Category: Video of the Week

Rowing Technique Training & Nutrition Video of the Week

Video of the Week: “The Neuroscience of Rowing and a Simple Explanation of the Formation of Muscle Memory”

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This is why I loved studying exercise science in college. I could listen to people talk about stuff like this all day. It’s unlikely that most rowers will ever think about the actual process of muscle memory on a cellular level like this but once you break it down, you realize how much of a process learning the stroke really is. I think that if you understand the science behind it, in a way it makes things less frustrating because you know that all these things have to happen in order for you to gain proficiency with your stroke and those things can’t/don’t just happen overnight.

One of the biggest things that I think everyone should take away from this is how important it is for you to consciously be thinking about the changes you’re making or trying to make. (That applies to coxswains too, not just rowers!)

College Quotes Racing Rowing Training & Nutrition Video of the Week

Video of the Week: Yale Men’s 8+ at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics

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Wouldn’t it be cool if collegiate crews still represented the USA at international regattas like this? This video talks about Yale’s eight that competed in Melbourne and the tough competition they faced, mainly in the Australian crew, on their way to winning the gold medal over 2nd place Canada and 3rd place Australia.

There were a couple things I took from this video but the biggest one is what is said at 6:20 – “he has the phenomenal ability to pace himself so that the last stroke he has to row is the last stroke he can row”. Ponder that thought the next time you’re on the water or on the erg. Condition your body so that the last stroke you have to row is the last stroke you can row.

College Video of the Week

Video of the Week: University of Wisconsin Rowing, 1929

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I saw this on Twitter a few months ago and thought it was really interesting. A few other facts about Wisco are…

The first boat house was completed in 1893, with building supported by the sale of $5 shares.

In 1893, Fred Pabst made a large donation to help secure the University’s first eight-oared paper shell. Pabst, a former Great Lakes steamboat captain, eventually took over ownership of his father-in-law’s brewery, changing the name to the Pabst Brewery.

An 1899 race became legendary when Wisconsin, which had been leading Penn for 3.5 of the 4 miles of the race course, was forced at the end of the race to swerve off-course to avoid hitting a strawberry crate that had floated into its path. Wisconsin ended up losing the race by about five feet. They lost to Penn in the same race the following year as well and were greeted at the end by the victors, who were wearing strawberry crates on their heads.

During the summer of 1914, UW’s medical faculty and athletic council banned crew, declaring its four-mile races dangerous to the athletes’ health. Discussion continued in the following years, with a three-mile race proposed as a compromise. After World War I, when all athletics were discontinued, the athletic council lifted the ban in 1921 and crew resumed.

Wisconsin crew coaches have been both the youngest and oldest in the nation – Ralph Hunn, in 1934, was the youngest, and legendary Harry “Dad” Vail, at age 69, was the oldest in 1928.

The crew team flew to Annapolis for a race in 1946, representing the first time a Badger athletic team had flown by plane.

And yes, the video is supposed to be silent. Raise your hand if you, like me, thought there was something wrong with your laptop when no sound was playing.