Q&A Rowing

Question of the Day

So due to a bunch of injuries a girl from the boat below us got moved up to our boat for the time being. Well another girl in the boat above us is now injured, and so they need to pull someone from our boat for the next race, and our coach said it will be our other port, the girl from the boat below us who is only with us for the time being. I swear I literally harbor 0 bad feelings or jealously for her, I just have to wonder from a coaching standpoint why they would make this choice. Thanks!

We’ve had some similar issues lately too. Just going off of that I’d say your coach is looking at this one of two ways: either the girl he moved up is one of those rowers who fits in/meshes well with whatever boat she’s put in (versatility and flexibility are golden qualities for a rower to have from a coaching standpoint) or she’s literally his only option for one reason or another (it’s hard to guess the reasons because it can vary so much). In most cases though where I’ve seen a coach make a lineup switch like this it’s because of the first reason I listed.

Pro tip though, in late April/early May, don’t get injured and/or sick. Take care of yourselves! I know coaches might act like all they care about is their lineups (that’s probably how it’s come off to our team lately) or like they’re pissed at you because of something that’s (nine times out of ten) completely out of your control, but I promise neither of those are true. The vast majority of coaches out there really care about you guys and look at you as way more than just a body in a seat.

From my perspective with having to deal with these same issues over the last couple of weeks, it’s way more frustrating on an administrative level than anything else. When we hear that someone is sick, injured, etc. we’re automatically thinking about if it’s even possible to make a lineup switch/change, how we’re going to re-configure those lineups to give each crew the best possible shot at winning, what the limitations are on how many events people can row in, how close one event is to another, etc.  and if that’s going to affect anything, and on top of all of that, the paperwork (with updated lineups) that has to be re-submitted to the regattas we’re going to that weekend. If it comes off like your coach is mad at you, think back to this post and know that their irritation is more than likely related to the things I just listed and not towards you.

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