Month: June 2013

High School Q&A

Question of the Day

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My parents are guilting me about the cost of my summer rowing program, despite it being far cheaper than any camp my brother has ever done (sorry personal rant point right there haha). I feel bad about doing it but mad at my parents for giving me crap about it as well. We’re going to Club Nats and Canadian Henley and I was SO excited for it but not so much anymore, even though this is really important to me. How do I get my parents to see that this is worth it?

I totally get what you’re saying. Being really excited about something and then having someone be negative towards it or you is so frustrating. I understand why the money thing can be an issue too but it’s definitely not something worth being guilt-tripped over, especially if you’ve shown a serious interest and commitment towards rowing and isn’t something you’re just going to give up in a year.

Why did they think the camps were worth it for your brother? Explain to them how those reasons apply to you too. If you’re looking at rowing or coxing in college, explain to them why participating in a summer program, as well as being competitive at Club Nationals and Canadian Henley, can help you stand out with college coaches. Above all else, it shows commitment and dedication, two things coaches at any level appreciate. If paying for it is a real issue, offer to help cover part of the costs. If you can’t pay for it upfront, offer to pay them back 1/4 of the cost (or whatever you both decide is reasonable) at the end of the summer after you’ve had time to make some money.

Related: Can you explain Canadian Henley to me? People keep telling me it’s a national team thing.

Why do you want to do it? Why is it important to you? Why is racing over the summer something you want to do? What are you goals/what do you hope to accomplish? How is this summer program, the coaches, etc. going to help you achieve them? Saying that you just really love rowing and traveling to the regattas will be fun isn’t going to cut it in this case. You can tell them that but you’ve also got to tell them about how improving your technique is a goal so that right off the bat in the fall you can be in the mix of people being considered for the “A” boat that’s going to Head of the Charles. Make sense?

Maybe your parents just aren’t sure of your reasons for wanting to do it, which is why they’re apprehensive about paying all this money. Hopefully it’s not their intentions to be buzzkills but it’s possible they’ll change their tune once you talk to them and make it clear what your intentions are.

Books on Rowing, pt. 1

Rowing

Books on Rowing, pt. 1

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A few weeks ago I was asked about “rowing books” and which ones were worth checking out. My coaches in high school made the point that in order to gain a real appreciation for the sport you’ve gotta spend time learning about its history, the people, etc., which was something that always stuck with me. Below are some books that I’ve enjoyed that all have a “historical” perspective to them, with the time periods of each ranging from the 1930s, through the 70s and 80s, up to as recent as 2007.

The Amateurs

“The Amateurs” is about four guys training for the Olympic trials in Princeton for the right to represent the US in the single at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. It talks a lot about how rowing is a sport where you’re only famous amongst each other – there are no lucrative contracts or multi-million dollar endorsement deals and the only people who really know your name are your teammates, competitors, and coaches.

Another thing it talks about is “being the best”. If you’re going to the Olympics, obviously you’re one of the best but if you’re in the single, you are the best. There’s only one of you whereas those who aren’t selected will have to contend with rowing in the pair, four, or the quad and sharing the glory with someone else. In the single, the glory is all your own. Because of that, the book also delves into the psychology of the athletes and how their brand of motivation is much different than those of us in sweep boats.

The Last Amateurs

This one is about the 2007 Boat Race, specifically the time the author spent with the Cambridge team, studying and noting their every move for the duration of the year leading up to the race. The forward is written by Sir Steve Redgrave, who makes a very good point that I think illustrates why the competition is so fierce in this race – in any other race, there’s a silver medalist but in this race, there isn’t. There is no silver medal or second place – you’ve either won the race or you’ve lost it, and that is something that will stick with you for the rest of your life. Those who compete are literally defined in life by whether or not they won against the competing Blue Boat.

The Boys in the Boat

Written by a guy who’s never rowed or been in a boat before, “Boys in the Boat” is about the University of Washington crew that competed at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, in front of Hitler, and won gold. This was a shock to the world because the rowers that comprised this crew were unlike any other rowers currently competing in the sport, either at home or abroad. Unlike what Washington’s current persona gives off, this is a legit underdog tale that’s intertwined with a lot of fascinating history about the sport and the development of rowing on the west coast.

I’m currently reading this at the same time I’m reading The Amateurs and, as I previously mentioned, The Amateurs talks a lot about how rowing isn’t a big name sport and it’s lucky to get a paragraph written about it in the newspaper. The Boys in the Boat, by stark contrast, talks consistently about how big rowing used to be in the national media – it was comparable to any major sport being played today and got just as much attention as most major sports do now.

The Red Rose Crew

This is one of the (very) few books on rowing that highlights the participation of women in the sport. “The Red Rose Crew” is about the formation of the first women’s crew to compete internationally (at the 1975 World Championships and the 1976 Olympics in Montreal) and talks about the obstacles they had to overcome in the mid-70s right after the passing of Title IX, which is what paved the way for the introduction of women’s rowing. They had to overcome the obvious obstacles of everyone doubting them, including their coach, who didn’t think that women could handle the rigorous amount of training it took to become a competitive crew. That coach, by the way, was Harry Parker.

Blood Over Water

This one is co-authored by two brothers, David and James Livingston, who both competed in the 2003 Boat Race, which if you remember from this video I post in February, was one of the most epic races in the entire history of the race. In addition to that and all the other drama that happened right before the race (of which there was a lot), what made the ’03 race unique was that it was the first one in over a hundred years where brothers were competing – and not just competing together but competing for opposing crews (David studied at Oxford and James was at Cambridge).

Similar to The Last Amateurs, this story begins a year before the race and chronicles each brother’s progression into their respective boats while at the same time focusing on something that is undeniably a central part of the story – the relationship between the two and how it was affected and strained by the pressures of the race. At one point they stop speaking to each other although the media hype made it difficult for them to ignore each other completely. The book itself is broken up into narrative sections, each one narrated by a different brother telling his point of view of what was going on at the time, which helps to give a really well-rounded look at the race and everything leading up to it.

Mind Over Water

Normally I’m not one for anything or anyone that tries to derive life lessons from something or over-analyzes “personal growth” because so often it comes off as trying way too hard, which admittedly at times this one does too, but I kind of just got this one. To understand books like this you have to look past the cliches (of which there are many) and really apply what’s being said to your own life and situation(s). When you do that it’s a lot easier, in my opinion at least, to get the message that the author’s trying to convey.

There are three sections to this book, each one relating a different part of rowing to one’s own life. The first part is about finding your way, the second about balance, and the last one about giving everything you’ve got to achieve the endgame. Several people mentioned in the book are familiar to the Boston scene and were also central figures in the The Amateurs. What I like about this book is that it kind of puts into words the transformation everybody goes through from the time they start as a novice to when they’re a few years into the sport and start to really feel the effect that rowing has had on them, not in a physical way but in a more emotional, developmental way. It’s an oddly personal read, which I think is great because it gives everyone an opportunity to take something different away from it.

Next up: Books on rowing, pt. 2

College Racing Video of the Week

Video of the Week: The 148th Harvard-Yale Regatta

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In case you don’t know about the Harvard-Yale Regatta, it is the oldest intercollegiate sporting event in the United States. They started racing each other in 1852 which, for those of you who know your US History, was before the Civil War began. With the exception of not racing during times of war when the US was fighting, the race – “The Race” – has been run every year since 1859. Initially it was rowed on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire but it’s more permanent home is on the Thames River in New London, CT. (Unlike the river that runs through London, England, this one is not pronounced “Tems”. It is in fact pronounced just as it’s spelled.)

There are two campsites along the river that act as the training grounds for each team and where they bunker down for a week or more to prepare to race each other. Yale is at Gales Ferry and Harvard is at Red Top. There are four races all together – the varsity (4 miles), junior varsity (3 miles), freshman (2 miles), and combination (2 miles), which is a boat comprised of rowers from the 3V8+ and 2F8+. The winners of the combination race earn the right to paint their team’s colors on the rock at Bartlett’s Cove the next day, which also happens to be the most popular spot to watch the races as they come down the river.

Harvard is currently sitting atop the leader boards with an impressive 94-54 record, having won the varsity race for the last six consecutive years and 13 of the last 14.

College Q&A Recruiting

Question of the Day

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Rowing scholarships. Where should I start looking? When? Who should I talk to? Is there a site that shows different ones? Or do I have to go to each college/uni site separately? And how good do I have to be at rowing and on the erg? Thanks! 🙂

I’m not sure what you mean by a site that shows different ones – athletic scholarships aren’t like other scholarships that require an application or whatever. Depending on where you look, scholarships might not even be an option since Ivy League and D3 schools don’t offer athletic scholarships period. D1 schools only have so many to offer as well – typically 20 that the coaches can split up in any number of ways.

Related: Hi, I was just wondering when you would suggest talking to college coaches? Like, 6 months before you start college? A year? 2 years? I’m a bit lost! Thanks!

I feel like it should go without saying that if you’re asking someone to give you money to go to school that you’d need to be pretty good … otherwise there’s no incentive. How good you need to be in overall is dependent on the schools you’re looking at but you definitely need to be in upper percentile to be considered for scholarships, regardless of where you’re looking. Most D1 programs are looking for sub-7:30 times and lightweights are around 7:40.

Related: What’s a good way to get the attention of college coaches? Everyone keeps telling me that with my times and progress “the offers will roll in”. I really just want to be proactive in my college search to be sure that I’m choosing the right school. Is it as simple as shooting coaches an email saying that I’m interested or is there some secret step that I’ve been missing?

Start by filling out the recruiting questionnaires on the athletic department websites and send an email to whoever is listed as the recruiting coordinator (typically one of the assistant coaches) that says who you are, what your current grades, stats, etc. are, and what your current 2k is. From there you can go back and forth with them about what their recruiting standards are and where you fall within that.

Coxing Q&A Racing

Question of the Day

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Hi. I was recently contacted by the Junior National team because they want me as a cox for this year. I am so honored however I am scared that I am too heavy. I don’t know what I would be coxing and at the moment I am around 128 pounds. I feel as though because I focus so much of my life on a sport that does not require me to be active, I have slowly lost my fitness. I am going on a big trip this summer as well and am scared that I will gain weight while traveling. Do you have a good solid work out routine that can be done in a short period of time?

International rules state that you can’t cox the opposite sex so if you’re a guy you’d cox men and if you’re a girl you’d cox the women. This would mean that you’d need to be at or as close as possible to international racing weight, which for women is 50kg/110.2lbs and 55kg/121.25lbs for men.

This is coming straight from the section on coxswains from the JNT website:

Please note: We are looking for coxswains who can comfortably manage the international racing weight standard of 110.2 for women and 121.5 for men.

Now, don’t take this wrong way – I’m going to tell you exactly what I would expect/assume the JNT coaches to tell you. Being a coxswain comes with a lot of responsibilities, monitoring our weight when it’s necessary being one of them. In the beginning it’s not as important but as you progress through the sport and start coxing more competitive crews, it does become very important. I’ve said this many, many, many times – we have a purpose in the boat, yes, but no matter how you look at it or what way you try to spin it, we are dead weight. When you’re hauling dead weight, you want to haul as little as possible. That’s why short, petite people are chosen to be coxswains and why we’re “encouraged” to stay as close to the minimum racing weight as possible. Yea, it’s annoying, but it’s part of the job.

You signed up and went through the whole ID camp process which meant that at the very least you thought you had a chance of being invited to selection camp. When you did that and throughout the winter and spring you should have been keeping an eye on your weight, regardless of whether your were at, above, or below the minimum at the time. I really, really disagree with what you said about focusing so much on a sport that doesn’t require you to be active. That’s no excuse. There are plenty of opportunities to work out with the team when they’re lifting, running, doing calisthenics, core, etc., in addition to making time to work out on your own. When it comes down to it, you’ve got to be willing to put the time and effort in from the start, not at the last minute.

It’s not all about exercising either. You can work out all you want but if your diet is bad, you’re negating any gains you would have gotten from the exercise. There has to be a two-part approach/commitment to losing weight: one, adjusting your diet and two, exercising. Cardio is everyone’s best friend when they’re trying to lose weight, so running, biking, swimming, erging, etc. As far as gaining weight while traveling, you just have to be conscious about what you’re doing. I’m not going to say you should question whether you want those French pastries more than you want to cox the JNT because that’d make me a hypocrite and an asshole but my theory on stuff like this is that if it’s important to you, you’ll find a way to make things work.

I would suggest getting a hold of the coaches who sent you the invite and talking to them about any concerns you have. You’re obviously a good coxswain otherwise you wouldn’t have gotten the invite but I’m not going to lie to you and say that excellent coxing is going to win out over weight all the time, especially when you’re competing at this level. The coaches wouldn’t have emphasized the part I quoted a few paragraphs ago if it wasn’t part of their consideration for who makes the final boats. You essentially have to always assume that given the choice between two coxswains of equal skill, the coxswain who is closest to or will have the least difficult time maintaining their racing weight will be the one chosen. I don’t mean to say that to make you lose hope or anything, it’s just one of those harsh realities that people tend to gloss over or that coaches don’t fully explain, which ends up making people way worse than if they’d just known the rationale ahead of time.

Coxswain recordings, pt. 9

College Coxing Drills High School Racing Recordings

Coxswain recordings, pt. 9

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Dartmouth Heavyweights Pause Drill

This is a long video – almost 15 minutes – but if you’re looking to improve your technical skills then I’d definitely spend some time watching this one, listening to what the coach and coxswain are saying, and matching that up with what you’re seeing with the blades. They’re doing pause drills by 6s (and later all eight) with some continuous (occasionally quarter-feather) rowing in between.

Regarding the actual drills, coxing pause drills isn’t that tough but a common question that comes up is how to transition between pairs while you’re pausing and the beginning here is a good example of how to do that. She’s not saying a ton besides “go” but I assume that’s only because the coach is right there actively giving the crew feedback. If he wasn’t talking as much or they were by themselves I assume she’d be making more regular calls beyond telling them when to take a stroke.

Another reason why I like having my recorder on me as much as possible is so I can go back later and listen to everything the coach is saying and actually absorb the things he’s pointing out so I can incorporate it into my own calls later on. Examples from this recording include:

Change direction at the front end without the bodies collapsing down

Take your time from the finish through the pivot

Establish your length through the pause

All basic stuff but it’s a good habit to take the things your coach is saying and include them verbatim (or close to it) within your own calls to reiterate what they’re trying to teach and to show that you’re actually engaged with what’s going on and not just zoning out when you’re not the one making the calls.

Dartmouth Heavyweights Practice Starts

This is a great drill to do with any crew but particularly novice/less experienced ones since doing starts with them tends to look similar to an octopus having a seizure. The focus is on refining each stroke of the start at low pressure before progressively adding speed and power.

Jesuit Dallas Lightweight 8+ 2013 Youth Nationals Petite Final

There were two main things that I took away from this recording. After a few minutes I got bored because a lot of the calls were the same – stand on it, push, let’s go, big press, etc. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t tune out a few times, open up a new tab, start scrolling through Twitter, and then realize that I missed 45+ seconds of audio. This is one of the reasons why I encourage coxswains to record themselves. If you listen to your recording and find yourself getting bored, how do you think the rowers feel?

Another important takeaway from this is that you can’t go on race-mode autopilot and forget about everything else. There were a fair number of strokes where it 7-seat’s blade wasn’t buried all the way and was washing out at the finish. For as often as the coxswain was looking over to port I was waiting for him to say something about it but he never did. There isn’t a rule barring you from calling out technical issues during a race – if something isn’t right you’ve gotta say something otherwise you’re giving away tiny amounts of speed to the other crews with every stroke that add up over the course of 2000 meters.

At 2:16 he says “two seats up on first place” … so, you’re in first place? A better thing to say would be “we’ve moved into first, two seats up on second”. Also, at the end they definitely stopped rowing before they crossed the finish line. The general rule of thumb is that you don’t call them down to paddle until you have crossed the line, that way you can sure that you’re actually over.

Other calls I liked:

“Time to find that next gear…”

You can find and listen to more recordings by checking out the “Coxswain Recordings” page.

College Coxing Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

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Any words of advice for making the transition from coxing at the high school level to coxing in university? I had my first practice this week (the uni has a club program in the summer) and it’s safe to say that the practice was a little … rocky. Is this normal for the first practice? My coach was really great about it all, saying I have the whole summer to get up to speed and I made sure to take full responsibility for any errors or spotty bits in my communication so as not to start off poorly with the rowers (I’m a girl coxing the men’s team, by the way). But I guess I’m just worried about all the usual things … gaining respect, executing the workout and drills properly, meeting the rowers’ and coach’s expectations, etc. I could rant all day to you about this but I suppose it just comes down to: do I have too high expectations of myself in wanting things to go smoothly right off the bat? How long do you think it will take to get in the swing of things? Sorry if this question isn’t quite coherent.

It is normal I think because you’re coxing people that you don’t know (that well) and haven’t ever coxed before. There’s going to be that initial period in the beginning where things will be a little “off” because they’re getting used to your style, which is probably different than the way their previous coxswain did things, and you’re trying to figure out eight new people in addition to how to manage practice with a different coach. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Once you get to know them and vice versa things will be fine. It’s great that your team has this summer program because, like your coach said, you’ve got all summer to hone your skills and get up to speed which means in the fall you’ll be 100% on top of your game.

Gaining respect comes with time. It can’t always be earned on the first day but it can definitely be lost there. Treat your rowers like you want to be treated, carry out your responsibilities appropriately, effectively, and diligently, own up to your mistakes when necessary, and remember that there are people around who are always willing to help you – all you have to do is ask.

Related: Respect

If you’re worried about the workouts or drills, see if you can meet up with one of your coaches one day to go over the drills they like to do. This would be great to do for two reasons – one, you find out what the drills are, how to do ones that you aren’t familiar with, and can get some basic insight on what the coach is specifically looking for with each one and two, it shows your coach you’re committed to the team, you want to be the best coxswain you can be for your boat, and that you’re willing to put the time and effort in off the water to get better on the water. I feel like people are afraid that something like this would make them look like a kiss-ass but from a coach’s perspective, my respect and level of trust in him/her would skyrocket.

Related: Do coaches generally like it when novice coxes go into their office asking questions about last practice/tips on what they could have done better coxing wise, etc? Or does it make the novice, look like a nervous, needy, annoying cox? That’s what I’m always worried about going into coach’s office. Thanks! I love that you’re a cox/coach and you answer all our questions!

In terms of expectations, wanting to meet the expectations of the rowers and coaches isn’t a bad thing. Just know that right off the bat, they have little to no expectations because they don’t know you. The coaches know you from recruiting (if you went through that process) so they have expectations based off what they’ve seen on paper but that’s all. In the fall, yea, they’ll have some that are more established but I don’t think it’s something you need to seriously concern yourself with right now. I don’t think wanting things to go right immediately means you have expectations that are too high but just remember that the expectations you consider to be reasonable may be considered too high by others. Your expectation of the boat has to be a combination of fifty other minor expectations, which I don’t think is something most coxswains realize. For now, you should have one expectation and that’s of yourself to go out each day and execute practice well. If you can get off the water saying that today was a good day, consider your expectations met. If you can’t say that, don’t necessarily chalk one up in the loss column right away. Instead think about why they weren’t met, what happened, what you can do differently, and then apply your realizations to tomorrow’s practice.

Depending on how often you’re practicing, I’d say give it a week or two. It’s not like you’re a novice learning how to cox for the first time – you already know how to do that. What you’re doing is getting used to coxing a new group of people while being coached by a new group of coaches. That takes time but it sounds like your coaches are really encouraging and I would assume willing to help you should you need it. For now, don’t stress yourself out over anything. The summer is supposed to be relaxing, regardless of what you’re doing. And crew, hard as you might/should be working, should always be enjoyable. Don’t ruin it by over-thinking things. Been there, done that, was 10x more miserable. Use this time to get to know your rowers and don’t be intimidated by them. Like I said earlier, treat them like you want to be treated, be friendly and approachable, spend time with them outside of practice, etc.

Coxing Q&A Racing

Question of the Day

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Hello! I’m not great at estimating distances but I’m learning and getting better – but my coach told me and the other coxswains on the team that it is better to call the sprint early and then ask for 10 more strokes than to call it a little late and wonder what could have been (strokes used in the race). However, I always feel bad if I tell the rowers we have twenty strokes left when we actually have thirty. What do you think? Is my coach wrong or do I just need to suck it up? Thanks!!

I don’t think your coach is explaining this properly. He’s taking two separate things and explaining it like they’re one in the same. The sprint doesn’t have to do with a certain number of strokes – you’re calling it for a certain number of meters, like the last 250m or something (which is the start of the red buoys to the finish line). Some teams do X strokes at 36, X at 38, etc. for their sprint but they still start it when they cross the last 250. The “10 more strokes” thing comes in if you say “last 10 to the line (regardless of whether you’re sprinting or not)” but it ends up being not the last 10 to the line.

Related: Judging distance

As far as wondering “what could have been”, you’re going to wonder that after every race that doesn’t result in a gold medal. If you aren’t paying attention or “forget” to call the sprint at 250m, don’t call it until there’s 100m left, and then lose by a seat, yea, you’re going to really wonder what could have been.

There’s nothing for you to “suck up”, really. Just keep practicing. At some point or another every coxswain has said “last X strokes” and it’s actually be a few more or less than that. If you can nail it and have the last stroke happen just as your bow ball crosses, rock on, but it’s not an exact science and most of the time you are estimating and hoping you’re within a stroke of what you call for. If you say “last 10” and it ends up being the last 11, it’s not a huge deal. If you say “last 10” and it’s actually the last 20, that’s a bigger issue because by now you should have an idea of how far your boat travels in ten strokes and be able to guess when you’re that far away from the line. Plus, your rowers are trusting the fact that you can see where the line is since they can’t, so they assume that when you say “last 10” you really mean last 10. Like I said though, it comes with practice and consciously making an effort to gauge the distance you’ve traveled in ten strokes, twenty strokes, etc. when you’re out doing pieces.