Hello everyone,
I am a novice rower who has been rowing for about 2 months. While I am brand new to the sport and have a lot to learn, I have picked it up pretty quickly and have been an athlete my whole life (basketball/volleyball). So far, rowing has been my favorite sport/extracurricular activity I have done, and I already know I want to row in college. I am planning on discontinuing all other sports to focus on rowing. Currently, I am a sophomore in high school, am 5’8" and weigh about 140-145lbs. I make pretty decent grades (4.0 WGPA) and have a rigorous course schedule. I am planning on applying to competitive colleges (UNC/UVA/UT/Duke/Clemson/UCLA range of schools), but my dream school would be Penn. Obviously, top academics is the number one factor for me, but I would really like to attend a school with a highly ranked rowing program, and potentially get recruited.
I would just like to ask anyone with more experience in the whole recruiting process what I should do as a sophomore/1st and 2nd semester junior to improve my chances of getting recruited. I work out a lot on my own, and erg frequently in the mornings in order to improve my erg score. My goal is to break 8 minutes for my 2k time by the end of this rowing semester. Also, I joined my team this spring, whereas most of the novices have been rowing since the summer/fall. I am already in the top half of my team, but is it going to hurt me that I have another season on novice, whereas they will be on varsity this fall? Especially since I am already a sophomore…do I even have a chance of recruitment? Thank you to anyone who read this (very long, I know haha) and has valuable feedback!!!
PS… What would be a target erg score by December of my junior year (end of novice year) for a HW novice rower to have good progress for recruitment the following summer/fall?
Also, one last thing… While I know that this doesn’t play much of a role, whenever we have land workouts (running/circuits) I am one of the strongest and fastest on my team, and usually beat out most of the girls on the top 8+ boat.
Coaches don’t want athletes who just picked up the sport to get recruited, and then drop it soon after enrolling. If you are serious about rowing in college, the best way to show it is to focus on mastering technique and get as much racing experience as you can. If you find that you actually enjoy the experience, you should have no problem communicating that to the coaches during junior year, and then you should find a school that wants you for that skill, along with whatever else you bring to the table.
To that end, I’d also suggest trying try rowing this summer, either for your club or a local club if you go to boarding school. If Penn is your dream, look into their summer camp. If you don’t train at all this summer, you’ll find you’ve lost speed over the summer, and will have to work that much harder in the fall.
If you keep training seriously, your 2k should come down as you get in better shape. Keep track of your erg scores, and tell the coaches how you are progressing; they like to see large decreases from year to year (and even season to season).
That all may seem a bit intense; it is. But if you are serious about trying to be recruited to row, now is the time to find out if that is something that really works for you.
@wykehamist Thank you for your reply!! Because I am new to the sport, I did not plan my summer around rowing. I was planning on training with my club 3x a week when I am in town. Is that enough to maintain my speed, if I workout on my own most days too? Next summer, I will go to Club Nats and the Canadian Henley with my club as well as hopefully participate in a college camp at Penn or UVa.
Also, when should I fill out the college questionnaires for my top schools? Junior year, when my times and results are better?
What you describe for summer training should be fine - I wasn’t sure you had that option. The rowing camps are only one or two weeks anyway, so you have to do something else anyway.
As for questionnaires, yes you should wait. My son got a response from one Ivy last Spring, but that was only because they mistook him for a junior. Everyone else waited until fall of Junior year - at the earliest.
What you can do now is join BeRecruited, which is free. Start building a profile there. Coaches do search the members on that site based on various criteria, including GPA, so that is one way to start to get on their radar screens, though again they will probably wait to contact you until junior year.
Beyond that, start posting to the other thread, and come next winter, you can start the class of '18 thread!
Okay, thank you for all of your help/advice! I actually already did join BeRecruited haha just so my name is out there. And looking at my calendar, there might be a chance I can attend the Carolina Rowing Camp this summer, which would hopefully help my technique. Thank you again and best of luck to your family with the recruiting process 
@wykehamist
And remember coaches cannot reach out to you “cold call” until July 1st before your senior year. They can, however, reach out to you if you have initiated contact first prior to that date.
Great advice above…pace yourself so you don’t get burnt out and you’ll do fine.
You should save your money on those sites that help you get recruited, because they do not. You can do everything they do on your own and for free. I would suggest you check out this webinar called Massive Exposure at http://sportsscholarshipcoach.com/webinar where you will learn how to do it all for free!