We celebrated the end of 2020 with relief more than jubilation. Good riddance to last year, for sure, but 2021 has yet to shine. The worst of the pandemic is yet to come, the initial rollout of vaccines has been maddeningly slow, and we’re still sitting and spinning on the erg with no clear idea of when or if championship regattas will be held.

There are good reasons to be optimistic, and Ed Moran’s feature “The Hopes and Questions for the Season Ahead” explores the most important ones. The key line in the story is: “There is real reason to believe that by late spring there will be racing, and maybe even before.”

Many rowers have been sitting and spinning especially well during the pandemic, posting an astonishing number of world-best times, begging the question, “Have lockdowns been good for erg scores?” Colleen Saville, a Rowing News contributor and a pioneering woman’s voice in World Rowing broadcasts–although at press time she still didn’t know at which international regattas she’d be commentating in 2021–answers it.

Amid all the continuing uncertainty, there is one sure thing: We will get back on the water, together, in big boats. We’ll line ’em up and race down the course again in 2021. That’s all we need to know, really, in order to keep training. Because as sure as we’re getting back on the water, our competition has been training, too.