World Rowing: Are sports common at your university? How about rowing?
Takanori Yamamoto: Sports are popular at our university. It is our rowing club’s 125th anniversary in 2014 and the club has some great achievements to celebrate. Currently, the popularity of rowing is mid-level.

WR: How often do you practice and what is a typical training session?
TY: I practice seven days a week and a typical training session is rowing UT 12km and doing an interval sprint rowing 30 strokes on and 20 off.

WR: What reaction do you get from non-rowing classmates when they find out you row?
TY: My non-rowing classmates say that I look like a rower. They ask what kind of training I usually do and that always cheers me up.

WR: What is your favourite team memory?
TY: My favourite team memory is an event we do every year at KURC (Keio University Rowing Club). We row about 300km in five days from day to night. We start from the river where we practice and end at the Pacific Ocean. We get to row with many members whom we don’t have a chance to row with (ex. freshman and senior), which is a great opportunity to get to know who they are. Moreover, through this event I feel we are all in the same crew.

WR: What has been your favourite race?
TY: My favourite race was winning the boat race against Waseda University twice running. The “Sokei-Regatta” is a specialised boat race against Waseda University which takes place at the Sumida river in the middle of Tokyo. The experience of winning the race in the varsity crew under heavy pressure was the best of all.

WR: What is your best training memory?
TY: It was when I was a freshmen. I had just graduated from high school and joined the university rowing club. In an eight the training was race-pace 3 minutes x 8. I was crying while rowing. This training majorly impacted my attitude towards rowing.

WR: What inspired you to start rowing?
TY: My father used to row when he was at high school and he called himself a good rower. Since I had nothing that I did better than him, I decided to try and get better than him at rowing.

WR: Do you have a favourite workout? What about least favourite?
TY: I love long distance training at mid-rate. In a single, I prefer high rate workouts.

WR: How do you think rowing at university has impacted your overall experience?
TY: Rowing at university is different from professional rowing since there are team members with different motivations. I have experienced the difficulty of getting all team members to achieve one goal and this experience has impacted me in recognising the importance of putting ideas together.

WR: What are your future plans in rowing?
TY: To become number one in Japan. First becoming the champion within all universities and then winning against corporate sponsored rowers who achieve better ergo scores, higher rowing techniques, and have rowed longer.

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