I’m a first-year varsity rower in high school and am going into the fall racing season. I am the smallest rower on my team (5’3″ and 122lbs) and I know I want to become a coxswain later in my rowing career, such as in college or later in high school. Would it be better to make the transition to a coxswain as soon as possible or wait for a year or two?
Personally I think that if coxing is something you want to do in college then it’d be beneficial to have as much experience as possible going into it before you graduate, mainly because you don’t want to have to learn all the ins an outs of it while trying to get adjusted to what is essentially an entirely new lifestyle. There are obviously plenty of successful walk-on coxswains but if you’ve got the opportunity to start doing it now, why not do it? If you’re currently a sophomore then you could finish out the fall season and switch to coxing in the spring or just row for the full year and switch as a junior. It’s up to you. I would talk with your coach though and let them know that becoming a coxswain is what you eventually plan on doing but at this point you’re just trying to determine when would be the best time to make the transition.
