A few thoughts.

First, full disclosure: I'm neither PHB nor private school (contract\r\nprogrammer / sysadmin, University of California). That said, crew's big\r\nat UC. But I didn't do it. However I did take up the activity when I\r\nwas living in Sausalito (the Blessed Ex got me into it, one of several\r\nof her good points).

At various points in my life I've swum, biked, backpacked, played\r\nwater polo, cross-country skiied, and other activities (I guess I'm a\r\ngeek jock). Sculling blows doors on any other activity for its total\r\nworkout (x-country and swimming are close seconds). Typical Saturday\r\nplan was: hit the dock at 9 (we were recent members, hence the bad\r\ntimeslot). Get in thirty minutes of good sculling on smooth water, and\r\nan hour and a half of battling chop. Anything over 6" is chop, and I've\r\nrowed through 2' - 3' swells. When your ass is sitting 4" over the\r\nwater, any wave action is significant. Back on shore, shower,\r\nhit the deli, suck down 3000 calories, and crash out for the rest of the\r\nday. Caluses like armorplate. And some serious butt-rash from the bay\r\nwater.

You've got a few basic configurations for rowing: solo and \r\ntwo-man sculls, and four, six, and eight-man boats. From four on up\r\nyou've got one oar per person.

What's the PHB appeal? Watching your wake stretch out behind you\r\nwith perfect oar drops for a quarter mile over smooth water with morning\r\nmists hanging over the bay is beautiful. The sense of power\r\nand efficiency (sculls & crew boats are far faster than other\r\nhuman-powered watercraft) are palpable. For the sculls, solo\r\nepitomizes, well, solo effort. You're out there alone on the water.\r\nProperly handling a two-man craft requires matching your partner -- and\r\nyou're partners, equals, perfectly. In the larger boats, you've got the\r\nideal of the team, including the useless guy at the back of the boat\r\nyelling at everyone. It's an appealing metaphor for an idealized\r\nworkplace. And yes, the upper-class connotations are significant.

Rowing isn't the only sport you'll find in the 'zec suite. It's one\r\nof the more common ones, but there are also the pointless outdoors\r\nshots, runners, cyclists, swimmers, etc. Most personifying personal\r\neffort or a melding of man and machine. Figuring out why this resonates\r\nshouldn't be hard.

But, if you're into athletic stuff, it's a great, demanding,\r\nrewarding, and spiritual workout. A bit pricy, but not much different\r\nfrom the cost of a gym. Far more bang for the buck (unless there's\r\nother banging you're interested in).