The following is reprinted from Row As One's Newsletter, Reach.

Water Dancer
Ernie is driving while I hold my boom box near her head to record her story. We're talking about guess what? Yup. Rowing. And which way to turn at the fork in the road. And how will my dog Kelly like her sheep herding lesson. And why don't I have my hair cut the way it used to be. Women have been rowing for how long? I've heard since the 1800's. Ernie does not consider rowing in long dresses at a light paddle as "rowing." Listening to Ernie Bayer, I get the feeling that women didn't start rowing until the 1950's, when they first began to compete. She should know -- she is eighty seven years old. She and her boat, Water Dancer, continue to compete.

Ernie and I first met in 1984. I didn't see or speak to her again for ten years. I called her to thank her, once I finally really understood what she had done for me and all other women rowers through her love of rowing, for her successful efforts to get women competing, not just paddling, in the sport of rowing. As we continued our conversation, we discovered that we have the same birthday, were both tomboys, and both ran our fool heads off as little girls and teenagers. Ernie lay down the foundation for women’s rowing in the United States. I am one of many men and women to whom Ernie has passed the baton to ensure continuing efforts to make rowing available to anyone who has the desire to try it.

Back in the thirties, Ernie asks her husband, also "Ernie," why women don't row on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. He replies, "Because women can't row." Ernie asks again, "But why don't women row?" Her husband continues to give her the same answer. Finally he gives her an answer that she can do something about -- he tells her that women cannot row because there is no boathouse for women. She locates a space for rent and begins the Philadelphia Girls Rowing Club, a rowing program for women.

Ernie: When the second World War came around taking men away from their jobs, women stepped into their positions. That’s what opened the whole thing. I firmly believe that if that hadn't happened women would still be held back today. They found out that women were just as capable of doing a job as a man. At least that’s the way I look at it.

Holly: Do you think that when you asked your husband why you couldn't row, that that’s what made a difference to him?

Ernie: He just said that women don't row. There were ten boathouses along the Philadelphia Boathouse Row and they were all for men only.

Holly: Was it more acceptable for an older woman to row? A younger woman? Or didn't it matter?

Ernie: Forget it! If you were a woman you weren't supposed to row.

Holly: What do you think now about more and more masters age women starting to row?

Ernie: I think it's marvelous. Some women today -- not all, because many are aware of the importance of physical activity -- have a whole new world because of rowing.

Holly: When you were talking earlier about the rhythm, that that’s what you like about being on the water, and being in a dance with your boat...

Ernie: I feel exactly like that’s what we're doing -- my boat is my partner, and it's like dancing on the water. It's the best way to describe it -- rhythm, rhythm. That’s what rowing is.

Holly: You were saying earlier that rowing is a great sport for women -- why?

Ernie: You will lose weight from your head to your toes. You don't have to, shall I say, knock yourself out to do this sport. You can row as easily as you want or as hard as you want. Just like dancing you can change the rhythm, change the pace. You can go out on a lovely day to look around and enjoy the scenery -- there aren't too many sports you can do that in.

Holly: What do you think are some of the most positive aspects of masters women’s rowing? Talking to Tina [Ernie’s daughter], one of the things she thought was a problem was having former Olympic rowers going to Masters Nationals to compete against other women who are just beginning their rowing ‘career’...”

Ernie: I’m sorry to say that that’s where I disagree with my daughter. I feel that Olympic women like you are trying to bring along other masters women, whether they are ex-Olympians or whatever; it no longer matters.

Holly: Can you imagine not having rowing?

Ernie: Speaking for myself, I can’t imagine my life without rowing because it is not only exercise that’s good for the body, but in my case it’s also good for my mind. I can get into a boat and be upset or uptight about something and go for a row and come back, and usually I’m so tired I’ve forgotten what I was upset about. Seems to do away with stress.

Holly: You’re now 87-years-old and you seem to have great confidence in your body. You have to work your butt off...

Ernie: I don’t know if I feel confident about my body, but I just keep going. I hope, God willing, that I can keep going.

Holly: What did you used to do for exercise when you were little?

Ernie: I used to run my fool head off! I used to love to run. In school I used to play Captain Ball -- you’ve never heard of it, have you.

Holly: No, I haven’t.

Ernie: I played up through the sixth grade. We were city champs. In high school I played baseball. I loved baseball and volleyball. I was a runner for a while -- a sprinter. I loved to dance. After my husband and I got married, he told me that he didn’t like to dance and wouldn’t go with me any more. I used to go dancing every night. My activity stopped until I saw the rowers in Philadelphia. I was inactive for 10 years.

Holly: So you went from no activity to competing in rowing?

Ernie: As long as I was going to row I might as well go against somebody. If I won, I won. If I lost, I lost. I’ve lost, but I’ve never lost in a single...oh yes I did. I’m a liar! I lost once my first year rowing, and after that the girl who beat me wouldn’t row against me. Ha! The only one’s I had to row against were girls in the club. There wasn’t any outside of the club. Later on when we did get competition, that was in the sixties. And we only had three outside competitions. We rowed against girls from high school in an eight and we won. That goes back to the forties. And then there were two gals who came from Minnesota who came and beat my partner and I. The third one we were invited down to Florida to race an eight. We thought we were racing a half mile and I went down without the coach, and I knew we were supposed to make a certain time, and we couldn’t make the time. I thought, “Gee, this is peculiar.” We rowed on a lake. I found out later that we weren’t rowing a half mile -- that’s what you rowed back then -- we were rowing 1000 meters. Truly, they beat us by one foot. That was the only competition we ever had until the sixties. So you had the forties and the fifties, and you rowed against one another, and at the Head of the Charles. We were the first women to row in the Head of the Charles. I took two fours,and we rowed against one another. And this one gal, she came along, and she wasn’t in crew, and she said, “Oh, Ernie, I would love to row.” Lois Trench is her name. Lois Hines now. She doesn’t row any more. So, I gave up my seat. I’m nutty!

Holly: Yes you are!

Ernie: And that’s the way it went. You only had yourselves. Holly, that was the main contention, that you weren’t rowing against outsiders. You were rowing against yourselves and these girls all knew what each one could do. I can remember well when I’d try to set up crews: “I’m not going to race against her! She’s better than I am!” It even happened in Tina’s day, the same thing...complained when you’d row against one another. It was a different world, Holly. You know, it’s a whole lot different when you’re rowing against outside competition, and you’re cohesive. You’re together. It was rough. It was rough.

Holly: What exactly did you like about rowing when you first got in that boat?

Ernie: To tell you the truth, Holly, I never thought about it. I like the water. Vacations I was always down at the beach swimming, running. I -- my body -- was always in motion. All I can think of was that I like motion. I love the water and I love using my body.

Ernie’s story came to end after we arrived at the farm. My dog, Kelly, began to whine and bark at the sheep and other dogs who were waiting for their herding lesson.

Another reason why Ernie rows now is to enjoy a moment pain-free from arthritis. The only time she doesn't feel that pain is when she rows: "People think that aging is somehow easier for me since I'm active. Ha! Aging is a lot of work. I can't tell you how difficult it is to stay as active as I am. It's hard, hard, painful work. It's a fight, and it's worth it."

After I listen to Ernie and her story, I reflect on the stories of other masters women and my own observations the past five years. Ernie’s efforts to make it possible for women to compete have nothing to do with age. They have to do with a woman’s right to follow her desire, which for Ernie is to be in motion in a rowing shell. Today there are different issues that arise for women, especially masters women, in the sport of rowing. More and more women in their fifties and up express the frustration they feel when they row with women in their late twenties and thirties. The frustration is often in response to the frustration they perceive in the younger women when the boat isn’t moving as fast as they would like when for the older women (15 to sometimes 60 years older) the boat may feel great. Often there is no lack in confidence for the “older” women in their rowing and fitness levels; there is a clear confidence and pride in their strength and fitness. What is going on? The clash of perception, the meaning made as a result of the perception, perceived reality, self-defined reality, and limited resources in the rowing community?

One Row As One alum describes her experience rowing with considerably younger women “like expecting a 1937 Volvo and a 1963 Volvo to drive and feel the same at 70 miles per hour.

They may or they may not; you have to look at the mileage, the wear and tear on the engine, and the condition of the body.” She continues: “I have no problem accepting the condition of my body relative to that of a younger woman. What I have a problem with are perceptions that I am not worthy of respect as an athlete because of my age.”

As a result of these thoughts, several women have approached me to consider offering a camp for women ages 50 and up in addition to “open age” camps. What are your thoughts? I would love to hear from you.