Unlike many of their counterparts in other sports, they did not have athletic scholarships. Physically, rowers resemble collegiate basketball players - tall, but not bulky. When you watch the sport, you might get the impression that upper body strength is most important, but actually, the legs are of equal significance, since that's where the stroke begins. Physiologically, rowers are superb examples of excellent conditioning. They have to be.
Few sports are as physically demanding to the entire body as rowing.
Only cross country skiing and long-distance speed skating ask as much from an athlete. And, since rowing a mile and a quarter in approximately six minutes places huge demands on the body's aerobic system, rowers utilize oxygen better than almost any other athletes. If an Intermediate rower wins the Senior Men's Single Sculls at the Nationals, he then becomes a Senior Sculler. As soon as that happens, he can no longer enter an Intermediate sculling event. Elite rowers represent the highest categorical level of rowing competition in the United States, and compete at the World Championships and the Olympic Games.