Deme

Not efficiently, but the boat wouldn’t go in circles and the rowers wouldn’t be bumping into each other.

It’s not as efficient, but it’s not like there’s a shortage of manpower there. Also not quite as ergonomic, but that definitely isn’t a concern here. The main problem is cramming as much rowing power in the boat as possible, and that setup works.

The last time I rowed a boat was a bit over three weeks ago, and reversing has it’s uses.

Edit: And one more mistake in the picture. The oars would be bumping into the structural beams.

Edit2: It’s probably an ai slop illustration and I have no reason to think such setups were ever actually used, so my reasoning about sacrificing efficiency for more rowers is moot. My main point was that such a setup would be technically possible and would go forward.

No and no. Every oar handle goes forward and back at the same time and the boat goes forward. That just means that the rowers facing backwards are doing the movements in the opposite phase compared to the rowers facing forwards, pulling when the others are pushing and so on.

The only issue I see, is that the oar on the left has nobody holding it. And ofc the side of the boat is missing.