Tag: rowing people

Coxing Video of the Week

Video of the Week: Allen Rosenberg on Coaching (and coxing)

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If you don’t know who Allen Rosenberg is, he was a coxswain-turned-coach who coached numerous successful crews throughout his career, including the 1964 Men’s 8+ that won gold in Tokyo (the last time the United States won before the 2004 crew did in Athens). He was also particularly innovative when it came to rowing technique and even has a “style” named after him. (Did you know there were/are different types of rowing styles? Four, in fact…)

Anyways, I came across this video back in December after he passed away. What I really like about his interview is that he reiterates that the only difference between coxing and coaching is years of experience (and in some cases, a paycheck). Pay particular attention to the traits he lists of successful coaches – all three of those things are exactly what it takes to be a successful coxswain.

Racing Video of the Week

Video of the Week: Why Losing Matters

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“My favorite part about losing is that it gives us a focus on our passion.”

We’re coming into the toughest part of the season so I really recommend that you take a few minutes (seven, to be precise) and watch this video. It’s from Natalie Dell’s Ted Talk at Penn State a couple months ago. Losing, as much as it sucks, is an important part of competing and it’s also an important part of winning. It’s something you have to (and inevitably will) experience in order to appreciate the races where your bow is the first to cross the line.

There’s something to learn and takeaway from every loss so don’t waste that opportunity by solely focusing on the fact that you didn’t win. It might take a few days, weeks, or months before you can sit down and analyze what happened (and that’s OK) but in order to improve as an athlete, it’s something you’ve gotta do. And like she says in the video, you can win a race without coming in first. If it’s the first time your team has medaled in that event, a PR for your crew, etc., that’s a win. Some wins come with tangible rewards but the majority are mental, emotional, and psychological – sure, the tangible ones are easier to display but most of the time it’s the rewards you can’t see that keep you coming back for more.

To miss a workout (for no good reason) when you’re training for the Worlds or Olympics is utterly devastating. You know that you’ll never again have that unique window of time: Wednesday, November 9, any year, 3:17 PM – 5:58 PM. You missed it. Your opponent on the other side of the country (or planet) however, did not miss it. He rowed his 20 kilometers; he managed to make a tiny little improvement, (which will then grow like a weed in his skill-set), and in eight months time he will kick your ass. No matter how you cut it, you are fucked!

Brad Alan Lewis "Lido for Time"

Coxing Video of the Week

Video of the Week: Lessons on leadership from Canadian national team coxswain, Brian Price

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Being a leader is one of the essential parts of being a coxswain. It’s important, especially if you’re just starting out, to learn, know, and understand that being a leader is so much more than just being able to yell louder than everyone else and tell them what to do. One of the biggest takeaways that coxswains should get from this is what he says about “earning respect”.

Related: Respect

For the older coxswains (particularly upperclassmen who may be coxing underclassmen) or anyone who is just getting into coaching (especially people like me in your mid-20s), one of the things you should think about is how your leadership style has evolved as you’ve gotten older and how it’s changed as you’ve started working with rowers and coxswains who are younger than you.