<p>I've wanted to get involved in crew for the past few years but there haven't been any opportunities. Is it possible for me (a female) to begin crew at Harvard as a freshman and continue on with it or is it only for the experienced rowers? Thanks!</p>
<p>Yes, very possible. But most newbie rowers are already athletes, even if they’ve never been in a boat before. Being very tall, or very short, is also helpful.</p>
<p>Freshman year I did varsity track, sophomore year I did JV volleyball, and junior year I did varsity volleyball. I’m 5’2" btw. Why does it help being very tall or very short?</p>
<p>Tall if you want to row - better leverage on the pull. Short - and very light - if you want to be a coxswain. While it was many years ago, I was a walk-on to crew having never done it before college and made the second freshman boat. It really was a great experience but a huge time commitment. I ended up dropping it after freshman year and rowed for one of the house crews instead, as continuing with the inter-collegiate crew would have precluded a number of other activities that ended up being higher priority. But it’s a great sport and there’s really no better feeling than when the boat is totally in synch and flying down the Charles.</p>
<p>I want to row, and not be a coxswain. Wouldn’t I do well in the lightweight division?</p>
<p>Unfortunately, being 5’2" is going to be a problem if you want to be a rower, even in LW.</p>
<p>But isn’t there around a 130 lb limit for lightweight? How could you be much taller than me and still make weight?</p>
<p>I’m not saying it is impossible, but just highly unlikely due to your height. Many LW rowers have eating issues, similar to those of say a wrestler, severe calorie restriction etc. to make weight. The girls on my D’s NESAC school LW boat are all about 5’5".</p>
<p>It’s not only about your weight in the shell. Successful rowers are tall because their height gives them the advantage in the rowing motion. Your trunk, arms and legs can’t generate the amount of pulling action that someone who is similar weight and 5’8" tall.</p>
<p>Just like getting into Harvard, you’ll be competing against people who may or may not have advantages over you. Height, strength and athleticism are only the building blocks of competitive rowers. 5’2" makes you an outlier crew candidate – just like someone who would apply to Harvard with a 3.2 GPA.</p>
<p>But who knows? Go to the info sessions and speak with coaches and other rowers.</p>
<p>It’ll be pretty tough to ever make varsity when you’re 5’2", but it’s not impossible. If you’re athletic and have good endurance, leg strength, and a strong back, that’ll help. The ideal is to be a couple of inches taller than average for lightweight, with strong legs and back, and to be very lean. This is true for the guys at least, so I assume the same holds true for the women. The average guy is 5’ 10", and the ideal lightweight rower is 6’ 0" to 6’ 1" while being 160 pounds. However, I heard of a guy that was slightly below average (5’9") who made the national team, although he was like a freak of nature. The best heavyweight guys were like 6’4" - 6’5". Anyway, you can extrapolate to the women. </p>
<p>You can find out what the max weight allowed for lightweight women. </p>
<p>The advantage of rowing is that they can put many boats out on the water. So the newbies can be in the 3rd or 4th boat, at least for the novice year. I don’t know how many JV boats Harvard keeps, but rowing is pretty hard so the ranks thin out a lot just because of that.</p>
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<p>The longer you can keep the oar moving through the water, the more effective a rower you are. Being tall helps you do that as when you extend your legs and swivel your torso back the oar travels a greater distance.</p>
<p>thanks for the help everyone! i’m just frustrated that my height always puts me at a disadvantage in sports :(</p>
<p>Yeah, the sports where being short is an advantage (esp. gymnastics) aren’t easy to join as a teenager.</p>
<p>But do think about coxing if rowing interests you so much – they really are athletes too, and they do all the training with the boat.</p>
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<p>Coxswains aren’t athletes. They are more like coaches–they are the leader of the team when they are on the water, but there is no athletic ability involved.</p>
<p>I guess coxswains need to keep off fat and need to stay lean, so they still need to exercise?</p>
<p>Though obviously they don’t need to work out as much as the actual rowers.</p>
<p>“Though obviously they don’t need to work out as much as the actual rowers.”</p>
<p>They are required to. At least this was the case at Harvard while I was there. When the boat meets for morning runs or weight workouts whatever else, they have to do everything the rowers do.</p>
<p>I know someone who joined the crew team as a freshman, but she dropped it after a few weeks because it was becoming too time consuming. Pretty sure it’s possible if you’re already an athlete…</p>
<p>I guess worst case scenario it wouldn’t be too bad if i had to be a coxswain, as long as I still have to do all the workouts the actual rowers do. I think when I start, I’ll aim to be a rower but if things don’t work out with my height then I’ll switch to coxswain…</p>
<p>thanks everyone for all the input!</p>
<p>look up some videos on you tube, some of them are hilarious. The coxswains all have their own “style” so to speak, and some of the cursing could make a sailor blush.</p>
<p>Any video suggestions that really show what it’s like to be a coxswain?</p>