Category: Rowing

Q&A Rowing Training & Nutrition

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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).

Sounds like a marathoner who decided they want to switch to the 100m dash. The best way to prepare for a sprint is to practice. If all you do is long steady state pieces, you’re conditioning your body to excel at those kinds of races. Throw in some 100m, 500m, 2ks, etc. and practice bringing the stroke rate up during those pieces. Don’t try and go straight from a 22 to a 34 though…if you’re not used to rowing at a high stroke rate like that, start slow and gradually bring it up. Start at one stroke rate for a few pieces and when you can hold that stroke rate without losing your form or getting tired while still maintaining a good split, bump it up two beats for the next few pieces. When you can hold that, take it up again. The number of beats you’ll be able to take it up will decrease the more conditioned you become and eventually you’ll hit a point where you physically can’t push it up anymore (similar to a plateau).

As far as getting full power out of your legs, it goes back to the marathoner vs. sprinter thing. The muscles in your body are made up of two types of fibers – slow twitch and fast twitch. Slow twitch fibers are responsible for slow muscle contractions and are considered to be “fatigue resistant”, meaning they can go for long periods of time before they start to get tired. Fast twitch fibers are the opposite. They contract quickly and become fatigued rapidly. Marathoners, who tend to run for long distances, have an abundance of slow twitch fibers in their systems. Sprinters, who run very fast for very short distances, have an abundance of fast twitch fibers. Rowers are the hybrid child of marathoners and sprinters, so our training programs have to adequately build up our slow twitch fibers and our fast twitch fibers.

For you, if your endurance is good but your sprinting isn’t, it sounds like you have a decent amount of slow twitch fibers but not enough fast twitch ones. To increase those, you’ll want to add things like plyometrics, specialized strength training, and short bursts on the erg (or the track) to your training program. The strength training you do, in terms of frequency, volume, exercises, etc., has to reflect the season you’re in – pre-season, in-season, post-season, and off-season (winter training for us). For rowers during winter training, we’re preparing for the spring sprint season, so your strength training should be strength-endurance based, i.e. circuit training. Then it will shift to strength (building up the main muscles used in rowing), followed by a shift towards power (Olympic lifts and plyometrics), and then finally to power-endurance (to prepare for head race season – low weights, high reps).

Q&A Rowing

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Hey, as a coach you might be able to tell me, in a quad how do you decide who goes where? And the same for an eight? Where you’re placed in the boat, should this tell you anything about where you “sit” compared to the rest of the crew?

I assume where people go is decided the same way it is for an eight or any other boat. I’ve seen coaches get super methodical about it and put lineups together based on tried and true methods and I’ve seen others put them together based on … nothing. Not every coach follows what I’ve written here but it’s what I’ve seen the coaches I’ve been with do so it’s what I know to be the most effective method of putting together a crew.

Regardless of the boat class these tend to hold true for each seat across the board.

The most basic determination of a lineup is based on weight. Lighter rowers are in stern and bow pair and the heavier rowers are in the middle four. This has a lot to do with boat physics. When selecting sides, some coaches will ask the rowers which is their dominant hand to help them determine whether they should row port or starboard. If you think about it, it makes sense. Feathering requires a lot of muscle control and that motion is made easier if the dominant hand, which has a more developed sense of fine motor control, is the inside hand.

With the exception of the coxswain’s seat, bow pair is where your smallest rowers (height and weight wise) will be. The hull is at it’s narrowest back there, so having a smaller rower there ensures that they won’t be impeded by the sides of the boat while trying to row. The main job of bow pair is to stabilize the boat, ignoring the fact that they sit in a very unstable part of the shell. Because of this, their technique needs to be pretty good. Movements and adjustments are felt more strongly back there and tend to have a greater effect on the boat compared to similar adjustments made by rowers in other seats. Thus, these rowers need to be precise. Even though no one is following bow pair, the ability to mirror the movements of the stern pair is critical. The farther towards bow you get, the worse the rushing becomes, so it’s important that they be able to zone in on stern pair’s blades and follow them closely. In boats without a coxswain, the bowman takes on an additional responsibility of being the pseudo-coxswain. They steer the boat with their toes (hence the phrase “toeing the quad”), so their sense of precision has to be heightened. They’re also in charge of making calls for shifts in stroke rate, power, etc. so it’s imperative that they have a good understanding of how the boat moves and be able to assess the situation like a coxswain would.

Seats 3, 4, 5, and 6 are known as the “engine room”. Their only job is to produce power. They sit in the widest, most stable part of the boat, so any movements or adjustments they make have little effect on the rest of the boat. (Don’t read that and think “oh, well, I don’t have to make adjustments then if no one else is going to notice”. WRONG-O!!) These rowers are typically the tallest and heaviest, meaning they naturally have the ability to produce more power. Since that is their focus, they aren’t always the most technically sound members of the crew. If you read that and assume you can get away with shitty technique, you’re 0-2…technique is still extremely critical to making a boat fast. These rowers simply have a slightly different role in the boat than everyone else. Lineups are usually built around seats 5 and 6, where the strongest of all eight rowers are usually placed. Like the stroke, they need to be consistent, although instead of with stroke rate it’s with their power production.

Stern pair is where you want your most consistent (and ideally, technically sound) rowers. They must also be some of the most physically fit members of the crew. Their job is to set and maintain the pace of the boat – they think for the rest of the crew in a way the coxswain can’t. The stroke must have good communication skills in order to be able to relay feedback to the coxswain so they can make the necessary calls. 7-seat acts as a buffer between the stroke and the rest of the crew. Their role in stern pair is to maintain the stroke rate and rhythm set by the stroke and to “pass it back” to the rest of the boat. While the technique of these rowers is usually very good, particularly the stroke’s, it can be affected by focusing too much on the rest of the boat. As stroke, you’re not focused on just one thing like the engine room or bow pair is. This is most often why coaches will put the stroke in 6-seat for a practice or two. If this happens, don’t freak out. It’s not a demotion or indication that you’re not up to par. It’s a good thing because it gives you a chance to row without worrying about the seven other people who are looking to you to set the rhythm. It gives you the opportunity to focus on and clean up your technique before moving back up.

In smaller boats, the responsibilities of each person in a given seat is still the same with the exception of the middle pair in 4s. They have to take on the characteristics of not only the engine room but also those of bow pair and stern pair.

Q&A Rowing Teammates & Coaches

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I row for school, I am not in their boat but I have two good friends in one boat and they are always laughing and talking and not listening. It’s really annoying when the rest of the squad is taking it seriously! Should I say anything or just leave it for the coaches?

Since they aren’t in your boat, I wouldn’t say anything since it’s (hopefully) not directly affecting you or your boat. If they do the same stuff on land that they do in the boat, you could try having a conversation off to the side with them and explain that it’s distracting and frustrating to everyone around them when they see two teammates not taking the practice seriously. Leave it at that. They’ll either get the message or they won’t.

In general though, it’s up to the coaches and coxswains to handle stuff like this. Their coxswain needs to tell them to stop talking and pay attention when you’re on the water and the coach who’s out with them also needs to tell them to stop or get out of the boat. Unless you’re a team captain or something, I think it’d be out of place for you to say something since you’re not all in the same boat.

College Q&A Recruiting Rowing

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I’m a junior in high school and I’m 5’11”. What kind of erg times should I strive for to be recruited by colleges? I’ve heard mix things like sub 8 and sub 7:30 – is there a lot of variation among schools and divisions? I’m one of the better rowers on my team but I don’t know what kinds of times other kids have from around the country. I just started rowing a little less than a year ago and my last 2k was an 8:10. Would I realistically be able to get my time down before college?

I think generally coaches from the top openweight programs are looking for times that are sub-7:30ish. Lightweight women should shoot for times that are sub-7:40 to 7:50ish.

It’s definitely possible to get your time down before college but you’ll have to work for it. It’s not all about erging harder either. In order to go harder, you’ve got to be stronger, which means lifting, doing cardio, core, etc. The seconds aren’t going to come off as quickly as they did when you first started rowing. It’s like trying to lose weight … at first it comes off fast, but the longer you workout, the amount of weight you lose decreases as your body becomes more fit. Ideally if you are looking to be recruited, you would have already started the process of researching programs and contacting coaches in the fall. When you do talk with them, keep open lines of communication throughout the year and update them on any PRs you may achieve between now and this time next year.

There is some variation between divisions due mostly to the differing levels of competitiveness. D1 schools are going to be a lot more strict about erg times whereas D3 schools might be more lenient. Most D3 programs are clubs, not varsity (and the ones that are varsity can’t offer athletes scholarships anyways), so the majority of people on the team don’t start rowing until they join. I think on the club team I coach now there is only one rower (of 35-40ish) who rowed in high school. There are most likely some subtle differences between what individual universities are looking for as far as erg times though but to find out what they are, you’d have to reach out to the coaches and ask. The Ivies, Washington, Cal, Stanford, etc. are all very strong programs that tend to attract rowers with exceptional times.

In terms of finding out times of other people in the country, there are a few ways to find out, all involving a decent amount of research on your end. The first is to ask. Talk with your current coach or any alumni rowers from your program who row(ed) in college. Your coach should have a general idea of what previous rowers in your program had if you can’t actually talk with any of them. Second, ask people on Reddit. The rowing community is pretty vast on there and most people are willing to share their times if/when asked (although this question gets asked a lot so search the sub before starting a new thread).

Related: Hey I’m currently a sophomore & I’m interested in rowing in college. An older teammate suggested I make a beRecruited account. What are your thoughts on the website? Is it helpful? If so, what are your suggestions about keeping it updated? I feel weird writing about myself! Should I list any regatta my boat has placed in or just major races?

Third, go through sites like CollegeConfidential and beRecruited.com. CollegeConfidential isn’t limited to rowing, so you’ll have to search “rowing”, “erg times”, etc. in the forum to bring up specific results, but there are a lot of great questions and even more great answers on there. The vast amount of information can be overwhelming though. beRecruited.com is something you should consider looking into if you’re serious about being recruited.

How To Q&A Rowing

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How do you fight off the stress of rowing? I can’t just stop because it helps me ease school stuff but at the same time it makes everything pile up and I can’t hold everything in anymore.

I’ve been there. I’ve realized though that my stress from rowing is/was never actually coming from rowing – it was from everything else. When I was in college, I was majorly and unhealthily stressed over school issues, which led to a lot of late nights that turned into early mornings. I’d get maybe an hour or two of sleep before I’d have to get up for practice. I didn’t really hang out with (or like) anyone on the team because we had nothing in common, so I wasn’t particularly thrilled to have to spend my mornings and evenings with them six days a week. I didn’t feel like the coaches were giving me any opportunities to improve or do anything “legitimate”, so I started becoming disinterested – painfully and obviously disinterested.

What was actually happening was I was getting burned out, hard and fast. Even though I wasn’t enjoying myself anymore, the time I was on the water was the only time in the 24 hour span of a day that I was somewhat at peace. I wasn’t thinking about anything – it was like I was in a fog, just floating along. My interest was still waning hard and I was furious that I had committed myself to coxing when it seemed to indirectly be the root of all my problems. It was a double edged sword. After some serious reflection on everything, I ended up removing myself from the team. I then spent the next five years away from the sport and it was the most miserable five years of my life. I literally had nothing to wake up for anymore. For five years all I did was go through the motions. Nothing I did was done with passion or interest or eagerness or desire. I had no one to talk to, no one to turn to, and no one who understood the struggle I went through every morning just to get myself out of bed. My parents were obligatorily concerned but didn’t really understand and my boyfriend wasn’t supportive and acted like I was just being lazy and whining about dumb shit. The ONE thing that had always brought me tranquility and a few hours of stress relief was gone. It wasn’t until I started coaching that I realized how important rowing was to me, not just for what it is, but because it kept me from falling apart. Without it, I fell apart. I had no way to release my frustrations like I did when I was coxing and keeping that energy pent up for 5+ years nearly drove me towards a total breakdown.

I’ve realized over the years and especially since I’ve started coxing and coaching again that rowing isn’t a source of stress for me. It’s a relief from my stress. There are things about rowing that stress me out but it’s never actually rowing. I get upset when I’m coxing because I realize I could have done better or if I’d called the end of that piece differently, would we have met our goal. I get angry at the time commitment and dedication it requires because it’s caused a lot of problems with my relationship. I get upset because I can’t pay my bills or because I’ve committed myself to coaching but finding a real, full time coaching job that pays well is tough. So many things about rowing piss me off that I ask myself at least once a day why I put myself through all of this … but then I go out on the water. I get in the boat and start practice and immediately feel this enormous weight leave my shoulders. For two hours in the morning, I have no stress, no worries, no problems, no bills to pay, no failing relationships, no reason to crawl into bed and cry, no anger … nothing. When I get on the water, that’s MY time. In order for me to have a successful practice and enjoy myself, I have to leave EVERYTHING and EVERYONE else on land. On the rare occasions that I bring practice off the water and let something nag me, I can’t escape it. It infiltrates everything and I do get frustrated and stressed. The only way for me to alleviate that stress is to turn around and throw it all into the next day’s practice. It’s a cyclical process sometimes and it makes NO sense to anyone but me, I think.

The moral of this (most likely unhelpful and far too long answer) is don’t let anything about rowing stress you out. Use what would/could stress you out to fuel you. If something shitty happens at practice, leave it at practice. Don’t take it home with you. You’ve got to teach yourself to cut the stress off. Take a step back and look at what exactly is causing your stress…is it actually related to rowing or is it outside stuff that just exacerbates the normal unavoidable craziness of crew? Figure out what you can do to alleviate some of that stress so that it doesn’t infiltrate your practices. You need that one thing you can turn to when you have nothing else and for me, that’s always been rowing. If I let my shitty life circumstances break that bubble, I might as well stop coaching and coxing because I’ll never be able to give 100%.

If rowing helps you deal with school stuff, that’s OK. Figure out why it makes everything pile up and what you can do differently or better so that doesn’t happen. If you ever need to talk or anything, I’m always here. I know the feeling of being on the brink of losing it and I know what it feels like to not have anyone who really understands. The thing with rowing is that unless you do it, you don’t understand it. My inbox is open, so don’t be afraid to use and abuse 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.

College Q&A Recruiting Rowing

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Hi I’m a lightweight junior girl. I weigh 125 and am 5’3″. Is an 8:30 a good 2k time and what should I lower it to for recruiting purposes? I have been rowing since my freshman year.

To be recruited to a D1 school, you’d need times that are around 7:45ish. Schools that have strong lightweight programs are looking for times closer to sub 7:40, but most coaches will give you a look if you’re sub 7:50. There aren’t many women’s lightweight programs across the country though so if you specifically want to row lightweight, make sure you look at schools that have dedicated lightweight programs.

To be honest though, because of your height and erg time right now, it seems unlikely that you’d be recruited as a rower – they’d probably ask you to be a coxswain. Someone I knew in college was around your height/weight and had an 8:20ish 2k but was asked to cox instead of row. If you went to a D3 school or somewhere with a club team, then you’d have a higher chance of being able to row. They’re still competitive but are typically much less strict with the height-weight stereotypes than the top schools are.

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 How To Q&A Rowing Teammates & Coaches

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I know coaches are always looking for “team leaders” but there’s this one girl on my team who TRIES to be a leader but is just ignorant & bossy. Inevitably, she only hurts herself by getting on her teammates & even coaches nerves. She’s leaving next year (along with a huge majority of my team) & I want to be an effective leader but I’m afraid of being annoying to underclassmen like this girl is to me. How do I lead w/o being bossy and making people want to straight up slap me in the face?

Ha, I know exactly the kind of person you’re talking about. It’s painful being on a team with someone like that.

Step 1. Think of all the reasons why she is a poor and/or ineffective leader and why it doesn’t work … then do the EXACT opposite of that.

Step 2. I really do believe that being a good leader involves invoking a form of the Golden Rule – lead others as you would like to be led. Do not unnecessarily raise your voice or yell at people (unless they have genuinely done something to deserve it – and if they have, let your coach handle it) and don’t treat them like crap and think you can get away with it because, like you said, inevitably you’re only hurting yourself.

Step 3. Being a team captain or leader is less about telling people what to do and more about leading by example. Think of what you want your team to be or what you want them to become and then start ACTING like that. At the start of the season, hold a team meeting and set goals for the season. Throughout the year, remind your team of what you’ve accomplished so far and remind them of the goals still ahead.

Step 4. Encourage others by pushing yourself – everything you do will be noticed by your teammates so make sure you’re giving 150% one hundred percent of the time.

Step 5. Keep open lines of communication with EVERYONE on the team – not just the people in your boat or just your friends. Let it be known that if anyone is having a problem, rowing related or not, they can come to you. No judgement either. Keep an eye out for anyone who looks like they’re having a rough time. When they’re alone, either before or after practice, let them know that if they need to talk, they know where to find you. Leave it at that and don’t push the issue.

Step 6. Embrace the leadership role. Don’t act like it’s a burden but don’t do what this girl is doing by trying to force the role upon herself. If people see that you’re dedicated to the team and you’re committed to becoming a good leader, people will be more open to accepting you as their captain. Try not to channel Napoleon and develop a complex.

Step 7. Don’t wait to become a leader – do it now! You don’t have to wait until this girl is gone to start leading your team. Don’t incite a power struggle whenever you’re around her, just start doing the things that a leader should do. It’s up to you to determine what your team needs. Talk with your coaches and explain that you’re not trying to cause drama or anything like that, but you’d like to see someone take a more effective leadership role on the team. Since you’ll be a senior (I’m assuming) next year, you felt that it would be good to begin gaining that experience now. Ask if there is anything you can help with or anything specific they would like you to do and then go from there.

Talk to this other girl and ask if there’s anything you can help her with. If she says “OMG yes, nobody ever listens to me when I try and do … (whatever)”, take that opportunity to say “OK, I’ll see what I can do” and then go do it. If she says “nope, I’m good” say “OK, well, if you need anything or get overwhelmed with (whatever), feel free to let me know” and leave it at that. Don’t make it blatantly obvious to her that she sucks as a leader and you think you can do better. Let her come to you. In the mean time, find little things you can do to start building up your rapport with the coaches and your teammates.