On the water, everyone’s presence is equally critical -- you rely on your teammates, and each of them rely on you. It’s that sense of responsibility to our teammates that keeps us accountable, motivates us, inspires us and challenges us to work harder and achieve our shared goals.

Our latest feature -- Hydrow Racing -- allows you to recreate that powerful team dynamic in a completely new way. Here’s an exclusive first look at Hydrow Racing -- now available on your Hydrow.

First Step: Assemble Your Team

Hydrow Racing allows you to pair up with a partner to compete in weekly challenges, giving you an entirely new way to engage with the Hydrow community.

To get started, tap the “Racing” tab at the bottom of the Hydrow screen, tap “Create a Team” and invite your partner by typing in his or her leaderboard name. Your partner can accept your invitation the next time he or she logs on to Hydrow.

As soon as you and your partner enrol, your team name(s) will appear on both the Metres and Minutes boards (more on those in just a moment). You can view your teams at any time by tapping the “My Teams” button on the left hand side of the screen.

Ready, Set, Race!

Each racing period lasts one full week, starting Monday at 12:00 a.m. ET and concluding at 11:59 p.m. ET the following Sunday evening.

Each week, there are two ways to compete: minutes and metres.

Competing for minutes is simple. Any time spent on Hydrow -- whether it’s an Athlete-led workout or a journey -- counts towards your team’s weekly total.

The metres competition pushes you to log your best meters on a specific row each week. At the start of each week, a new Featured Row will appear on the left hand side of the meters screen. The metres you earn during that Featured Row count towards your weekly meters score. You can complete the Featured Row as many times as you want during the week -- your best score will be reflected in your team total.

The minutes and metre boards track each team’s progress within each respective category, allowing you to see where your team is ranking in the overall standings. To see your individual progress, simply tap your team name, and a breakout of each team members progress will appear.

At the end of the week, the top team(s) in both minutes and metres are crowned winners.

A victory you can feel good about.

Winners get more than just bragging rights: each week, a donation will be made in the name of each winning team to our partner, Water.org, and will provide an individual in the developing world with long-term access to safe drinking water and sanitation… so you can feel even better about taking that place at the top of the standings. Racing resets every Sunday at midnight, so you can start fresh each week, and take your shot at the top slot. Have you tried Hydrow racing yet? Let us know what you think on social media using #Hydrow.