As a starter, I offer the following resources:

A background guide to rowing physiology and training that I wrote based on my research.

A great directory of muscles, weight training exercises and stretches.

Dan Rathburn's webpage, which contains an overview of the essentials of the Wolverine Plan: an intensive ergometer training plan aimed at elite athletes.

FISA (the worldwide governing body of rowing)'s training guides, and

Rowing Canada's Journey 1-2-3 manual, which covers in introduction to rowing equipment and technique, and training information for beginning athletes.

I will contact ORC head coach Lubo Kisiov about posting his training guides here.  In my experience, they are a little too much unless you are already a highly trained athlete.  However, if you're a trained athlete and want to be an elite athlete, then Lubo's plans will make a man or woman out of you!

I caution you that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing (I'm proof!). If planning your own training plan, read as much as you can, and synthesize it carefully.  If following someone else's plan, listen to your body and adopt the plan accordingly: if you try to do too much or too little, you won't progress.

MY STORY:

I was a late starter, and only started training for rowing when I was nearly 27.  I was tall, strong, fairly fit, and had already conditioned my muscles for endurance.  On basically my first time on an erg, I pulled a 2k time of 7:53, but after figuring out my pacing and avoiding the fly-and-die (see below), I got that down to a 7:23 in May 2005.  I learned to scull at the Ottawa New Edinburgh Club in July, began training in earnest, and joined the ORC as a recreational member at the beginning of August.  In mid-August, I pulled a 7:03, and at the team tryouts in early September, I pulled a 6:43.7.  Having picked up enough technique, I made the varsity squad after only having rowed for 6 weeks.

Note that a respectable, but not particularly fast time for a men's university heavyweight is around 6:30, and elite/international rowers are in the low six-minute range.  I still have a ways to go. (6:20 or less for lightweight men, 7:00 or less for women and 7:20 or less for lightweight women are damn fast times, as well).

For those just starting out, the best rowing specific training program that I have found is Concept 2 UK's Interactive training programs.  Based on your current level of fitness and the number of times a week you want to train, the site creates an ergometer workout schedule, that doesn't take up too much time, is unlikely to lead to overtraining, and made me a lot faster in a short amount of time.  Note that the intensities that you need to practice at depend on your current and goal 2k times: don't slack.  Try to row at "full pressure", with a powerful (and coordinated) drive, a relaxed slide back up to the catch, and careful tecnique (remember to stay tall).

Keep monitoring your progress: you will eventually plateau on a program like this, unless you add more sessions, or switch to a more intense stream (like from "fit" to "trained"). 

For performance testing, Concept 2 and men's coach Kurt Herman prefer the shorter, more intense and anaerobic 2k distance (this is the distance that you're generally going to have to row in competition), while Rowing Canada and the ORC prefer the more aerobic 6k distance.    Based on the data that I've been able to collect, it seems that your 6k time will be about 320% of your 2k time, or your 2k time will be 31% of your 6k times.  If you have reasonably contemporaneous 2k and 6k times, send them to me, so that I can refine these figures.  The percentages are only meant as a guide for calculating your target splits for one distance based on the other (more on race planning below), but it's neat that there seems to be a consistent relationship.

Weight training is important to developing, as it provides both increased power and resistance to injury, but in your training, remember that in terms of making you faster, weight training is useless without time spent on an erg.

In my own experience, aerobic cross training is great for removing the monotony from training (which has its own value, for sure), but running, biking etc. just don't make you faster like erging does.  Mind you, you could use other activities to develop basic cardio capacity, and then subsequent rowing will later translate that capacity into rowing capacity. One exception that I've discovered is cross country skiing: after a week where I did not erg but instead cross-country skied (fairly intensely), I found that my rowing capacity (i.e. my ability to achieve a certain 500/m split for a given heart rate) had improved.  I plan on spending a lot more time on the trails next year.

So learn to love the erg.  As much as you can.  Having music or company helps. 

RACE PLANNING:

If you've never rowed or erged before, discovering how fast you can go over a race distance (i.e. 2k) without burning out can be a challenge.  A common mistake is the fly and die, where you start out too hard, build up lactic acid in your muscles (which lose power, and stifles aerobic metabolism) so that you slow way down, feel like you're going to die, while your heart races away at its maximum rate (essentially you wind up just "spinning your wheels" as if you hit a patch of mud).

Variations exist, but generally the ideal race strategy is to find an intensity that you can just barely sustain, at a reasonable heart rate (say, 85-90% of max) for the full duration of the race, and have enough left in the tank for a 250 meter or so sprint (which leaves you feeling like you're gonna die, but in a good way, since you went fast!).

To find this intensity, first warm up:  row at moderate pressure for 5 minutes or so until your heart rate reaches just more than twice your resting heart rate (120 or so BPM).  Optionally, once your heart rate is up and your muscles feel warm (literally), do up to 4 sets of maximum effort pulls, of 4-10 reps to further loosen yourself up.  Between each set, allow your heart rate to settle back down to your warm up goal.

Then do 500 meter tests: before starting each segment, your heart rate should be no more than twice your resting HR. Row at a particular 500m split time, trying to be as consistent as possible (ideally within a couple of seconds each stroke) over the whole distance (watch the average 500 time in your monitor, and try to keep your split time there). 

Right when you finish, check your heart rate: it should be no more than 75% of your max. heart rate.  If it's more, then you're working at a pace that's too quick, and you will not be able to sustain that pace for the full 2k: eventually, your heart rate will get too high, and you'll either crash or have to slow down.

Wait until your heart rate comes down to within twice resting HR, and try again if necessary, taking a few seconds off the pace, until you find a pace you can do for 500 meters at no more than 75% MHR.

Once you've found a pace that works, try a 2K: don't be tempted to pull faster than your average pace target, even if it feels easy: by 1000 meters, it will catch up to you.  Instead, bide your time, and wait until closer to the end before deciding when to start your sprint.  If you feel really strong, try sprinting sooner, whereas if you're just holding on, wait until you're sure you can finish before emptying the tank. 

Remember, these are just suggestions:  something entirely different may work for you.  However, this is a valid way of determining your optimum pace.  Once you've been able to run a few 2k pieces, you'll learn which are the parts of the race where you can pick up speed, and you can begin to set incremental goals for your improvement. 

-Derek Van Dusen (2005 men's squad), March 2006