How it Started
Every year, our studio holds charity challenges.
Power Rowing Indoor Rowing Studio is known for its seasonal charity challenges. Our members divide into teams, each team chooses a charity to represent, and they compete to see which team can row the most meters over a given time period. Meters are carefully logged along the way, and friendships and rivalries flourish. At the end, we hold a Gala, announce the winners, and award final checks to the winning charities. The galas are the highlight of our year. There’s good will, live music, potluck, and gloating galore.
Winners of 2018 Power Rowing charity challenge present check to My Life, My Choice.
But 2020 went in a different direction.
Our charity challenge was postponed… and then cancelled due to COVID. Our members were quarantined and could not row together in the studio. Loss, anxiety, and stress took over every aspect of life. As days of lockdown turned into weeks and months, we realized just how much we needed the community, motivation, and endorphins of the charity challenges. So we decided to do a virtual relay — 10,000,000 meters rowed continuously over Zoom — to raise funds for Doctors Without Borders.
10 Million Meters. $8,150.
People signed up all over the world, from Massachusetts to Puerto Rico, Greece, England, Australia, and elsewhere. They became virtual penpals and rowing buddies. And together, we did it! Our 130-person team rowed the 10 million meters, smashing the previous record of 3,800,000 set by some prison guards in New Zealand. We raised $8,150 for Doctors Without Borders.
“Rowing has literally saved my life.”
— Bryan Bucher, Lima, OH, USA
“It’s the day after we completed the 10 million, and I don’t really know what to do with myself.”
— B. Trede, Brookline, MA, USA
