Tag: teammate problems

Coxing High School Q&A Teammates & Coaches

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I’m the coxswain who doesn’t push her rowers. I think the reason I can’t say what I would like to say is my rowers don’t exactly like me because I am a goody two-shoes. Whenever I tell them in practice (races are different) that they should push themselves for these ten strokes or don’t get lazy on me, power through it, they tell me that I have no idea what they’re going through and I can’t say anything because I’m not doing anything.

I have zero – ZERO – patience or respect for rowers with attitudes like this. None whatsoever. It’s arrogant, obnoxious, rude, and unsportsmanlike. I truly think it’s hilarious when rowers are all “you have no idea what we’re going through” and treat the coxswains like crap because our jobs are “so easy”. What I really want to say to them is “um, you have no idea what I‘m going through right now having to deal with you and your attitude”. It’s like they can’t see things from the perspective of the coxswain and worse, they won’t attempt to. I have issues with that and sorry not sorry, it pisses me off.

Related: My friends don’t really understand coxing and think I just sit there and do nothing, or it’s a ‘wimps job’ (this girl’s not my friend) and I was just wondering if you have an eloquent way to describe the importance/difficulty of coxing and how it’s not actually an easy job?

I don’t care if your rowers don’t like you, whether it’s because they think you’re a goody two-shoes or because you like the color blue instead of neon orange. It doesn’t matter. No one said rowers and coxswains have to be BFFs. What has been said though and what should be common sense is that you respect each other, and that’s clearly not happening. From my experience when I’ve seen coxswains get called “goody two shoes” it’s because they’re trying to do what the coach has asked them to do or they’re trying to actually get the rowers to do something and the rowers don’t want to do it. If you don’t want to do it fine, but get out of the boat. Don’t be an ass to the person who’s job it is to run practice and make sure things get accomplished efficiently and correctly.

If they say to you that you can’t say anything because you’re “not doing anything” then don’t say anything. Let them figure it out on their own. When your coach asks why you’re being silent you can tell them that your boat doesn’t think you have the authority to tell them what to do because you’re not making any contribution to the boat yourself. (If you really want to be passive-aggressive, which may or may not help, say this to your coach on the water over your microphone so the rowers hear you say it.) At this point your coach will hopefully have a talk with the rowers and tell them to get their shit together and take their egos down a few notches. You should talk to your coach though before it gets to this point. The first time someone said something to you is when you should have gone to your coach. Explain the situation, tell him/her what they’ve said, and then say that if that’s how they’re going to act you either want to be put in a different boat or you want a boat meeting held with you, the rowers, and the coach(es) present. The kind of dynamic you’ve got going on right now does. not. work. and it needs to change.

I don’t necessarily condone stooping to their level but I also tend to think rowers should treat their coxswain the way they want their coxswain to treat them. If the rowers are going to treat the coxswain poorly and not respect them or what they bring to the table, why should the coxswain make any effort to do anything for the rowers? And vice versa too – if the coxswain is power-tripping and treating the rowers like a bunch of slaves, why would/should the rowers respond to that? There has to be a mutual understanding between all nine of you that everyone contributes something and just because one person’s contribution isn’t physical doesn’t mean that they’re any less valuable to the crew. Their job, LITERALLY their responsibility as a coxswain, is to tell you what to do. Either suck it up and accept that is part of our job description or get out of the boat and go scull.

You need to stand up for yourself. Don’t be intimidated by them and don’t say “oh they’re older than me, I can’t say anything to them, etc.”. YOU ARE THE LEADER OF THE BOAT. Act like it. If they see you as someone they can walk all over, believe me, they’ll do it. Go out there with a determined, confident attitude and don’t take their shit. Discuss this with your coaches, get their input on the situation (since they know you and your crew better), and let them deal with it. It falls under their list of responsibilities to deal with these kinds of situations so once you’ve alerted them to the fact that there’s an issue, hopefully they’ll do their part and have a serious talk with the rowers. Like I’ve said before though, they can’t help you or do anything about the situation if they don’t know there’s a problem.

Coxing Novice Q&A Teammates & Coaches

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This kind of sounds weird, but I’m a novice coxswain, how do I get my boat to respect me? I feel like (with the exception of calls related to steering and drills) they don’t listen to anything I say in the boat. They talk a lot and I tell them not to but they continue to. They point stuff out to me on the water that I can clearly see and I just feel like they are always yelling at me and telling me what to do. Sometimes I just need to make a decision but I can’t if everyone is yelling at me. I don’t know what to do. I’m learning but the coaches don’t really help me out. Most of the things I’ve learned about coxing I’ve learned from other coxswains on the team or your blog. Do you know how to fix this and get the rowers to listen to me?

You guys should just start telling me who you row for so I can send your team a personalized ass kicking. It’s so irritating when I see/hear this happening. Like, not only is it rude and disrespectful but its also not safe. It seems like I’m the only person that gets that. And the fact that coaches just let it happen?! Come on.

Related: How do I get my boat to respect me?? I’m a novice coxswain on the B boat. I do all the workouts and I asked a few people for advice in what they want to hear etc but some still don’t respect me! I’m nice but firm when needed to be. I was a rower for 3 months in a a single and 2 months in an 8 and 4. I was good, they wanted me to go to varsity singles this year so I kinda get rowing better than most coxswains so I do what I wanted my coxswain to do but still no respect from half my boat!!

This is one of those things where there’s nothing I can say other than to just tell them to stop doing what they’re doing. Meet privately with your coaches and tell them explicitly the problems you’re having with the rowers. Tell them that you repeatedly ask them to stop talking so that you can do what you need to do but they don’t listen or respond. Explain that you’re trying to build a rapport with them but it’s hard to do when they aren’t putting forth the effort or showing you any respect.

You have to be confident when you’re on the water too, even and most especially as novice. A lot of the times when coxswains say their boat does what yours is doing it’s because the rowers don’t trust the coxswain because the coxswain doesn’t trust themselves. This causes the rowers to think they’ve got to do the coxswain’s job for them and of course everyone has an opinion on how it should be done so it just turns into one big clusterfuck. Instead of saying “guys, be quiet” call the rowers that are talking out by name. There’s no shame in doing that at all.

One way that I got my boat to stop doing that really fast was by saying their names every. single. time. they’d start talking or screwing around. Eventually everyone got so pissed off that they kept of getting called out that they shut up and just rowed. Plus, the rowers that weren’t getting sucked into the antics got really frustrated because they just wanted to row so the pressure of having their teammates turn around and say “Be quiet” in addition to knowing I was going to call them out put an end to the unnecessary stuff that was happening.

Coxing Q&A Teammates & Coaches

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So I’m a novice coxswain who walked on this spring. I’m doing my best to catch up with the other coxswains, but you know I’m the newest so I get the least water time, seniority blah blah blah. Whenever I do get on the boat, the rowers are pissed that they got stuck with the “shitty coxswain.” How do I motivate or correct them when I can tell they don’t want me there? (I used to be good friends with all of them, why I walked on, but now they don’t really like me on land either and I don’t know what to do. I almost regret joining crew.)

This is one of those situations where I really urge people to consider their role on the team, what they can bring to it, and whether or not they’re actually enjoying being a part of the team. I know that quitting in the middle of the season is a shitty thing to do but if you’re not enjoying it, you don’t feel like you’re making an impact, your teammates aren’t treating you well or listening to you, etc. I really believe you’ve got to ask yourself if this is the place you want/need to be. From a coach’s standpoint, I want everyone on the team to have a good time but I also want people who are willing to work their asses off alongside their teammates. If someone can’t/doesn’t want to do that or is just straight up not having a good time, both on land and on the water, I question how effective they’ll be (as either a rower or a coxswain).

Have you talked with your team captain or coach and told them what’s going on? That might be worth doing if you haven’t so that he/she can talk to them and tell them to stop acting like assholes because, I’m assuming, they’re novices too so they don’t really have any room to be complaining about people with little to no experience. I’d also tell them that you want to get better but there’s only so much you can do on land so what can you do to make sure you’re considered for a boat when lineups are made … or something along those lines.

As far as your teammates go, you have to leave the issues on land and cox them like normal, for lack of a better word. They can infer from that whatever they want but as long as you’re making the effort to coach them, call for corrections, motivate them, etc. that’s all that can be asked of you. Keep practicing your steering, calls, etc. every chance you get. Let them know when you’re steering around a corner, getting your point, etc. so that they know you’re actively working on making improvements at the same time they are. They’ll either recognize the fact that you’re making an effort or they’ll keep acting like they are, in which case I’ll repeat what I said earlier – you’ve got to seriously ask yourself if this is a team you want to be a part of.

Q&A Teammates & Coaches

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I’m a lightweight girl rower and our top 4 lightweight girls are doing a quad and I am glad my work has paid off so that I am in it. I have a very good friend on the team who is the girl that I basically beat out for the spot, although everyone says I deserve it over her by a lot. Lately she’s been very nasty and rude, especially to me and makes me feel like I shouldn’t be in the spot. She’s also said she refuses to race because she won’t win. What should I do to make her stop being so mean?

Her bitchy attitude is so not your problem. You should be glad that your hard work paid off and yea, it sucks that you were competing against a friend for that spot in the boat but sometimes that’s what happens. The key to not letting it become an issue is to recognize the fact that you’ve both been putting the work in and ultimately the better rower will “win” the seat. Maturity and respect are also important … and common sense. If she can so easily change her attitude from “friendly” to “nasty and rude” over something so inconsequential, do you really think she’s someone deserving of that spot anyways? Probably not.

If she’s stooping to that level of immaturity by refusing to race simply because she won’t win, her priorities are messed up and that’s her issue to deal with, not yours. If it gets to the point where she crosses a line and your coach needs to be involved, then by all means, talk with your coach, but until then ignore her, worry about yourself, and be the bigger person. You won that spot in the boat. Don’t make your coach question his/her decision by bringing yourself down to her level. Focus on the other three girls in your boat and ensuring that your hard work continues to pay off.

Coxing High School Q&A Teammates & Coaches

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Hi! I’m a cox from PA. We don’t have very many people on our team so my coach told me I’m going to row for the spring season too. I’m 5’2 100 pounds. I’m not sure what 1k and 2k times I should be trying to get! My best 1k is 4:21! Also, I’ve been debating for a while whether or not to completely quit crew altogether. Trust me, I’m not a quitter, but I feel like my team hates me, and being around them 24/7 doesn’t really help my self-esteem. Some guys on the team always tell me I’m a worthless cox and that I’m useless to the team. It really hurts. I try to be the best I can be but I just don’t feel like it’s good enough. I’ve already gotten injuries 3 times this season due to poor training from my coaches. My mom says if I get another that I have to quit anyways. Next, being the lightest person on the team doesn’t help my case. I pull less than them and I’m just smaller in general. I can hardly contribute while carrying the boat down. Crew is also affecting my school. On top of all the stress I have from crew, I have honors classes to pertain to. I’m not sure what to do, but I’d really like your intake on my situation! Thanks!

This is another pet peeve of mine, when coaches make coxswains actually row. Yes, coxswains should get experience in a boat and they should know how to row but actually having coxswains, especially tiny people like you, row in races and stuff makes no sense to me. Like you said, you pull higher splits than them and you’re smaller in general so there’s no way you could possibly stack up to the people who are actually built to row. Coaches have to recognize that. Instead of sticking coxswains in boats to row, maybe they should make more of an effort to go out and find rowers. Shocking concept. I’m a firm believer that the role of coxswain and rower are not interchangeable and it really grinds my gears when coaches treat them like they are.

Related: Hi, I’m on a novice crew team and I’ve enjoyed it, but I want to quit. My team will have enough girls to fill an 8 but how do I let my coach know? I’m an engineering student and my schedule is too demanding for this sport. I know I’ll miss it but I need to focus on my schoolwork. Any advice?

I hate telling people to walk away from rowing, but I did it at one point so I’d be a hypocrite if I told you to stay with it even though it was making you miserable. If you’re not enjoying it, your teammates are assholes (and yours sound like they are), other more important responsibilities are falling to the wayside, you’re frequently getting injuries, you don’t feel like you’re contributing even when you’re making the effort, etc. then I would sit down with yourself and seriously ask yourself why you’re still there. I’m not a quitter either – I absolutely hate people who quit things – but sometimes there are legitimate reasons that warrant it and you have to swallow your pride and accept that.

When I was in school, I didn’t put anything above rowing. In high school I could put all my efforts into crew and still get good grades, so that’s what I did. In college I had to put all my efforts into crew and it screwed me, both mentally/emotionally and with school. Now that I’m done with all that (and maybe this is just attributed to 20/20 hindsight and being a few years older and wiser) I realize(d) that nothing should be put ahead of yourself and school, while you’re in it. I know we tend to act like crew is the be all, end all but it’s not. If you don’t have school to consider, you at least have to consider the effect it’s having on you. You have both school and yourself to think about and right now, both of those sound like they’re being negatively impacted.

Related: I’m debating with myself whether or not to quit coxing (at the end of the year of course, I would never quit midseason) and I was wondering if you could listen to my reasons and offer some advice?

It’s not even crew itself that I think is the problem for you, I think it’s more your coaches and “teammates” … and I say that with quotations because they don’t sound like what teammates should be, thus they don’t really deserve the title in my opinion. In the end it’s your decision, but you’ve got to make sure you look at the situation rationally and consider the effects/consequences on all the things I just talked about if you stick with it.

Coxing Q&A Teammates & Coaches

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Our cox doesn’t talk to us when we are training in our quad. We have tried talking to her and also to our coach about it because it is so frustrating and asked her to talk during our rows but she just says that she feels stupid talking in practices and doesn’t change anything. She is brilliant in races, just not in practice. What can we do?

Find a new coxswain. I know that’s not your call but ask your coach to switch another coxswain in so you can actually have a productive practice.

Related: Advice from a coxes perspective would be great. I’ve been lucky enough to have the same cox for 2 years & he used to be amazing. Recently, it’s felt very much like he’s lost interest. He’s just in the boat, not part of the crew. He’s going through the motions. It makes it very hard to stay motivated, given everything else that’s crappy. He’s also coxing the elite men, maybe he sees them as his chance to win & we’re just the disorganized cranky old women he coxes sometimes. Should I call him on the change?

I don’t understand how you can not do anything in practices and still (think you’ll) be effective in races. If you’ve talked to her about it more than once and told her how irritating the lack of communication is and she hasn’t listened to your concerns yet, ask your coach for someone else, even if it’s just for a practice or two and not permanently. It bothers me when coxswains don’t talk during practices but it bothers me even more when they completely write off what their rowers are telling them they want. If she’s not going to at least make an effort, you shouldn’t feel bad at all about asking for a coxswain who will talk to you. Maybe seeing you guys make a change will be a wake up call for her.

Q&A Teammates & Coaches Training & Nutrition

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What’s your opinion about teammates drinking? Personally it kinda bothers me but I don’t know if I’m over reacting. I never drink because I just don’t think I need to in order to have fun but if other people want to that’s ok with me. It just bothers me when teammates are out drinking the night before practice or a race. I think it’s sorta disrespectful and just downright stupid especially since we’re high schoolers. If I was to address the situation how would you suggest doing so?

If people want to drink and stuff, by all means, that’s your prerogative and I’m certainly not going to stop you but it should really be kept to a minimum during the season – or not done at all (which I get is a lot to ask of college kids).  There’s a reason why a lot of college teams are “dry” in the spring and why there are consequences for anyone caught drinking during those periods. And yea, underage drinking isn’t the smartest decision but I’m not going to get on a pedestal and tell you all the reasons why you shouldn’t do it … you should be able to figure that out on your own. If you can’t then you’re probably not mature enough to be the type of teammate this sport requires.

Related: What’s your opinion on rowers smoking/drinking? Do you think there can ever be a balance or should athletes just avoid it?

If you’re drinking before practice or a race and you show up hungover, you deserve to be taken out of the boat. Don’t think that people can’t tell that you’re hungover (or still drunk) either because they absolutely can. I’d find some way to make that clear to your teammates that if it’s suspected you’re hungover, you’re not rowing.

Related: Hi, I’m a novice coxswain for a men’s collegiate team. We have 3 8+’s and 4 coxswains so one person always has to sit out. During one of our races, the other novice coxswain got to cox 2 races while I had one. I don’t understand why the coaches picked her over me. She shows up to practice hungover, misses at least one practice a week, and has crashed the boat 5 times. The coaches keep commenting on how impressed they are with me but she always gets the better positions. Do I confront her? My coaches? Or should I shut my mouth and deal with it?

Unless you’re an upperclassman/team captain though, I’d caution against trying to address it with your teammates just because they could take it the wrong way and then there’d be all sorts of unnecessary drama happening. I’d discuss the issue with your coach (especially if they don’t know it’s happening) and then let them figure out the best way to handle it.

College Coxing Q&A Teammates & Coaches

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Hi, I’m a novice coxswain for a men’s collegiate team. We have 3 8+’s and 4 coxswains so one person always has to sit out. During one of our races, the other novice coxswain got to cox 2 races while I had one. I don’t understand why the coaches picked her over me. She shows up to practice hungover, misses at least one practice a week, and has crashed the boat 5 times. The coaches keep commenting on how impressed they are with me but she always gets the better positions. Do I confront her? My coaches? Or should I shut my mouth and deal with it?

I wouldn’t confront her directly about it but I wouldn’t stay quiet about it either. If all those things have really happened your coaches have to at least have an idea about it – there’s no way they can’t tell when she’s showing up hungover or haven’t seen/heard about her crashing the boat.

Related: What’s your opinion on rowers smoking/drinking? Do you think there can ever be a balance or should athletes just avoid it?

This is a tricky situation because it’s hard to confront your coaches about a decision they made regarding a teammate without sounding petty. I would find time to sit down with them just to talk about your progress so far. What have they seen you doing well, what would they like you to keep working on, what have you been working on, what your goals are for the season, etc. Talk about your race and casually ask them what went into the decisions on who was boated where or why some coxswains got to race more than once. It’s vague enough that you aren’t saying “why was she in that boat?” but it’ll also give you the opportunity to hear their rationale for why which coxswains were in which lineups. You can also ask if the coxswains will rotate in the future between who does two races and who done one should a situation like this arise again.

If they ask you why you’re asking, you can bring up that when you look at yourself vs. the other coxswains and take into account what the coaches are telling you about your performance, you’re confused because the boats/races you’re being put in don’t seem to measure up to the feedback you’re getting. Hopefully this will initiate a conversation and give them a chance to tell you why you are where you are.

I have to imagine that they’d want to know about this other coxswain showing up hungover, crashing boats, etc. if they somehow don’t already because it’s a safety issue at the very least. The issue is finding the right time to bring it up, which there hardly ever is one until it’s too late and then it comes to “well, if you knew, why didn’t you say something?”.

Do the varsity coxswains know about these issues? One thing you could do is talk to them first and then they can talk to her from an upperclassmen/team leader/fellow-but-more-experienced coxswain standpoint. If they feel it’s necessary to go to the coach, you can go with them or you can have them come with you, whichever makes you comfortable. That way you can say that you weren’t sure how to handle it because you know it’s not your place to do so so you wanted to talk to someone with higher standing first but they thought it’d be best to go  directly to the you, the head coach. From there you can let them deal with it.

Coxing Q&A Racing Teammates & Coaches

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At one of the races a coxswain hit the finish buoy (just the oars though). Apparently he didn’t warn the boat or say anything after and didn’t even mention it to anyone back on land. As a coxswain what do you say when this happens to you? I mean I’m sure you’re supposed to say something but do you just apologize and move on?

You should always tell your crew if you’re about to hit something, if you bumped a buoy, or are going to be over the buoys with the oars. When they’re rowing they’re in a zone and you hitting something will throw them off, especially if they’re hitting whatever it is with their oars. Pretending like it didn’t happen is just ignorant, negligent, and annoying. If you hit one of the bigger buoys head on or with a rigger, you should mention it to your coach too (if they didn’t see it) just because you never know what’s going to damage a boat or the oars and it’s better they find out straight from you than have to ask twenty people what happened. It’s irresponsible to not say anything, both on and off the water.

When I’m close to something I’ll just tell my crew whatever it is, where it is, and to let me worry about it. I usually say “passing a log close here on the port side” or “starboard blades are gonna be over the buoy line here, no worries, I got this…” just to let them know what’s going on and that I’ve got it under control.

If you hit something, yea, you should apologize but unless it caused damage to the boat, effected your standing in the race, injured someone in your or another crew, etc. you should really just let it go. If further action needs to take place then the coach will deal with it but the rowers should accept the apology and move on. I can’t say I blame them though if they’re a little iffy about your steering skills when you go back out with them, especially if you neglect to tell them in the first place when you’re getting close to something and/or might hit whatever it is.

Coxing Q&A Teammates & Coaches

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My friends don’t really understand coxing and think I just sit there and do nothing, or it’s a ‘wimps job’ (this girl’s not my friend) and I was just wondering if you have an eloquent way to describe the importance/difficulty of coxing and how it’s not actually an easy job?

To preface this, I’m going to tell you something that one of my coaches told me … at some point, you just have to stop defending your role on the team, forget the people who question you, and go out and do what you do.

My friend (who coxed for the guys) and I were having a heated debate with some of the guys in her boat (like, seriously??) about how coxswains actually have a role on the team and we were both really irritated because it was the same thing. We don’t do anything, we just sit there, only un-athletic people are coxswains, etc. Let’s ignore the fact that I’d played sports for at least 10ish years before I started crew and the same with my friend. Granted, our first mistake was even trying to reason with them but our second and possibly bigger mistake, as my coach later pointed out, was thinking we had to defend ourselves at all.

If you really want to spar with people and get into this conversation, first ask them why they think what they think. What led them to come to that conclusion? Do they have some kind of experience with coxing and that’s how they felt or have they never been near a boathouse before? Get their side first so you can see what you’re working with. Then, go through all the responsibilities you have … just rattle them off. Some of the ones I always say include:

Safety

You’re in charge of eight other people. Lives are actually at stake, including those of people not in your boat, if you’re not being safe on the water. You have to know traffic patterns, watch out for kayakers, be able to gauge the wind speed and how that’s going to effect your steering, etc. amongst many other things.

Equipment

In your care every day, you have responsibility for … a $40k boat (assuming it’s fairly new) + 8 oars (8 x 800 = $6400) + 8 riggers (8 x 400 = $3200) + 1 cox box ($500) + maybe a Speed Coach ($200) = $50k in equipment. What other sport can say that?

Practice

Once you’re out on the water it’s your job to manage practice and keep everyone focused and on task. You’ve gotta run them through warmups, execute drills, and communicate effectively so that they can make the technical changes necessary to help you get faster. You’ve gotta have a solid understanding of the stroke in order to do this, which means having spent time off the water reviewing video and educating yourself so you can bring that knowledge into the boat and make the appropriate calls when someone needs to make a change.

Multi-tasking

Have you ever stopped to think about all the things you do at once when you’re on the water? You’re steering, calling warmups, drills, or pieces, talking to the rowers, constantly looking around to ensure you’re not going to hit anyone or anything, listening to your coach, watching your cox box, etc. If they say “oh, that’s easy”, tell them to stand up and hop backwards on one foot, eyes closed, while patting their head, rubbing their stomach, and reciting all the Presidents, last to first, and the states they were born in. Oh, and don’t hit anything when you do it.

Mental game

Rowing isn’t a game but coxing is. It’s a game that tests your wit, strength, toughness, ability to process things, etc. This is the hardest for me to explain because only those who have experienced it can really understand what it’s like or how to do it. You’ve got to be able to see things, process them, and then spit out whatever the corresponding call is all in less than a second or two. It’s not easy. If they say that’s easy, tell them to go stand by a busy intersection and name the first eight cars they see (make, model, and color), how fast they were going, and whether or not the driver was talking on their cell phone. Oh, and don’t forget to tell them they’ve got a 20 second time limit.

Athleticism

I don’t think I’ve ever seen an un-athletic coxswain, especially when looking at coxswains who are guys. Most, if not all, of the coxswains I know lift, run, erg, and work out with their rowers, sometimes when they don’t even have to. One of the reasons why I started doing the circuits and stuff with my rowers was because I realized how much I was using my core when I coxed, especially during races. The stronger your core the easier it is to project your voice and communicate with the people in the back of the boat. Granted, sometimes there are things coxswains can’t do (for me, it’s running, for other people it might be because of other injuries they’ve suffered), but it’s certainly not an indication of being a “wimp” or whatever other word you want to use. Please, call me a wimp and then let me cox you for a 2k. I guarantee you’ll be the one crying at the end of it, not me.

The reason why I prefaced this by saying at some point you’ve got to stop defending yourself is because even after going through that whole monologue, there are still going to be people who don’t get it. Whether or not they actually don’t understand or they’re just being assholes because they enjoy seeing you get pissed (I’ve dealt with both), it doesn’t matter. No one questions a rower’s role on the team, which blows my mind because … I mean, they just sit there and move back and forth, right? How hard is that?

My coach drilled this into me and it’s one thing I’ve never forgotten – you know how important you are, the coaches (hopefully) know how important you are, and if you’re lucky, your boat knows how important you are. At least, mine did. Our coaches constantly praised us (we had to earn it obviously…) and told us how they wouldn’t be able to do what they do or how our team wouldn’t be nearly as successful if we didn’t have such high-quality coxswains leading the boats. You’ve got to take that positivity and reassurance that your contribution means something and think of it every time someone says otherwise.