic: Technique is the most underrated area of our sport
Rowing training is not for the faint-hearted.
It’s one of the most physically demanding sports in the world, with athletes balancing astonishing strength with impressive endurance, while also possessing the ability to execute delicate techniques.
They wake up in the cold early hours of the morning for their first practice of the day, when the water is at its most still, and burn an obscene amount of calories.
It’s for these reasons that the siblings are often asked a second question: After winning everything the sport has to offer several times, where does the motivation to keep grinding year in year out with such consistency come from?
“I like rowing, I’m passionate about it, and when there are difficult times, if you like something, you will stay with it,” he continued.
“The second thing is that I like to train and work hard. In rowing, that pays off as a lot of repetition is needed.
“Lastly, I can concentrate on technique. Everyone knows about rowers’ strength and lung capacity, but this is perhaps the most underrated area of our sport. We can be talking about a one-centimetre change in the blade’s angle upon entering the water.
“With my brother and our coach, when we go on the water, every stroke we’re thinking about something that we can make better. It’s hard to concentrate on such small details for so long, but we can do that.
“Over the past 18 years, our training hasn’t changed much. We’ve had the same coach from the beginning in 2007, and we are really proud of that.”