And I think that the argument would be that during the return to backstops you would increase the speed of the boat's shell -- leading to a drag term proportional to v^2, in addition to the mean speed of the boat, effectively demanding an increased power on your behalf during the drive to compensate for it. If you move to front stops slower, the bow doesn't surge as much, and the required power is therefore more constant.
You have a certain amount of time (read: very little) to reach the catch if you want to maintain a high stroke rate.
Assuming a fixed time “pulling” in a given stroke, and given two options:
- Row 35 spm and reach the catch slower
- Row 40 spm and have to go faster to reach the catch
I’m pretty sure the latter would win a race. Even though you’re “rushing” the slide and robbing the boat of momentum.
The problem is that the coaches were so adamant about crawling up to the catch, that something has to give, and stroke rate suffers. I know this because after being taught by said coaches, I rowed the stroke seat in my first race, keeping everything in mind the coaches had taught me. I ended up rowing an average of 27 spm and we got absolutely trounced.