Hi, I’m a sophomore in high school and I really want to get my name out there for colleges. I’m only 5’1 and I row now but for college I don’t think my times would be good enough to row. How can I get my name out if I just want to cox in college? Also would you need coxing experience or could I join the team and learn later?
It depends on the schools you’re looking at. Division 1 schools usually prefer coxswains who have a few years of experience but they do hold walk-on tryouts for those who have never rowed or coxed before (or those who have participated in crew but aren’t sure if they want to row or not yet) so that’d definitely be an option. If you went to a school that has a club team, you could probably still row if you wanted. The typical “rower’s body” doesn’t really exist at the club level – all but one of the rowers on the team I coach now had never seen an oar before they came to college and they definitely don’t look like your stereotypical rower. Most of the girls (and guys) are between 5’3″ and 5’10”, if I had to guess.
For someone who has never coxed before and assuming you won’t cox before going to college, getting your name out there probably won’t do much for you. If you really want to cox in college and don’t think that rowing would be an option for you, I would make the switch to coxing now while you’re still in high school. If I was a college coach and you contacted me about coxing on the team, I’d probably be a lot more interested/excited if you said you have two years of coxing experience vs. four years of rowing experience, even though you knew ahead of time that rowing probably wouldn’t pan out due to your erg times or whatever.
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