What separates the fastest high school rowers from everyone else? Why do some athletes continue to improve year after year, while others struggle to break through to the next level?
After eight years on the U.S. National Team, racing at the Olympics, and more than a decade coaching high school rowers, I've noticed something about the athletes who become exceptionally fast: They approach their sport differently.
It's not just about how strong they are, how many meters they row, or how naturally talented they might be.
It's about their standards, their focus, their decision-making, and the habits they build through years of training.
The good news? These are things you can develop.
Here are 10 habits I've seen in the fastest rowers, and how you can start applying them to your own training.
1. They Hold Themselves to Exceptionally High Standards
The fastest rowers hold themselves to a higher standard than anyone else expects of them.
They don't need a coach standing behind their erg, a seat race approaching, or an important 2k test on the calendar to give their best effort.
They expect excellence from themselves every day.
On the erg, that means warming up properly, hitting prescribed splits, and finishing pieces strong, even when their coach isn't watching.
On the water, it means showing up expecting to perform well in seat racing, qualify for Nationals, and compete to win.
Elite rowers don't spend much time hoping they'll achieve their goals. They take action that aligns with the standards they've set for themselves.
Of course, even the best athletes have bad days. The difference is how they respond.
When a race or erg test doesn't go as planned, they take an honest look at their performance. Was their preparation good enough? Was their mindset right? What needs to change before the next opportunity?
At the Olympic level, there's an extraordinary drive to win. Athletes have devoted years of their lives to pursuing the highest possible standard, and they're relentless about doing what it takes to get there.
You don't have to be an Olympian to develop that mindset.
Start by asking yourself: Am I holding myself to the standard required to achieve my goals, even when no one is watching?
2. They Are Completely Focused During Practice
One of the biggest differences between good rowers and great rowers is the level of focus they bring to every workout.
When they're at practice, rowing is the only thing that matters.
During my college and national team years, there was a feeling of walking through the boathouse doors and leaving everything else behind. Homework, exams, relationships, and whatever else was happening in life could wait.
For those next few hours, the only thing that mattered was rowing.
The best athletes bring that same focus to the erg.
They're constantly paying attention to their splits, their rhythm, their technique, and how efficiently they're moving through each stroke. They're making small adjustments, stroke after stroke, to improve their performance.
And that focus isn't reserved for hard workouts.
I've heard coaches suggest that athletes watch TV during steady state to help pass the time. For rowers with big ambitions, I think that's a missed opportunity.
Long steady-state workouts offer the chance to become completely immersed in the movement, refine your technique, and develop the ability to concentrate for extended periods.
Rowing is a game of how well you can execute each stroke and how much effort you can put behind it.
The best rowers are trying to win that game every day.
3. They Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing
Becoming exceptionally good at something requires making choices.
The fastest rowers understand that their goals come with trade-offs, and they're willing to make them.
They don't skip practice unnecessarily. They don't stay out late with friends the night before an important race or erg test. They make decisions about their time and energy based on what's most important to them.
I learned this early in my own rowing career.
I didn't attend my high school graduation because it was the same weekend as Youth Nationals.
In college, my teammates and I would go to bed early on Friday nights so we could be ready for Saturday morning pieces, while our non-rowing friends were out having fun.
When I was training for Team USA, I missed more weddings than I can count.
At the Olympics, many rowers didn't even attend the opening ceremonies because we were racing the following day. Standing on our feet for hours the night before one of the biggest races of our lives simply wasn't worth the risk.
Some people might look at those experiences and think about everything I missed.
I look at them differently.
Yes, I gave up certain experiences. But in exchange, I got to win medals at Youth Nationals, win national championships in college, and race around the world representing the United States.
Those trade-offs were absolutely worth it to me.
Every ambitious rower has to decide what they're willing to prioritize to achieve their goals.
That doesn't mean rowing needs to consume every part of your life. It means being clear about what matters most and making decisions that support it.
4. They Are Students of the Sport
You can usually spot a rower who's serious about improving by the questions they ask.
They don't just want to know what to do. They want to understand why.
Why does body position at the catch matter? Why should you hold a consistent split through the middle of a 2k? Why does pivoting from the hips on the recovery help you row more efficiently?
The fastest rowers want a deeper understanding of their sport.
And they don't stop there.
They're also students of their own performance.
They track their workouts, analyze their erg scores, and look for patterns in their results. They want to understand where they're improving and where they're falling short.
They review videos of themselves on the erg and in the boat, comparing their technique with that of national team and Olympic rowers.
They're constantly looking for opportunities to improve.
What separates these athletes is their sense of ownership.
They don't expect their coach to identify and solve every problem for them.
They ask questions, seek feedback, study their performance, and learn how to coach themselves.
Your coach can provide tremendous guidance, but your development ultimately depends on how much responsibility you're willing to take for it.
5. They Have a "Do What It Takes" Mentality
When truly fast rowers decide they want to achieve something, they stop looking for the easiest path.
They start looking for the path that gives them the greatest chance of success.
Then they take action.
During my years training for Team USA, I drove thousands of miles across the country with my single strapped to the roof of my car and my oars inside.
I stayed with countless host families, lived out of a suitcase for years, and traveled to training camps so I could work with the best coaches and teammates leading into national team selection.
Sometimes I even traveled with my erg in the back of my car.
I'd arrive at a hotel after a long day of driving, wheel my erg into the fitness center at 8 p.m., and complete my workout.
It wasn't particularly convenient. And it definitely wasn't glamorous.
But it was what I needed to do to pursue my goals.
I saw the same mentality in so many of my national team teammates.
When an opportunity came along, whether that was a development camp or an important training opportunity, the default response was, "I'll be there."
Then they figured out how to make it happen.
That mindset also applies to smaller decisions.
Finding access to an erg during school breaks. Making a training schedule work around family vacations. Adjusting your routine when circumstances change.
It can even mean making much bigger decisions.
After my freshman year at Georgetown, I decided to transfer to Wisconsin. I wanted to be happier in my college environment, but I also recognized that I needed a different situation to reach my athletic potential.
It wasn't an easy decision, and some people thought I was crazy.
But I knew what I wanted to achieve, and I was willing to make an uncomfortable change to put myself in a better position.
The fastest rowers don't just say they want to be great. They make decisions that give them the opportunity to become great.
6. They Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable
Rowing is an inherently uncomfortable sport.
It's a full-body endurance sport, and racing 2,000 meters requires an extraordinary combination of physical and mental effort.
The fastest rowers accept that reality.
They understand that discomfort is part of the sport, and they learn how to manage it rather than wishing it would go away.
Think about what happens during a hard 2k erg test.
At some point, it's going to hurt.
Your legs are burning, your breathing is heavy, and holding your target split requires an enormous amount of concentration.
The difference is how you respond.
Less experienced athletes often interpret that discomfort as a sign that something is going wrong.
The best rowers expect it.
They don't panic when it gets hard. They stay present, stick to their strategy, and continue executing their race plan.
Over time, they even learn to draw confidence from those difficult moments.
Because when a 2k starts to hurt, two things are often true: everyone else is hurting, too, and you may be right on track for a PR.
I once saw that one of the top collegiate rowing teams in the country had adopted the motto "Embrace the Suck."
That captures this habit perfectly.
The ability to remain calm, composed, and intentional when things get uncomfortable is one of the biggest differences between rowers who plateau and rowers who keep getting faster.
7. They Are Insanely Consistent
Rowing rewards consistency.
Think about the sport itself. You're repeating the same movement, stroke after stroke, for thousands of meters.
And the fastest rowers bring that same consistency to every part of their training.
On steady state, they aim to hold precise splits with as little variation as possible.
During intervals, they work to repeat their performance from one piece to the next, or get slightly faster as the workout progresses.
In the third 500 meters of a 2k, they fight to maintain their target split even as fatigue builds.
But consistency goes well beyond what happens during an individual workout.
The fastest athletes show up day after day and do the work.
They don't let one great practice make them complacent, and they don't let one bad practice derail their confidence.
They understand that progress doesn't always happen in dramatic leaps.
It happens gradually, through the accumulation of thousands of well-executed strokes and hundreds of productive training sessions.
Consistency compounds.
And in a sport where improvement is earned one stroke at a time, that consistency is what eventually separates the fastest rowers from the rest.
8. They're Driven by a Passion for What's Possible
One of my favorite qualities in exceptional athletes is their genuine curiosity about their own potential.
They're not primarily motivated by a fear of failure, disappointing their parents or coaches, or falling short of expectations.
They're motivated by the desire to discover how good they can become.
That distinction matters.
When you're driven by fear, challenging situations can feel threatening.
An important 2k test becomes something you might fail. A seat race becomes something you might lose. An ambitious goal becomes something that could expose your limitations.
But when you're driven by possibility, those same experiences become opportunities.
You want to test yourself.
You're excited to race athletes who might beat you.
You're willing to set ambitious goals because you're curious about what you're capable of achieving.
And when things don't go perfectly, you don't retreat.
You learn, adjust, and keep moving forward.
Over time, this creates tremendous momentum.
The fastest rowers are excited to find out where their limits are, and then see whether they can push beyond them.
That's a very different way to approach the sport than constantly worrying about what might go wrong.
9. They Make Excellent Decisions Under Pressure
One of the most underrated skills in rowing is the ability to make good decisions when things aren't going according to plan.
The fastest rowers are exceptionally good at this.
Imagine you're halfway through a 2k erg test.
You're struggling to hold your target split, and the workout suddenly feels much harder than you expected.
You have a decision to make.
You can panic, abandon your race plan, and let one difficult moment turn into an entirely disappointing performance.
Or you can respond strategically.
Maybe you increase your stroke rate by one beat. Maybe you adjust your rhythm. Maybe you narrow your focus to the next 10 strokes instead of thinking about the entire distance remaining.
The fastest rowers know how to make those small adjustments without becoming emotionally overwhelmed.
They understand that one bad feeling doesn't have to become a bad result.
The same applies on the water.
When a boat next to them moves ahead, they don't immediately abandon their own strategy and start racing someone else's race.
They stay composed, assess the situation, and make decisions that give their boat the best chance of success.
Great rowers don't just work hard. They think clearly under pressure.
As the level of competition increases and margins get smaller, that ability becomes even more important.
10. They Trust the Process
The fastest rowers are focused on the process, not obsessed with the outcome.
Of course, they care about winning races, setting PRs, and achieving their goals.
But they understand that fixating on those results doesn't necessarily help them achieve them.
Instead, they focus on what they can control.
Their preparation. Their training. Their race plan. Their execution. How they show up every day.
They trust that when they consistently do those things well, the results will follow.
This gives them patience.
They don't panic after one disappointing erg test. They don't become complacent after one great race.
They continue following the plan, even when progress feels slower than they'd like.
And they recognize that meaningful improvement often takes months and years, not days and weeks.
The best athletes are committed to doing the right things over and over again, long before the results become obvious.
That trust, combined with consistent execution, is ultimately what allows them to keep improving.
Becoming a Faster Rower Starts with Your Daily Habits
Here's the biggest takeaway from these 10 habits:
Fast rowers aren't simply born that way. They behave differently.
I know that from my own experience.
The athletes who reach the highest levels of our sport distinguish themselves through the standards they set, the decisions they make, the way they handle adversity, and their commitment to getting better.
And none of those qualities requires you to already be an elite rower.
You can start developing them right now.
Whether you're trying to break eight minutes on your 2k, earn a seat in your team's top boat, qualify for Youth Nationals, or get recruited to row in college, these habits can help you make progress toward your goals.
You don't need to master all 10 immediately.
Start by identifying one or two areas where you have the most room to improve, and commit to making those changes in your training.
Because the athlete you become tomorrow is shaped by the habits you practice today.
Want to Become a Faster Rower?
I'm Kristin Hedstrom, an Olympian and eight-time U.S. National Team rower. Since 2013, I've helped high school athletes across the country improve their erg scores, build confidence, and work toward their goals in rowing and college recruiting.
Through my 2k Erg Speed System and High Performance Advisory, I help athletes develop the training strategies, mindset, and accountability needed to reach their potential.
