Damper Resistance setting

Question
Hi Al,  It's me again, Graham from Australia. After all the advice and help you gave me, thought it only right to brief you on my recent "moment of truth".
Pan Pacific Masters Games held here on the Gold Coast last week.   Results were (75-79 LWT) 500m 1.47.8 (one tenth of a sec outside my PB * Aust record)
1000m 4.03.1, a new Aus record and 2000m 8.54.0, also an Aus record in my age group.
I was placed in a mixed group for some of these events and in the 1000m managed to have a faster time than several of the heavyweights, so overall, a satisfying result with 3 Gold medals.  My training had concentrated on high intensity interval training to raise my LT/AT.  I did no 2000m training at all.
The HWT who beat me had a higher damper setting (6) while I was on 5.  So, my question is:  To get faster, should I now train at higher resistance, say a DS of 7 ??
I do have good upper body strength although I am aware that this is not a big factor in rowing.

Answer
Hello Graham: I am delighted with your smashing success.  I would like to be delusional in saying that I coached you to your success, but this one is all you.  

Just to show you how good your time is, I was showing my 14-year old son how to do a 500 erg piece.  I am 50 and I pulled a 1:45, just a couple of seconds better than you.  I'm not making excuses, but I do have a mild lung blockage, which I suffered from my Navy days during Desert Storm (The air in the gulf region was a blanket of smoke from all the oil well fires back then).  But the point is, had you started rowing in your teens and 20s, you may have been champion caliber.

At this point of your training, you can try and experiment by rowing a few 500 meter pieces (with 4 minutes rest in between) at  different damper settings and see if there is a significant difference in your splits.  Be advised, it's going to feel a bit heavier at the higher settings.  

If you do have strong arms, a bit of a tug with your arms at the finish will give you a few extra clicks.  This is something that will work on the erg but not on the water.

Congrats/AP