Black Rock surf rower Stephen Blewett, 64, has been hooked on the sport since the age of 16. He says the reasons people were seduced by surf rowing are exactly the same as they are now – the excitement of the waves and the beauty of sunrises over the water.

Surf boats are powered by four oars, and steered by a fifth person called the sweep. The sweep stands at the stern and uses an oar as a rudder to guide the boat.

Blewett is a sweep for four teams for the Torquay Surf Life Saving Club, meaning he spends 20 hours a week on the water, plus four hours a week cross-training. That’s in addition to his full-time job as a criminal, family and commercial law barrister.

This week he will compete with each team at St Kilda’s 2011-12 Australian Surf Rowers League Series. Divisions include open men, open women, reserves, under-23 men and women, under 19 and masters, and more than 50 crews from 20 clubs across Victoria will compete.

Blewett encourages young people to give it a go. “It’s more a question of attracting them to try it, and to try it a couple of times. Usually as soon as they catch a wave in a surf boat, they’re won over,” he says.

“Very few who try it don’t commit for a season at least. Training at times might be hard when you go into the water at 5.15 in the morning, but when you have a beautiful sunrise it’s something special and that happens very, very often.”

Blewett is one of the oldest sweeps in the country. “There would be quite a few rowers competing as masters, but as sweeps there’s probably only a handful of us Australia-wide.

“I think they have other priorities – I had a bit of time out of it to have a family, then I’ve come back into it.”

His love of the sport seems to have passed down through his family.

“An uncle of mine was a successful surf boat sweep and you could say he was my idol as a kid,” he says. “I have two children and they’ve both been successful in surf boats. My daughter is 26 this year and my son will be 28.”