FOR some time now, Candace Lewis's fitness regime has been going backwards, which is just the way she likes it.
The 50-year-old, who works in the city as a lawyer, has over the past four years become a keen rower, one of Sydney's many middle-aged professionals who have traded the grind of the gym for the glide of the scull.
''I'm one of those people who isn't excited by the idea of social tennis or golf,'' says Lewis, who trains in a quad five mornings a week at Mosman Rowing Club.
''Rowing offers not only companionship but the perfect all-round exercise. You get a cardio workout, a strength workout, your core muscles are engaged and it's non-weight bearing. Besides, who would be in a gym when you could be out on the upper reaches of Middle Harbour with just the splash of oars and the sun coming up?''
From Balmain to The Spit, Leichhardt to Lane Cove, rowing is enjoying a renaissance. ''The past five years has seen a 20 per cent increase in the number of social rowers,'' Matt Treglown, the corporate operations manager at Rowing Australia, says. ''And that's particularly evident among the Masters age bracket [29 years plus].''
Even the more competitively-focused Leichhardt Rowing Club now has 80 full-time ''social rowers''. At the 130-year-old Balmain Rowing Club, meanwhile, they are turning them away. ''We simply don't have enough facilities,'' the club's president, David Longhurst, says. ''The neighbours don't like clubs getting bigger, so we have actually had to limit our new members.''
The growing tendency for big companies, including the Commonwealth Bank, to hold corporate regattas has certainly boosted numbers, as some novices opt to row on. ''For time-poor professionals, rowing fits in pretty well,'' Mark Williams, the president of Mosman Rowing Club, says. ''You start at 5.30am and you're finished by 7am.''
Lewis was a little bit different: she had long harboured a secret yearning to row. ''I went to school at Abbotsleigh, and when I went to the Head of the River it was not to pick up boys but to actually watch the rowing.''
When she finally got around to giving it a go, she lied about her experience. ''They are always looking for someone who has experience, and so I lied and said I had rowed before. I'm sure that the minute I got in the boat the guy I was with realised that I had no idea what I was doing but he was lovely about it.
''The great thing about rowing is that you have both a personal rhythm and a boat rhythm with the rest of the crew. It's the ultimate team sport, but you also have your own headspace.
''Rowing is tough - it's blisters, sweat and tears, but it's also meditation.''
