Following discussions on the net (and with Ian Hunter over a beer or two) on how to make a good recovery, I decided to look at what the world's best do under race conditions.
With permission from FISA I have taken images from their DVD of the Milan World Championships 2003.
(Some images come from other sources.)

For those new to looking at rowing video, pay particular attention to:-

• body angles (when it opens and closes)
• the amount of compression
• the arms/shoulders/back and bottom at the start of the drive
• the timing of the "tap down"

In addition, the water level in the background gives us an indication of the hand heights throughout the stroke, and also the fore/aft pitch of the boat.

ROWERS

• Cath Bishop and Katherine Grainger GB Women's Coxless Pair
• Drew Ginn and James Tonkins 1 Australian Pair - World Champions 2003
• Drew Ginn and James Tonkins 2 Australian Pair - World Champions 2003
• Matthew Pinsent and James Cracknell a bad day at the office?
• Romanian Women 1 Coxless Pair
• Romanian Women 2 Coxless Pair
• Romanian Women 3 Coxless Pair
• The German Eight in training
• The Italian Men Coxless Pair (5th in the final)
• The USA Eight in Athens (overhead shot from video of BBC coverage)

SCULLERS

• Ekaterina Karsten Bronze Medallist Women's single sculls
• Fiona Milne Winner of the Women's Lightweight Single Sculls
• Marcel Hacker Runner Up in the Men's Single Sculls.
• Olaf Tufte Winner of the Men's Single Sculls.
• Rumyana Neykova 1 Winner of the Women's single sculls
• Rumyana Neykova 2 Winner of the Women's single sculls
• Stephano Basalini Winner of the Men's Lightweight Single Sculls
• Xeno Muller (sculling) Gold Medal Atlanta Olympics 1996 - seen here in training

ERGERS

• Xeno Muller (erging) Xeno Muller training on the erg.