Day: December 3, 2012

College Q&A Recruiting Rowing

Question of the Day

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Hey I’m currently a sophomore & I’m interested in rowing in college. An older teammate suggested I make a beRecruited account. What are your thoughts on the website? Is it helpful? If so, what are your suggestions about keeping it updated? I feel weird writing about myself! Should I list any regatta my boat has placed in or just major races?

I do think it’s a great tool to help you get noticed by collegiate coaches but keep in mind that it’s just a tool – you’ve still gotta do the majority of the legwork. Most of the guys I’ve coached so far used it in some capacity while they were going through the recruiting process. I think if you put the time and effort into maintaining it, it can be pretty helpful. Once you get it set up I’d check it maybe once or twice a week and follow up with anyone that contacts you immediately. After each race, I’d also update it with your results. If you can get some video of your rowing, either individual video or video of your boat from a regatta, post that, because it’ll give coaches the opportunity to see you in action. (If you post video of your whole crew, make sure you specify what seat you’re in.)

Don’t feel weird either – this is your opportunity to brag about yourself, your team, your boat, etc. If your crew was the first to go to Nationals or you’ve won Head of the Charles twice in a row, that’s stuff you should be writing about. As far as what regattas to list, I would post any major regattas you’ve attended and where you placed overall. I’d also write down if your club won any overall team trophies or if they’ve won something BIG, like USRowing’s Club of the Year. That really makes an impression on coaches. The only races I wouldn’t put down are small/local races or ones that include just you and one or two other schools.

If I were a rower and was making one for myself, here’s what I’d include.

2k, 5k/6k PRs (overall time and splits)

If you’ve done watt tests, your watts PR is good to put down. (Not everyone does them so don’t worry if you haven’t done one.)

What side(s) you row and if you have sculling experience

Any notable personal accomplishments (dropped your 2k by 50 seconds since you started rowing, made the varsity 8+ as a freshman, etc.)

Who your coaches are (and their contact info)

Any camps/clinics you’ve attended

I don’t know if there’s an option to put all this down (I haven’t looked into the site that closely) but it’ll give you an idea of what might stand out to coaches.

Coxing Q&A Teammates & Coaches Training & Nutrition

Question of the Day

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I’m a guy who almost exclusively coxes women at the moment. However, I rowed for an entire year up to this October and I’m pretty naturally athletic. I still run and cycle pretty quickly. When we do land training, I feel like if I got on an erg and joined in I wouldn’t be helping as I’d be faster than most of them – and your cox being quicker than you would be pretty demoralizing. The only time I’ve joined in was when we did a 5k run and I agreed to be a backmarker and make sure nobody got left behind the pack by encouraging them to keep running and not give up. Do you think I’m right that it would be demoralizing for the girls if I joined in or do you think joining in would have a “leading from the front” aspect which would be beneficial for the squad?

I definitely agree that your cox being faster than you might not make you feel too good about your own abilities. I think you’re in a unique situation though where your rowers would understand the physiological differences between men and women that come into play here. You should make clear that you’re not trying to one up them, you’re simply trying to workout with the team. I’d make sure that you stick to that too … don’t take someone’s 5k time as a challenge and try and beat them. That’s not your job. I like what you said about being the person at the back of the pack … that’s what I would expect any coxswain to do when you go on a run. Unless there are two coxswains out running (where one can be at the front of the pack and one can be at the back), I think sticking to the back and making sure everyone makes it through is the best thing you can do.

I would talk with them and just explain that you’re trying to be a leader by participating in the workouts with them and then get their opinions. Do you think it bothers them when you work out with them? If you’ve gotten the impression that it’s not helping the crew, I’d talk to them and your coach to figure out an alternative way that you can be of use to them while they’re doing land training. If it turns out it’s not a big deal, I’d keep doing what you’re doing and work out with them. I would however, let your stroke seat or the team captains set the standards as far as how hard/fast/etc. the rowers should be pulling and you just fall in line with that, if that makes sense.