Why do coaches put out mixed crews for races? Don’t they want us to win? Your blog is AMAZING!! You have helped so much, thanks! 🙂

To be honest, I never really understood mixed lineups during races either but all in all I think it’s a pretty harmless thing to do. Mixed lineups during practice, especially at the beginning of the season, is great but I probably wouldn’t race those lineups at any point past the first race or two. I really don’t think it has anything at all to do with winning or losing though. If your coach races mixed lineups and you’re curious why, just ask him/her what their rationale is behind that. Once they explain it it might make more sense to you and seem less random/dumb.

In my experience it’s largely been a chance for the less experienced rowers to be in a boat that’s (hopefully) more stable which in turn lets them focus a bit more on their stroke and technique without having to worry about all the other distractions that would otherwise be present in a boat made up of entirely less experienced people. For the varsity rowers who might be/probably are pissed that they’re rowing that lineup, all I can say is … chill. You were in that position once too and there were probably varsity rowers that at the time felt the same way about you. Part of being able to call yourself a varsity athlete is knowing that there’s some responsibility on you to help the less-experienced rowers get up to speed. Just go with it and use that time to set a good example by having a good attitude and focusing on rowing well as an individual. The boat’s probably not going to feel perfect but again, you should look at that as an opportunity to figure out what adjustments you can make to your rowing so that when the boat feels similarly once you’re rowing in your regular lineups you’ll already know what changes to make before your coach or coxswain says something.