Day: January 30, 2014

Coxing High School Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

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Are there rules about coaches making coxswains weigh in to check their weight? Obviously coxswains need to weigh in at certain regattas to make weight. I remember someone telling me that it was against some rule to have coaches require coxswains to report their weight, but I forget where I heard that/if it is actually true.

As far as I know there isn’t a rule that says coaches can’t require coxswains to weigh in and report their weight. When done correctly, I don’t think this is a bad thing. It’s when coaches go on power trips with it and try to shame the coxswains (and rowers) for their weight that I start having issues with it. I think it’s good though because it keeps you accountable and helps the coaches keep an eye on everyone (ideally for safety and general well-being purposes).

College High School Rowing

Help me out with summer camp stuff!

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One of the questions that I’ve gotten most frequently is about summer camps for this year. I’m going to start working on that stuff over the next week and hope to get it all up by mid-February-ish. I’d like your help though! Last year a lot of people (mainly parents) asked my opinion about various programs and for most of them, I knew nothing. I think it’d be good to include some anecdotes about the experiences other people have had, that way people can get a real idea of what the program is like and whether or not it’s worth the money.

If you’ve attended a summer camp at a university or done a summer-long program like Penn AC, Vesper, or the USJNT (dev camp included), send me an email (rowingandcoxing@gmail.com) and let me know the following:

Which program you attended, where it was held, and how long it lasted (i.e. One week-long camp at XYZ University in [city, state]).

Pros/cons – what did you like and/or not like (preferably one of each so as to keep it fair)

Was it worth the money?

Would you recommend it to other people?

What was your biggest takeaway from the program, i.e. what was the biggest/most helpful thing you learned

Extra special bonus points for programs aimed at coxswains, programs held outside the US for the non-US readers, and programs not on the East Coast. I always get questions for programs in the Midwest, on the West Coast, etc. and have a hard time finding stuff or knowing where to look since I’m on the East Coast. If you’ve gone to any of these email me!!

Everything will be anonymous as usual so no need to worry about your name being attached to anything once I get it up. There’s no limits on length either so don’t feel like you have to leave anything out. For the parents that read this, feel free to email me too and let me know from your perspective what you thought of the camp that your kids attended. Thanks for your help!