<p>I know absolutely NOTHING about rowing and was hoping some of you could enlighten me. D is now rowing at her college, and I would like to know a little about the sport so when she excitedly tells me about things, I am not clueless!</p>
<p>I do know that they do not have the different weight classes at her school. I do know they have a four and an eight boat. What is the difference in the two, how does a coach decide which athlete is better for each? And then there is the positioning for the rowers, how is that determined? Who sit's where, and why?</p>
<p>Sorry for all the questions. D was a 18/hour per week athlete in her "previous sport" of which I also did growing up, but this is new territory to me! She just got her first medal for this, and she was SO excited (she already has hundreds from her previous sport but was very proud of this "new sport" one) that I want to know more about this.</p>
<p>It's great your daughter loves it! My D, who is not a natural athlete, really enjoys crew where she can work hard and improve. She is racing at the Head of the Charles Regatta this weekend. Probably no medals for her this year as she moved from the novice boat (where she did medal at one race) to the lower woman's boat. Next year she is shooting to be in the top woman's boat.</p>
<p>I can't say I am in tune with all the terminology but ask other questions and hopefully you can get all your questions answered.</p>
<p>Most college crews row in 4's or 8's (4 rowers or 8 rowers. 4 can be with or without a cox; 8 is always with a coxswain). 4's take a little more technique then 8's.</p>
<p>Most D1 crews field 1 or 2 varsity eights, then a varsity 4. The NCAA womens competition is 1V8, 2V8, and 3V4. Generally, the top rowers are in the 1V8, next 8 are in the 2V8, next 4 are in the 3V4. There are other configurations; crew is a bit like chess, trying to put together the best combinations.</p>
<p>In an 8, the 8th seat is the "stroke", who sits at the stern of the boat facing the coxswain. The 7th and 8th seats set the rhythm for the boat, and tend to be populated by strong rowers with heart who can keep their head. Seats 5 and 6 are the "engine room" - often with the most powerful rowers. Seat 1 is the "bow". Seats 1 and 2 tend to be smaller rowers who have strong technique. Every coach does it a bit different.</p>
<p>Boat seating is determined by a combination of "erg" scores (a rowing machine) or "seat races" - competitions on the water.</p>
<p>It's a great sport. In my opinion, more fun in the spring than the fall, as the races are shorter and have multiple boats competing head to head.</p>
<p>Oh, i loved being on the crew team at the University of Washington! I was in the best shape of my life. In addition to the on water work, your D will likely be spending time on the ergometer machine, the weights and running. The stamina required to be on a top crew is incredible. To this day, I retain my ability to easily be an early bird, since our spring practices always had to be early, so we could avoid all the pleasure boaters.</p>
<p>I had no experience going into it (it's rather amazing how many at the UW don't, although the rowers tend to have strong experience from some other sport.) So it was amazing to watch how the coaches took these raw, inexperienced athletes and honed them into a team that could glide an 8 across the water at great speed.</p>
<p>You are expected to give it all as a rower and many are totally spent, leaning across their oars after pulling across the finish line. Ah, but the glow in the eyes after a hard fought win is wonderful to see.</p>
<p>I'll never forget that we did practice sets alongside the floating bridge that crossed Lake Washington, when the weather was iffy and the chop was bad. The water on the opposite side of the bridge was always calm. Sometimes the car traffic would not be moving, and some drivers would roll down their windows and cheer us on while we did our practices, moving much faster than they were. I'll also never forget the one time a float plane just came out and started across our path while we were doing a practice race. We were nowhere close to a collision but the coach rushed over in his boat and really gave the pilot a tongue lashing.</p>
<p>It is truly a team sport. I was a mere coxswain, and yet I felt compelled to do more road work than the rowers, not only to keep weight but give them incentive to work hard while on the water when I wasn't (I was expected to be the brains in the boat.) I didn't mind the tradition of being tossed in the drink upon a victory EXCEPT the time there was an unusual snow on the ground in November. I popped up looking very cold so my teammates pulled me out and threw all their warm clothes my direction. It was my first experience looking like the Michelin tire mascot. The second time is when I snuck food out of the dorm cafeteria for an ill teammate, which we weren't supposed to do. I, the short one, just walked out of the cafeteria with my jacket stuffed with food, surrounded by the tall rowers, sweating bullets we'd get caught. We didn't. Team work rules!</p>
<p>FAP, thanks for the memories of a real athlete! When I was in college, it was the crewbies who were always out running. My niece rowed in college having never done it before. D is now saying she is 70% sure she would like to row in college.</p>
<p>Jackief: As you can probably tell, I do hold fond memories of the experience. This is why I'm glad my S is getting them with HS varsity water polo. He's not a starter and is more likely not to play in college (unless he attends a D3 school). Nevertheless, I can tell it's one of his favorite ECs and being on the team does a wonderful job in balancing out what, for him, would be an image too weighted to the egghead side.</p>