In terms of gained wattage given the same effort, i.e., effectiveness and efficiency, if learning to row well is worth up to four seconds per 500m in a 2K, then it can be worth almost twice that in distance rows, given the compression in wattages as the rowing gets faster.
This will be pretty astonishing if it turns out to be right.
For instance, I used to do a 5K at 32 spm.
In fact, I rowed just about everything at 32 spm, all the way up to a FM.
Given my size and flexibility, 32 spm is a _very_ comfortable rating.
No problem at all holding it for a couple of hours.
Given a distance rate this high, the only issue, then, is stroking power and energy cost, effectiveness and efficiency.
Back when I rowed everything at 32 spm, I only pulled 10 SPI, and so was not very effective generating leverage, and not understanding the rhythm of the rowing stroke, the leverage that I _did_ muster was pretty expensive, too. I not only had poor catches; I had poor finishes and recoveries too, which really cuts into what you are able to do easily for a long time at a rate like 32 spm.
I no longer row poorly; I row well.
Now, I get good leverage, 12.5 SPI on every stroke rather than 10 SPI.
Now, I also get good finishes and recoveries.
So the energy cost of carrying that 12.5 SPI rowing well is just the same as the energy cost I used to incur carrying 10 SPI.
The consequences of this are astounding.
Just do the math.
At 32 spm, 10 SPI is 320 watts: 1:43 pace. That's my 5K pb.
But at 32 spm, 12.5 SPI is 400 watts, 1:36.
There's that seven seconds per 500m again!
I don't know folks, but when I am fully trained up for it, I think I might row 5K @ 1:36, a minute and ten seconds faster than my pb of 17:10 back in 2002-2003.
5K @ 1:36 is 16:00.
Nice!
That's almost twenty seconds better than Dan Staite's Open lwt WR of 16:18.
16:00 is just a stroke or two off of Big Bird's 40s heavyweight WR.
ranger
Rich Cureton M 72 5'11" 165 lbs. 2K pbs: 6:27.5 (hwt), 6:28 (lwt)