Category: High School

High School Q&A Rowing Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

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Hi, I’m a 5’6 140 pound 16 year old girl. I’m a first year varsity rower with the second best scores on my team, yet my coach still won’t put me in his varsity four in favor of a girl who’s slightly taller than me but not as fast, even though he already has a girl my height (the one girl on the team who consistently beats me) in that boat. Is it because of my height? What can I do to make him show him I am better than she is?

I don’t think it’s based strictly on your height, especially if he already has another 5’6″ rower in the boat. If you have good erg times, my next guess would be your technique. Power and strength can only take you so far – what really gives you that extra inch is how well you row. If you and this other girl are similar in every other category, that would be why I assume your coach chose her over you. That’s purely speculative though. Before trying to show him why you’re “better” than her, first find out what makes her “better” than you. Talk with your coach and say that your goal is to row in the varsity four. You notice that you and this other girl are very similar and you want to know why she was chosen over you so that you can work on whatever the deficit is in the hope of eventually getting in the boat. If you do any erg pieces with your coxswains around, ask one of them to watch you and point out anything with your technique that you could work on. Talk with your coach about what he’s looking for in a V4+ rower so that you have some idea of who he wants in the boat. Be mature in your approach to talking with him and don’t let it come off as bitchy or whiny – that’s a surefire way to ensure this other girl stays in the boat all season.

Don’t let your main focus during training be about proving yourself against this girl. To an extent, yes, that’s what you have to do in order to be in the boat, but your main focus should be on becoming an overall better rower – getting stronger, working on your technique, improving your splits, etc. If you do all of that, your rowing will speak for itself.

High School Q&A Training & Nutrition

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So this might sound funny but why am I always hungry?I I’m a high school girl and I began rowing about a year ago so while I have my general bearings, I’m still learning something new about the sport everyday and I was just curious. Ever since I’ve started rowing I’ve noticed that I have a much bigger appetite than when I participated in other sports. Is it just cause I’m a growing teenager or is this every rower?

It’s partially because you’re a growing teenager, but it really is every rower. Rowing is a full body sport in that it requires a LOT of muscles from nearly every major muscle group. In order for your body to have enough energy to fuel those muscles during practice or a race, you have to eat … a LOT. The number of calories you burn is a lot more than with any other sport, so the calories you take in has to be significantly higher than what you’re probably used to. Elite rowers (and I’m sure many collegiate rowers as well) tend to eat something small when they wake up before practice, something small after practice, breakfast, lunch, a mid-afternoon snack, followed by dinner, and maybe another small snack after that. During the Olympics I remember reading many articles that talked about the diets of some elite rowers and they were taking in something like 6,000 calories a day at the peak of their training, which is (hopefully) 2-3x what the normal person would eat.

If you have a bigger appetite than normal, don’t ignore it. Make healthy decisions on what to eat and recognize the fact that it’s just your body telling you that it’s working hard. As long as you’re not shoving Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory down your throat every time you sit down for a meal, the likelihood that you’ll gain any weight is slim since you’re burning it off through practice/racing and daily living.

Ergs High School Novice Q&A Rowing Training & Nutrition

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I am a novice girl rower (14) for a competitive East Coast team, and my erg scores are kind of random. My 5k and 2k erg scores are in the top five normally but when we do a 10k (my first was 2:11) I come in first every single time by a lot. This wouldn’t be a problem but my coach always tells me that I need to use the power from the 10k in the other pieces. I really have no idea what changes in the 10k and as much as I’ve tried I can’t figure out how to do it and my coach is stressing me out.

Talk to your coach. Coaches can be really terrible at explaining what they mean when they say something like this and don’t tend to realize how much it stresses their athletes out. Explain to him that you don’t understand what he means and it’s frustrating you so you’re hoping he can clarify it for you.

Related: Hi, I feel like my endurance is decent, 10K is fine, etc. but my sprinting for a 2K race is worrying me (I started in August). I don’t know how to make it brilliant and I also struggle to get the full power out of my legs (or what it seems like to me).

I kind of understand what he’s saying about using the power from one piece for another, but 10ks and 2ks are like apples and oranges. It’s hard to compare the two because how the body approaches to them is so different.

Coxing High School Q&A Teammates & Coaches

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So this might come out bitchy and trust me that is my very last intention, but I don’t like my cox. First, I should probably tell you that she and I are the “babies” of the varsity team, we’re the only sophomores, everyone else is a Jr. or Sr. We only have one other cox who is a senior but my cox is more skilled and is almost always placed in the top boat, as am I which is great ya know, power to the underclassmen, but I just really don’t respond well to her tone of voice/style etc. I’ve tried making suggestions b/c the last thing I would want to do is disrespect a teammate or insult her abilities but she really only implements the suggestions made by the older girls which peeves me to no end. I get the idea that she sometimes thinks she’s better than me which is also really frustrating especially b/c she messes up the workouts/stroke ratings/stoke count multiple times a practice. Not saying I’m perfect and or don’t mess up I just feel like I’m that kid in class who always has their hand raised but the teacher just never freaking calls on me. How do you think (from both a coach & teammates perspective) I should handle this?

My first thought was she’s taking the older girls’ suggestions because they’re more experienced, so she thinks they know more, whereas you and she are the same age so you probably wouldn’t know what you’re talking about in comparison (if that makes sense). My other thought is maybe she’s friends with the older girls and that’s why she listens to them. What’s your relationship like with her? If you’re not friends or you butt heads, she might ignore your suggestions out of spite.

Have you tried talking to her one-on-one regarding your suggestions? Part of what makes a coxswain “good” is the ability to take constructive criticism or suggestions from the boat (including from the rowers you don’t necessarily like) and implement it, even if means adjusting how we do things. Unless you flat out tell her she’s doing a terrible job, I don’t think that would be insulting or disrespectful to approach her and say what you’re thinking. Another approach would be talking to the senior coxswain and asking for her advice on what to do. As a coxswain, she might be able to talk to this girl and explain that you have to take into consideration the suggestions of everyone in the boat, regardless of your personal relationship or feelings about them.

What about your coach – have you tried talking to them about it? If it’s affecting your rowing and really bothering you, I’d have a conversation with them and ask for their advice on how to handle it. They might be able to give you something more substantial to work with since they know you and your coxswain (whereas I don’t). If you talked to her and she still didn’t respond to your suggestions, I would pull her aside and say the same thing that I’d say if I were talking to her coxswain-to-coxswain … regardless of how experienced or inexperienced a rower is or how you feel about them outside of the boat, if they say something’s not working for them, you have to look at yourself and see what you can do to improve. It does suck because we tend to be perfectionists who think what we’re doing is always right, but in the end we have to do what’s best for the boat. A coach doesn’t want a coxswain that ignores what her boat says because that gives the rowers minimal reason to listen to her, which leads to all sorts of drama and problems.

What is it specifically about her style or tone of voice that you don’t respond to? If you can think of the specifics, that will be a lot more helpful to your coach and coxswain that just saying “Oh, I don’t respond well to her”. This will at least give her something to work with whereas just saying you don’t respond to her style could be construed as “Oh, I just don’t like her and this is how I justify not listening to her” (which I doubt is what you do but that could be how she sees it).

If she’s always messing things up in practice, that’s also something your coach should know. That wastes time and the energy of the rowers, which is annoying all around. One thing coxswains often forget (I’m guilty of this sometimes too) is that rowers can count. Even though we’re counting for them, they still know their 1-2-3s. If they hear the coach say that you’re going to do 20 on, 10 off, etc. and you count 22 on, 9 off, etc., that’s going to piss them off. It makes them question if you’re paying attention, which can then lead to a whole other set of issues. If that’s part of the problem with your coxswain too, bring it up with your coach. They want the rowers focused on JUST the rowing, not on what the coxswain is (or isn’t) doing.

Training: 2k Test Strategy

College Ergs High School How To Training & Nutrition

Training: 2k Test Strategy

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A 2k test on the erg is one of the definitive physiological tests of our sport. It requires as much mental preparation as it does physical. Unlike a 6k where your endurance and mental strength are being tested, a 2k test analyzes both of those in addition to your power output and resistance of and resilience towards pain. This isn’t like going to the doctor to have a dislocated shoulder reset – it doesn’t hurt less if you don’t see it coming. It hurts more. Accepting the realization that your body is about to experience pain does a lot more for you than ignoring it.

There are infinite ways to pull a 2k and everyone’s strategy is different. Instead of reading this and thinking it is the definitive guide to developing your 2k game plan, use it as the framework to help build your own. Assuming you’ve all pulled a 2k before, you should know where you start to feel fatigued, where you start to hit that mental roadblock, and where you realize you need to go NOW. During races, coxswains use landmarks to help us call certain moves; the points I just listed are your landmarks.

The Start: 2000-1800m

Race plan: High 20 followed by 5-10 to lengthen out to your base pace

Go out of the gates hard here. Get your stroke rate where you want it within 2-3 strokes, making sure they’re controlled and not erratic. Know where your splits need to be and aim to get there within the first five to eight strokes. Take these first 10-15 strokes to get all the jitters out of your system – let the adrenaline take over.

As you go through strokes 14, 15, and 16 get ready to lengthen out. In 3, 2, 1, BOOM on this one – explosive press off the stretchers, control the slide on the recovery, drive it hard. Breathe. Get to your desired stroke rate within 2 strokes and pay attention to your split. Know what you need to be at, get there, and stay there.

At some point there will be a second where you think “I don’t feel THAT bad, I should bring my split down a little more.” Do not, under any circumstances, listen to your brain. Sabotage is the name of the game here and your brain is a master at it.

The Body: 1800-1300m

Race plan: Find your rhythm

This is where you’re going to start feeling the burn in your legs. The first 200m were largely anaerobic but that you’ve switched over to aerobic you’re gonna start feeling the lactic acid accumulation. Ignore it and focus on your splits. Concentration and consistency drives these 500m.

You’ll know you’re in trouble if your splits are sporadic and you find it hard to hold your desired number. If your split should be at a 1:48, make sure every stroke is focused on rowing a 1:48. When you get to 1500m, take a ten for … something. This is a good opportunity to check yourself and do one for form, rate, or power, if you want/need that boost to get yourself refocused on hitting your target splits.

The Pain Cave: 1300-700m

Race plan: Breathe, commit, attack

These are the worst 600m of a 2k. I like to break this part up into two smaller chunks: 1300-1000m and 1000-700m. This is where your brain is going to start saying “stop, I can’t do it, the tank’s empty, if I fake a heart attack maybe I can get out of this, wait – I don’t need to fake a heart attack, I think I’m actually having one”. Pieces are determined to be successful or not successful in this next stretch, so above anything else, your mental toughness has to prevail here.

A lot of times I’ve seen rowers get to this point and start feeling defeated by the number of meters left on the screen. They take a break from their split for a stroke or two and then it’s all over. There’s no coming back from those off strokes. You have to recognize that pulling a 1:46 is going to burn just as badly as a 1:48 so you might as well push through and stay on that 1:46.

When you get to the 1000m mark, take a 20. These next twenty strokes are for you to feel your body and what it’s still capable of. I like to call this “the attack”. Go hard like you did at the start without changing the stroke rate. Control your breathing and your body and push through these few hundred meters. When you see the meters get to triple digits, don’t get complacent. You made be halfway done but you still have another half to complete. If all is going well, you’re still holding the splits you had around the 1500m mark.

After you finish those 20 strokes, take 5 to lengthen back out. Try to maintain the same split and stroke rate while getting as much length as possible. For most people it’s entirely possible that they don’t even see the 900-700m chunk go by because they’re inside their own heads.

The Second Half: 700-500m

Race plan: (re)Focus and prepare to start shifting the rate up

This isn’t supposed to feel good, remember? The third 500m is typically the slowest part of the piece. You’re suffering hard right now and the physical aspect of the test is taking a backseat to the mental part. Remind yourself that pain is a good thing and that you can’t quit yet. Make a shift with the stroke rate and push your split down by a second. Drive through these 200m.

The Build: 500-350m

Race plan: 10 at 500m to recommit – no turning back

All eyes on the end now. Coaches really look at this last 500m to see whether or not you went faster here than during any other part of the piece. Maintaining your split here is important. Take a 10 or 20 at the 500m mark, but don’t push your split down and let it immediately come back up. If you push it down, keep it there.

Watch your stroke rate coming into 400m. Make sure you’re not losing control and letting it creep up as you approach the end of the piece. While you want to be giving everything you’ve got, you still want to be able to give a little bit extra at the very end, so it’s important to not release that extra burst of energy too soon.

Around 400, start to gradually push the split down while letting the stroke rate come up a beat or two. This shouldn’t occur all at once, instead over a gradual period of  a couple strokes. Make the commitment to go and GO.

The Sprint: 350-0m

Race plan: Stay controlled at the higher rate and go balls to the wall to the end

This is it. The legs are going to be begging for the end of this piece but you have to fight through the pain and maintain your technique. I’ve heard of some rowers who sprint at half slide and exaggerate their upper bodies to give the legs a break, which makes absolutely NO sense since the smaller upper body muscles are no match for the larger muscles of the legs. Stay long with the legs and don’t shorten your stroke as you bring the stroke rate up at the end.

Some additional important things to remember:

Food

Eat something no later than one hour before your race. You can eat a regular meal 3-4 hours before your test because the digestive system will have done it’s job by the time you get on the erg, but as time ticks down your meals should get smaller to ensure it’s digested by the start of your piece. Don’t eat anything within an hour before your test because not only do you not want to get sick before, during, or after but you most especially do not want your stomach drawing blood away from where it’s needed most – your muscles.

Also, make sure you’re hydrated. Dehydration leads to cramps and there’s few things worse for a rower’s psyche than having to stop mid-2k because of a muscle cramp.

Warm up

Don’t skip the warm up. 20ish minutes before your test is about when you should begin getting ready on the erg. Before this you should do your normal dynamic warmup or stretching/rolling routine that you usually do before practice.

When your body feels loose, get on the erg. If your coach has a specific warmup for you to do before your test, do that. If not, it’s up to you what you do. Ideally you should row around 2/3 pressure for a few minutes before moving up to 3/4 pressure. Throw in a couple of practice starts, followed by 5 high strokes and 5 lengthening strokes to mimic your full starting pattern. Spend about 5 minutes rowing at steady state pressure with some “bursts” thrown in every minute.

Following the completion of the full warm up (and assuming you’ve timed in correctly), give yourself at least 30 seconds or so to just sit at your erg and get in the zone. Grab one more drink if you need it but don’t spend too much time just sitting otherwise your muscles will cool down and negate the time you just spent warming up.

Right before the start

Close your eyes. Take a deep breath, sit up a little taller, and remind yourself that you are prepared for this. No negative thoughts, questioning, doubt, etc. is allowed.

Immediately after the test

Do not – I repeat, do NOT – make a big scene by flopping on the ground and lying there. The best thing you can do immediately following the test is keep moving. Don’t try getting off the erg right away and walking around though … the post-2k jelly leg syndrome can lead to some nasty injuries (fun fact, this is how I dislocated my knee).

It’s best to stay on the erg and row lightly for a few minutes to cool down so that the body can begin clearing all the metabolic waste from your system. The heart and liver will work to filter the lactate from the blood, which takes time, but the process is helped by keeping the body moving. If you don’t cool down and just let the lactate hang out, it can be a couple days before it’s fully cleared from your system, which means you’ll be in some serious pain.

You should do an active recovery that involves rowing around 40-50% for at least 5-10 minutes. Your coach should account for this if there aren’t enough ergs for everyone to do the test at once. Your muscles will use the majority of the lactate during the cool down, which will aid in helping clear it faster. When you’re tired you instinctively want to not do anything but after a hard erg piece it’s imperative that you keep moving and cool down. Just like the warm up, don’t skip this.

Coxswains

Let your coxswain know if you want them to cox you during your test. If you don’t want them to talk to you, don’t assume they know that and don’t get pissed at them if they try to cox you. They’re just doing their job. Make it clear that you don’t want any coxing but be polite about it. Sometimes coxswains can take a rower telling them not to cox them as that rower saying their coxing sucks, which most of the time isn’t true.

If you want them to cox you, talk to them well before your test (like, the day before) instead of waiting until 5 minutes before and telling them every spot you want them to give you a power 10. They won’t remember all of that. If you talk to them ahead of time, they can write down where you want to take a burst, where you want to start your sprint, what you want to be reminded of, etc. and then cox you through your piece without any hiccups.

Getting on the erg with a plan is much more beneficial than getting on and just pulling until the meters read zero. It all goes back to being prepared for the pain. Obviously I’m writing this from a coxswain’s perspective since this is usually how I approach 2ks but I think one of the best ways to come up with a strategy if you’re stumped on how to do, particularly if you’re a novice or haven’t done that many erg tests, it is to talk to a coxswain on your team. Ask them where, why, and what they do during a race. This will give you some insight into what they look for and why they think it’s important to make moves at certain points in the course.

Image via // @erikdresser

Coxing High School Q&A

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I’m in 10th grade. I’m 5’5″ and don’t have very good erg times. I feel like it would be best if I tried to be a coxswain if I want to make it into college, but I’m also afraid I’d be too heavy. How much should a 5’5″ cox weigh and how should I talk to my coach about letting me cox sometime? I feel like it’s the way to go for me, but I don’t think my coach would let me when we have a bunch of perfectly good 5’0″ girls.

Well, the minimum for a coxswain on a women’s team is 110lbs and 120lbs for a men’s team. Weight can be an uncomfortable and tricky topic to discuss when it comes to coxswains, so I’ll just say this: you want to be as close to the minimum as you can be while still being healthy. The school you go to will dictate how rigidly you need to stick to these minimums. Division 1 schools are strict about it because it is the highest level of competition – it’s to be expected. Division 3 is much less strict because it’s typically a club sport not ruled by NCAA, so you don’t have to have the “stereotypical” coxswain’s body. The varsity D3 programs though are gonna approach it the same way as D1 though – you should be as close to racing weight as possible.

It’s hard to say what you should weigh, but if I had to give a vague, overarching answer, I would say that if you are 15+ lbs OVER the minimum, you might consider adjusting your diet and making time in your schedule for exercise. That doesn’t mean though that you should strive to be 110lbs. That isn’t normal or healthy for everyone and it can’t be expected that every coxswain be the same weight. For you specifically, since I don’t know what you currently weigh, I would say you should try and maintain a 3-5lb range over the minimum. That’s based PURELY on your height and nothing else, since that’s all I know about you.

If you’re interested in coxing, just say so! Before you do though, think about your reasons for wanting to cox. Are they based purely on poor erg times or do you genuinely think that you could perform the duties of a coxswain at the level your team (and a collegiate team) requires? Can you be a leader and motivator for your team? Can you be your coach’s right hand man? Can you authoritatively run a practice and get things done? Do you have the skills to be able to point out what the rowers are doing wrong and what they need to do to fix it? If you can confidently answer all of those questions with a “yes”, talk to your coach. I’m not going to say that height and weight don’t matter because they do, but if your coach thinks that you can handle those responsibilities as well as your vertically challenged counterparts, I don’t see why he wouldn’t give you a shot. Ask if you can try running a workout or a practice over the winter. When you get back on the water (if you’re already off), ask to go out with the novice crews. Everyone will be on the same footing in a novice boat, so there won’t be as much pressure on you.

Be prepared though for him to say “Thanks for your interest, but we already have more than enough coxswains. I’d really like to see you stick with being a rower.” If he says that, don’t take it personally. It’s purely a logistical thing and not a reflection on you. If that’s what he says, say “OK, I understand. I’m still discouraged about my erg times though and know that I need to improve. What can I do to work towards bringing my times down?”. Ask for their advice on what you can do to improve and then go from there. A couple people have asked me similar questions on here. If you search the “ergs” tag or the “Q&A” tag you’ll come across them (eventually).

Part of being a coxswain is being confident. If you go into a conversation with your coach thinking he won’t let you cox since you already have a bunch of “perfectly good 5’0″ girls”, you’re already failing the first step towards becoming a great coxswain. If it’s something you want, be confident, recognize your potential, and GO FOR IT.

High School Q&A Rowing

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If I’m currently a lightweight at 129 but on the border of open weight. Do you think it is better to be a small open weight or a big lightweight? (Btw I’m a sophomore in high school.)

Lightweight max (for women) is 130lbs so … I think it’d be better to stay a lightweight if you can do so safely and in a healthy manner, especially if that range is where your natural weight lies. The lightweights that I’ve known who have tried to row with the openweights have had a hard time with it (and have gotten injured in some cases) simply because it’s harder to keep up with rowers who are at a different level than you. For comparison’s sake, it’s like basketball for me. I’m 4’11” and when I play with other short people, I’m pretty good, but when I  try and play with the taller people, I suck because I can’t guard them, I can’t power through an open lane against them, and I can’t shoot over them. Our bodies are different and that affects how well we play.

I would stick with being a lightweight for now and if over the next few seasons you find that that weight is harder to maintain, you can talk with your coaches about being an openweight. Talk with your coaches right now though too and see what they say. They’d probably be able to give you better advice because not only do they know you better, but they also know the kind of rowers on your team that you’d be with if you moved up to openweight.

Ergs High School Q&A Rowing Training & Nutrition

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I’m entering my third rowing season this spring but at a different school than I rowed at last year. I come from a good boat at a very strong program but nobody takes me seriously and I want to do really well on my first erg test. The only thing is my old program did 1.5 tests and my new program does 2ks and I don’t know how I’m not going to die that last 500. Do you have any suggestions? I’m a 5’10” 155 lb girl with a 5:45 1.5k.

Before you do your first test I’d suggest doing a 2k or one of the 2k predictor workouts (like 8x500m) just to give yourself a baseline of where you are and what you can expect your time to be. This will also give you an idea of how far into that last 500 you start to really feel the fatigue. Practice, practice, practice – lame answer I know but trust me, you’ll feel a lot better if you’re prepared going into your first test vs. going in blind and not having any idea about what’s going to happen. Jot down some notes after each practice 2k … anything you notice will help you mentally prepare for the “real thing”. Where do you start to feel tired, where would be a good spot to start your sprint, when does the voice in your head tell you to quit because you’re too tired, how do you FEEL, etc. Try giving yourself power 10s, practice making a move at the 1000 meter mark, start building into the sprint at 350 to go, and then start sprinting with 250 to go. See how it goes, tweak it, and find what works for you. Build a “plan” for yourself to loosely follow during your test.

One of the things I liked doing in high school was doing longer pieces than what our races actually were. Instead of doing practice 1500m pieces before regattas, we’d do 2ks. Same with our erg tests – it was ALWAYS 2ks, never 1500s. This helped the rowers a lot because instead of succumbing to fatigue at the end of the race, they KNEW their bodies were prepared to go an extra 500m, so they had an extra 500m of “reserve fuel” already stored and ready to use. I’m convinced that that was a key part of why my team was so successful. It also helped them mentally too because even though they were exhausted like everyone else, they knew their bodies were capable of more than the other rowers we were racing against. That mental edge was HUGE. Make sense? Practice your straight 2k to get a guesstimate of your time and to practice when you’re going to make your moves, but also make sure you’re doing longer steady state pieces to start building up your mental and physical reserves.

If your 1500m time is 5:45, that’s roughly a 1:55 split, which means your 2k would be about a 7:40 … that’s pretty good. Try and hover around that split while you practice and see if you can finish in the 7:40ish range. Don’t settle for that though – if you’re feeling strong and know you can push that split down another second, try it. You’re not a novice and you’ve clearly already proven that you’re a strong rower if you were in a good boat with your previous program so just go do what you know how to do. Don’t try and beat the other girls times just to “prove” yourself. Focus on YOUR erg, YOUR piece, and YOUR time. Let your erg scores, your time on the water, your attitude, your leadership skills, and your commitment to the team speak for themselves.

Coxing High School Q&A Teammates & Coaches

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As a cox how do you approach favoritism from coaches? Like, there’s a girl on my team whose dad is an assistant coach at our club (but for novice) and I feel like our varsity coaches favor her because she is the coach’s daughter. What do/can I do? I like her but I still feel like this is unfair.

Growing up, I played softball for about 10 years before I started coxing and I was fortunate enough to have my dad be my coach every year I played. I think a major reason why I’m so unbiased towards people is because he never gave me special treatment – even when I tried to get it. I wasn’t encouraged or scolded any more or less than anyone else on my team. When I got to high school, I was in the marching band (clarinet) and one of the directors had some seriously hardcore favorites that just got treated way better than everyone else. It annoyed me in a “roll my eyes every time I noticed it” kind of way. There wasn’t anything we could do about it and it wasn’t a HUGE deal in the grand scheme of things so we all basically just had to deal with it and ignore it. Since I’ve started coaching I’ve tried to do the same thing that my dad and HS crew coaches did and not have favorites. I’ve found that even though there are people I like infinitely better than others, I have to treat them equally and not let the people I like get away with shit that I wouldn’t let the others get away with.

One of the hardest lessons to learn is that there will ALWAYS be a favorite. It’s an inevitable truth. Why do you think they favor her? I feel like crew is a hard sport to play favorites with but, then again, I’ve never really seen or experienced it with any of my teams. Unless you, for example, pull an infinitely better erg time than she does and she gets boated over you with zero justification, there’s really not much you can do except ignore it. It’s possible that the coaches just know her better than other people on the team if they’re friends with her dad, so general conversations can seem like favoritism if other people don’t experience the same thing with them.

I wouldn’t let it bother you unless it comes to a point where people are getting displaced in the boat in favor of those who haven’t earned that seat. If that happens, then I’d bring it up (maturely) with one of the coaches and ask why that person was chosen instead of you or whoever. Don’t be accusatory though. Go to your coaches from the angle of wanting to know what you need to improve on so that next time YOU are the one that’s chosen. If they give you a legitimate answer as to why the other person was put in the lineup, you have to trust that they made the right decision, even if to you it feels like the wrong one.

Coxing High School Q&A Training & Nutrition

Question of the Day

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Hi! I have two questions about coxing, if that’s alright. I’m a varsity mens HS cox and I weigh around 122-123 on average. Is that a good weight for men’s? I used to cox women’s but the men’s coach asked me if I wanted to switch so I coxed both for a season before switching and the women’s coach kept asking me to drop weight. Also, can you recommend any workouts to stay in shape? I don’t really have much time to work out. Thank you so so so so much!!

Minimum weight for high school men’s coxswains is 120, so you’re good. If 122-123 is your natural weight, then you shouldn’t really need to worry much about losing anything.

As far as workouts go, what does your team do? Over the winter, I’d suggest working out with them a few times a week. You can do the core workouts and if you’re able, go on runs with them. While they’re lifting, you can bike or go for a run. I get the “not having time to workout” thing (to an extent) BUT if you’re going to be at practice anyways, why not use the time wisely? Remember though, the most important part of getting/being healthy is having a healthy diet. Make sure you’re fueling your body with healthy foods, otherwise the exercise you do won’t have as much of an impact. Don’t deprive yourself though, especially since the holidays are now in full swing.