<p>I have just started my sophomore year of high school and have become very interested in the sport of rowing. I am wondering if it is to late to begin learning the sport and have enough time to gain the necessary credentials to be a potential recruit. I have heard that my erg times will be the main factor within the recruiting process. What erg score should I aim for to be competitive within the pool of recruits at ivy league schools? What other factors play into the recruiting process? What credentials do I need from regatta's that will improve my chances of being a solid recruit? If anyone has gone through the recruitment process or has knowledge of the topic, please help me in learning whether or not I will have enough time to become a solid recruit at an ivy league school and what I need to do to put myself in that position. Thanks so much. </p>
<p>Yes, you have time, but it’s a ton of work. You’ll be foregoing other things that normally help in an Ivy application, because sports take a lot of time and are exhausting. It will suck a lot of your mental energy away from all those AP courses and extracurriculars. Are you an athlete in another sport? It helps if you already have a solid base in cardio. Are you tall? That helps also.</p>
<p>We are finding that recruitable erg times are a squishy thing because each coach recruits a little differently. Look at the rosters and you’ll see that many Ivy rowers come from amazing clubs and have won top races, but not all rowers have access to those clubs, so other things come into play, like your size/build, whether you come from another sport and have great cardio and room to improve, or just sheer erg power. My best guess for erg times is maybe 6:30-ish if you are a lightweight and 6:15-20-ish if heavy. These times are improving rapidly with every recruitment class, by the way. So you cannot google this info and trust anything you read about 2012 or earlier! The guys are much, much faster every year. HTH!</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the insight! I do not have access to an elite rowing club nearby, but it is pretty good. We have an elite team that competes in national tournaments, but nothing compared to some of these powerhouse clubs. If I was to get in the 6:30-ish range for my erg time, but did not win many top races, would I still be in contention for a spot at let’s say dartmouth or Upenn? What stats in school should I aim for to be a contender for those school? I have not hear much about the Cornell program. How hard is it to be recruited there? What stats should I shoot for for Cornell? Thanks so much.</p>
<p>I think Hobbiton’s erg times are a little aggressive, especially for a lightweight. 6:45 would put you in the conversation, though faster is better, and 6:30 would get you a very long look at any program in the country.</p>
<p>But I have to be very honest. For someone who has never even done a single 2k, talking about pulling a 6:30 is fantasy land. This is like someone who has never run a mile saying they are really excited about starting to run and plan to race a 4:15 mile this year. Before you spend too much time and effort worrying about what time you need to get recruited, how about actually getting a time and then seeing how realistic recruitment really is.</p>
<p>I have to agree with LivesinHob erg times when it comes to Ivy recruiting. My son was recruited as a lwt rower and just began his Freshman year at an Ivy. He was recruited at sub 6:30. His recruited team mates were high 6:20’s or low 6:30’s for the most part. There seemed to be a full 10 second drop in lightweight recruiting times from 2010- 2013, based on what we have read on CC and conversations years prior with older recruited rowers from his high school. The recruiting class is getting faster every year, and the college coaches are expecting to see faster times. GW, I agree with Baltimore that it would be a good idea to see where you stand right now, before thinking of recruitment. My son trained very hard, was in top condition, but would only see a few seconds improvement over several months. It requires a lot of work, and getting faster is often a slow process. To answer your question regarding specific colleges- we found the Ivies not to vary too much in the numbers they were looking for as far as 2k. They compete against each other and they want to fastest guys they can get. Good luck to you.</p>
<p>@carolinab you definitely have more first-hand experience than I do. But I still think there are opportunities for 6:45 lightweights - maybe not at the top Ivy League schools, but at some of the other schools that have lightweights. I took a look at the CRASH-B Lightweight Men’s results since 2008, breaking them down into the number that sent sub 6:45 and sub-6:31 and they seem fairly constant.</p>
<p>Year <6:45 <6:31
2014 24 5
2013 21 5
2012 29 5
2011 21 4
2010 11 2
2009 20 3
2008 29 6</p>
<p>To me, a 6:30 lightweight is an automatic recruit anywhere. But kids in the next tier still have opportunities, once the top programs have had their pick of the 6:30 guys.</p>
<p>I didn’t mean to imply that there weren’t any opportunities anywhere for 6:45 lwts, only to agree with Hob’s response to the poster’s Q about Ivy 2k times specifically. If we are talking Ivies, I still have to agree with Hob. The Crash B results are a good reference, but keep in mind that there are many fast rowers across the country (California, Florida, etc.) who don’t travel to Boston for the event, but who hope to be recruited to row Ivy. Also, in my son’s case- I recall how disappointed he was that his Crash B 2k was several seconds off his PR. The numbers listed are not always the rower’s PR for which he was recruited. On his officials, he did not feel like an automatic recruit- there were always guys faster than he was! When the coaches are recruiting an average of 8 guys (some fewer, some a couple more) it is very competitive. </p>
<p>But you bring up a good point for the original poster…opportunities to row. If he does not hit his desired 2k goal to row at the highest level, there may be other opportunities for him to row if he finds he loves the sport. Sparks rowing data base has good lists of D1, D3 and club programs… </p>
<p>Finally, the best place to find out how fast one needs to be is from the coaches themselves. We found them pretty upfront. </p>
<p>Thanks for the great insight, carolinab. I have looked up your other posts on lightweight rowing and really appreciate all the excellent first-hand information.</p>
<p>My son is a junior – after a lot of thought, he has decided that he’s not going to pursue recruitment. Crew isn’t a year-round sport at his school, and he enjoys playing another sport in the fall - the kind of effort it was going to take to get below 6:45 for CRASH-B just wasn’t worth it to him. Also he thinks he wants to go abroad for a full year in college and was concerned how being a recruited athlete would affect that.</p>
<p>I fully support his decision - it’s already taken a lot of pressure off of him, feeling like he had to erg at night and on weekends during the fall, even as he worried about how that extra work was impacting his fall athletics performance. But he is still going to be part of a lightweight four that I think will be very fast this spring - so maybe he’ll change his mind again, come Stotesbury!</p>
<p>Thanks again, your information was very helpful. </p>
<p>Hi Baltimore–yes, carolinab said it perfectly. A 6:45 2k is terrific! Your athlete will get some notice with that. But right now at this very moment, Ivy light teams are recruiting much faster guys. I wish it were otherwise, but it’s true. They are recruiting from England, Germany, and everywhere else, also. I have no explanation for the dramatically faster 2k times year after year. My son has narrowed down his talks to three Ivies with two others saying they will call again in October, and to be honest, we do not feel all that optimistic because the other recruits are just. So. Fast. Lol!</p>
<p>However, there are so many other places with great rowing teams. And don’t forget club rowing. My daughter, who was a top recruit at her NESCAC school for swimming, decided to row this fall because the rowing club wins so many regattas (including Head of the Charles) and goes to Henley (England) every summer. She is rowing club right now and also doing captains practices for swim, then will switch to all swim Nov. 1, moving back into rowing in the spring. Rowing is a great sport! You don’t have to be recruited for rowing to do it in college and really love it. If my son doesn’t get recruited to row, he will do exactly what she is doing, swim plus row. Your son should prioritize schoolwork and enjoying the sport. It will all work out!</p>
<p>Baltimore guy, good luck to your son, whatever he decides! One more thing… If he is a junior, the rowing recruiting season starts to heat up in the spring, early summer. Not one coach my son spoke to (as far as I know) mentioned his crash-b results. Nor was he contacted by any new coaches after the competition. If your son re-considers going the recruiting route, he has more time after the crash-b to get his 2k where he wants it to be before reaching out to coaches. A lot can happen with training on and off the water between Feb and May! If he is “almost there” , the coaches most likely will let him know, and may suggest he contact them when he hits their magic number. </p>
<p>I learned a lot reading this forum, so I am happy if I can offer our experience to help others. Thanks for you kind words!</p>
<p>Our club just had a LWT commit to an Ivy with a 6:42. He received 2 OV invites from Ivies with a 6:46 (and he had a 1st place National Title). He is academically very strong.<br>
Coaches do take into account how long you have been rowing - 6:40 with 5 years is different than 6:40 with 2 years. And body build matters - taller and lean is better that short and stocky (in general).</p>
<p>“You don’t have to be recruited for rowing to do it in college and really love it.”</p>
<p>This. Even at the top rowing schools, the varsity rosters have a significant number of walk-ons. Crew is one of the classic walk-on sports. Due to recruitment caps at Ivy schools, many (perhaps even most) of them have significant room for walk-ons at the start of the season. Half of the 2012 US Olympic rowing team had been college walk ons with no prior rowing experience.</p>
<p>Here’s the crab that’ll catch your oar: since the Ivy League has allowed off-season practice for some years now, even Ivy rowing is going to be a significant time commitment throughout the year. The upside of that is that Ivy teams see a sizable number of drops due to the crew/academics combo demanding so much time…so again more room for walk-ons as drops leave space open on the team. The downside is that if you join the team you face the same difficult combo.</p>
<p>So, what’s the option if you don’t want the monster time commitment but do want to row? Do it for love, not for glory. As LivesInHobbiton astutely points out, club rowing is the middle way. Most Ivy rowing schools will also have recreational rowing clubs that will demand a lot less time but give you all the benefits of rowing. Mens sana in corpore sano, and all that jazz.</p>
<p>So if at any point in your HS career it comes down to a choice between being the best possible academic candidate for an Ivy school and the best possible rowing candidate, I would choose academics, every time. The opportunity to row will be there whether you’re recruited or not, but the opportunity to attend is much harder to win.</p>