The race which caused the obsession

Rowing at the Marina Promanade is always exciting coz of the choppy waters. Choppy waters also mean that when the boat is hit by a wave, it rocks. It'd be a double whammy if the inside of the boat is filled with water, coz a slight nudge by a wave will send the water rushing to one side, in doing so, badly tilting the boat.

2002 was a memorable June race, a couple of times we tilted so badly coz of the excess amount of water in the boat that for one of the races we practically rowed the last 20m on the left side. The problem??... We were splashing too much water into the boat. And so began the obsession with attempting to reduce the splashing. People were forced to change their techniques and subsequent batches were reminded of the dreadful consequence of getting into the habit of drenching the person behind them.

Well thank goodness races today are held in the calmer waters of the Singapore River and Reservoirs and no longer held at the choppy Marina Promanade.