On January 5th, Row House Flower Mound hosted their members at the Movie House Flower Mound for a night of celebrating the showing of “The Boys in the Boat”. The sports drama tells the story of the underdog rowing team from the University of Washington, the group that competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics. Row machines placed in the Movie House gave the community members who attended a feel for what Team USA went through. After all, rowing isn’t so much about exercise, but about the community experience.
At the Row House Flower Mound location, owner Ryan Kimberling gestures to the room of sleek rowing machines with pride. It’s an experience, Ryan explains, all driven by the coach who rows at the front, controlling the lighting and music and guiding the 25 participants behind them. “For the most part, in class, we row in what we call ‘in swing’. So everyone is rowing at the same pace, together.” Ryan hops on a machine and demonstrates, “The concept is pretty cool in that it's an effort-based machine. At a lot of places, you'll see individual leaderboards. But on our screens we average the machines together, what their pace is and how far they've gone.” This concept is huge for the rowing community, both in the film and in Flower Mound, it’s about the boat as a whole, not about how one individual is doing better than another.
“It's an amazing machine that anyone could do,” Ryan says, from the marathon runner to the 70-year-old to the person new to fitness. “I feel like that is pretty rare in the workout space.” Because of this, a first-time rower can hop into any class. With such an amazing crew and an amazing machine to build a community with, the event operated as simply another step in fostering the Row House community and giving the public a chance to see how much it cares for its members and the sport. Consider Row House’s recent celebration of the film that showcases the incredible community rowing offers, an open invitation to join the crew.
It’s about the boat as a whole, not about how one individual is doing better than another.
