She was basically using the oars as outriggers, which I think was smart as the scull was so easy to tip over. Also, Colin was such a beast that any rowing on her part would have just slowed them down.
But at least she could have kept them out of the water!
If she had kept them out of the water, then they wouldn’t have been effective as outriggers.
In a super-sized episode of Team Fun’s leg recaps, they talk about how they developed that strategy after going into the drink a few times. Colin squeezed a little info out of the coach that led him to believe he could row the full distance in the allotted time by himself, which freed up Christie to handle stability.
Hmmm, I see your point. How about “at least she could have kept them closer to parallel to the water surface?” (My memory is that some shots showed the paddle vertical, and some jorizontal, but I have already deleted the episode.)
But how effective would an outrigger not structurally attached to the scull be? Since she was just holding it in place, wouldn’t it have induced more drag as it moved random amounts in and out of the water? A regular outrigger is in (relatively) constant contact with the water and, further, is long and roughly canoe-shaped. A paddle (oar?) isn’t.