That title probably makes this video sound way longer/cooler than it is but despite being only a trailer for the actual film, it’s still pretty neat. My two favorite parts are the GW eight sliding into the Eliot pier (heeeyyyy Connor…) and Mike Gennaro angrily shoving the UW blades away from the USRowing Men’s 8+.
Videos
College Coxing Racing Video of the Week
Video of the Week: UW’s Last 250m
This is a pretty neat split screen video that shows the University of Washington’s MV8+ during the IRA finals last spring, with the view of the finish line tower on the right and the coxswain’s view in the boat on the left. His audio is included too and it’s pretty much exactly what you’d expect the last 250m of a national championship race to sound like.
Video of the Week: Making history in Atlanta
The video may or may not be able to play on here so you might have to click through to YouTube to watch it. If it doesn’t start at the rowing section right away, skip ahead to 13:10.
This video is pretty neat. It details the build-up to and racing at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 from the perspectives of Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent, who won their 4th and 2nd consecutive gold medals, respectively.
Video of the Week: Invictus
Video of the Week: Technique tips from elite rowers
The thing to take away from this, especially for novices, is that there is no such thing as perfect technique. You’ll pick up how to row really quickly but then spend the rest of your rowing career (however long that is) trying to get your technique as close to perfect as possible.
What you’re chasing right now as a novice is exactly the same thing that these guys are chasing … and they’ve probably been rowing for 8+ years. Don’t let that frustrate you. If you don’t get something, talk with your coach or coxswain and have them break it down for you. Do what basketball players do when practicing free throws – similar to how they aim to make a certain number of free throws before they leave each day, get on the erg before you leave the boathouse and try to take 3, 5, 10, 15, etc. good strokes that reinforce whatever technical focus your coach had that day. Little things like that go a long way.
Coxing Racing Video of the Week
Video of the Week: “The Turn”
I’ll probably do an actual post on this a little later in the season but just putting it out there now that it might be worthwhile to talk with your coaches now or soon-ish about the regattas you’ll be attending this fall and which, if any, courses have hairpin turns like this, that way you can hopefully practice doing them before you’ve actually gotta do it during a race.
Video of the Week: A friendly reminder…
The fall season is starting (or about to start) so this is just a reminder for all the novice rowers and coxswains, rowers turned coxswains, coxswains turned rowers, first year coaches, and anyone else who is just getting started in the sport – nobody’s great right off the bat and nobody understands everything right away either. It takes time. Be persistent and don’t get frustrated with yourself. I promise, the extra effort you put in now is so worth it in the end.
Video of the Week: For the masters rowers…
This guy rowed at UCLA and then was away from the sport for 22 years before getting back into it as a masters rower. It’s pretty cool seeing the progression in his training and the success he has once he begins racing. Just goes to show though that even if you’ve been away from the sport for two decades, all it takes to get back into it is passion, persistence, and a good physical therapist.
Video of the Week: 2004 Athens Olympics, M8+ Final
This week marks the tenth anniversary of Team USA’s win in the men’s 8+ at the Athens Olympics, their first gold medal since the Tokyo Games in 1964. Without question, this is my absolute favorite race to watch.
College Rowing Video of the Week
Video of the Week: Ohio State Engineering + Rowing
During the two and a half years I was at Ohio State (my junior and senior years of college), all of my physics and math classes were in the engineering building. During one of my physics classes our TA, who was a mechanical engineering grad student, brought up fluid dynamics and rowing and I swear, I have never paid more attention to a math/science-related discussion in my life.
As the rower in the video said, there’s a lot of engineering in rowing so if you’re good at math and science it’s definitely a major worth looking into. Once you graduate you could always translate it into a career with any one of theĀ boat-making companies if you wanted to stick around the rowing world.