Day: June 13, 2013

Q&A Rowing Training & Nutrition

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Out of curiosity – why do lightweights stress and stress about getting so far under the minimum? It makes sense that they would want to have a bit of a cushion to ensure they don’t go over it (e.g., being at 130-132 so that if they eat or drink too much, they’re still under 135), but I don’t understand from a logical perspective why they get so worked up about getting their weight down and down and down. Yes, getting down to weight is extremely mentally and emotionally taxing but why do coaches want such drastic margins between the weight maximum and what they actually weigh? It seems to me that you would want to be as close to the maximum as possible, because the heavier you are, the more powerful your stroke can be, theoretically speaking, no? So you would want to be as big as possible without surpassing the maximum to be better competition. I.E. A 160lb guy can probably pull harder than a 150lb guy, if you’re making that judgment solely based on weight. Right? So what gives with the constant weight loss — other than it being emotionally addictive and unhealthy?

I get what you’re asking and what you’re saying but be careful about phrasing it so … harshly. You sound kind of flippant here and I know several lightweights that would raise an eyebrow at this. It’s a physical thing yes, but for some rowers, more than most people realize, it’s much more of a psychological thing. When people are dismissive about it or talk about it like they’re being illogical or something, it can be pretty damaging.

Related: National eating disorder awareness week: Lightweights

There is no minimum for lightweights – not sure if you meant to put “maximum” in your first sentence or not but only coxswains have minimums. Minimums mean that you cannot be under that weight; maximums mean you can’t be over it. Lightweight women and men have a maximum of 130lbs or 160lbs, respectively.

I don’t think most coaches do want drastic margins between the rowers’ weights and the maximums. If the maximum is 130lbs a coach isn’t going to tell all the women in the boat that they need to weigh 120lbs on race day. A few days beforehand they might want to be 128lbs to provide that cushion, like you said, but I don’t think two pounds constitutes a “drastic margin”.

Related: National eating disorder awareness week: Your experiences

Theoretically yes, I suppose the heavier you are the more brute strength you’ll be able to conjure up but lightweight rowing isn’t all about strength like heavyweight rowing is. OK, technically that’s not completely true. Heavyweight rowing requires good technique, obviously, but since they don’t have weight limits they can be as heavy as they want (within reason, use your common sense) which means they can out-muscle the competition. Lightweights, however, do have weight limits which means their brute strength can only take them so far. Their technical rowing has to be spot on in order to make up for what they lack in strength (compared to heavyweights).

Other than all of that … I don’t know how else to answer your question. I think that most people that compete at the lightweight level are already within a healthy weight range so they don’t need to do much other than maintain their current weight. Others have to do more but if they’re responsible in the off-season they won’t have much weight to lose when racing season rolls around.

College Ergs Q&A Recruiting Rowing

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Hey so following that junior girl, I’m going into junior year as well, I’m 5’9″ and on the lower side of lightweight. I pull an 8:00 2k, and I know that’s not low enough but do you think I may have a chance at recruitment? There’s only so many lightweight options and I’m not at that level, so I need a compromise. Tips for really getting that time down in the next year?

D1 programs tend to look for 2ks around 7:40-7:45ish as a starting point. As a junior, you’ve definitely got time to shave some seconds off your current 2k, it’s just going to be a matter of putting in the meters to get it done – basically it comes down to steady state, steady state, and more steady state. Build up your strength and endurance too – try to incorporate some lifting into your routine over the summer, as well as some cardio (running, biking, or swimming are great options).

I’m not sure if this is a misconception or just something that people don’t know but you don’t have to be recruited to row on the team in college. You could just email the coach up and say “hey, I was accepted into the Class of 2017, I rowed for four years in high school, and I’m interested in walking on to the team.” If you’re not sure your times are good enough to be recruited or after talking to coaches you don’t get any offers, you should consider this route.

To be honest, if you’re on the low side of lightweight (I’m assuming around 115-120lbs?) you’ll probably get more requests to cox rather than row, even though you’re tall. Height isn’t as much a big deal for coxswains as weight is, so even though the majority of us are vertically challenged there have been known to be a few tall coxswains. Your height is great for a rower but being 20+ pounds lighter than the other openweights can make it hard for you to actually be competitive with them, which is probably what coaches will point out.

Novice Q&A Rowing

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So I’ve been rowing for a year and a lot of people underestimate me because I’m young and short but I’ve been doing a lot better than people taller and those who’ve been there longer than me. The problem is the coaches look over me (I’m 5’5″) and automatically chose this girl for boats who’s a bit taller than me, even though my times are better and I’m a better rower. How do I get them to look at us equally?

Ask for a seat race. State your case as to why you think you deserve to be in whichever boat you’re going for and why you think you’re the best choice. What can you bring to the boat that will make it go fast? The key to getting your coach(es) to take you seriously is to talk yourself up instead of talking the other person down. Seat races, when done correctly, can be a really good indication as to who can move boats, so I think asking for one of them will be your best bet. Whatever the final decision though, you’ve got to respect it. Talk to your coaches one-on-one and and tell them that you feel like you’re progressing well with your rowing and really want to be considered as a contender for the top boats – what, in their opinion, should you work on so you can be considered for those lineups?

Assuming you’re only a freshman or sophomore, you are going to grow more (do as I say, not as I do – pretty sure I stopped growing in like, 8th grade). 5’5″ isn’t that short – the majority of junior women I know who row now, in addition to the girls I rowed with in high school, are all in the 5’5″ to 5’7″ range. Even if that is the reason your coaches aren’t boating you, don’t use it as a crutch. A rower’s height is only part of what makes them an efficient rower. Do everything you can to improve the other parts so that when your coaches look at you, they think about your technique, how coachable you are, what kind of teammate you are, etc. before the thought of your height even crosses their mind.

Q&A Rowing Teammates & Coaches

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Next weekend is the last race of the season. I’ve been stroke all year, but for this last race I’m suddenly put in bow seat. I can row both sides that’s not an issue, I just sort of feel useless because I don’t have the same responsibilities anymore. I really want to ask my coach about it, but I don’t want to sound ungrateful or cocky. How should I approach this?

If you want to ask your coach about it just be straightforward and to the point. As long as you aren’t whiny or accusatory, there’s really no way that you can look bad. Just say that you’re curious why the lineup was changed for the last race, if this is indicative of something you need to work on, etc. and listen to what they have to say.

Related: Hey, as a coach you might be able to tell me, in a quad how do you decide who goes where? And the same for an eight? Where you’re placed in the boat, should this tell you anything about where you “sit” compared to the rest of the crew?

Without knowing your coach’s motives, here’s my take. As the stroke, you had one job – set and maintain the pace for the crew. Because strokes tend to spend so much time thinking about this their technique can start to falter, which is why sometimes coaches will throw them back in 6-seat for a practice or two to relieve them of the pressures of stroking and let them re-focus on their own rowing and technique. In bow seat your technique needs to be solid because you have a much more profound impact on the set because the boat is narrower there vs. in the middle of the boat or in the stern. So, if you’re moving from a position where you could theoretically get away with having okay technique to the spot in the boat that requires some of the best technique, that’s a sign that your coach is confident that you can contribute from any seat in the boat. I wouldn’t be too upset about that since that’s a good thing.

Plus, the whole point of the sport is that no one rower contributes more than another so regardless of what seat you’re in, you’re not useless just because you’re not the stroke.