Not sure if this is the right place for this, but just a few questions from a high school senior who is in the process of applying to colleges. Throughout my whole life, I’ve enjoyed exercise and outdoor activity, though I never really likes competitive team sports because of their culture at my high school. (Though, I played lacrosse for three years, football for one, basketball for one, etc.) I was always far more focused on my grades. Now that college is quickly approaching, I’ve seriously been looking into men’s crew/rowing teams. I know these teams recruit out of high school, but is it possible to walk on if you’ve never rowed before? There are unfortunately no club teams for this sport at the schools I’m applying to, they are only on the varsity level.
Would I be able to row at any of the small, Division III schools I’m applying to? (I’m a pretty big guy, around 6’3"-6’4" and weighing about 205 lbs.) How would I go about this? What is an average daily schedule for people on the crew teams? Is there enough time for school work?
If people could let me know, that would be awesome!
I’m only a senior myself but I’ve rowed throughout high school and have done a bit of research so I’ll help you out the best I can. With the exception of most ivies and certain schools with historically good programs, most school’s male rowing teams are pretty accepting of walks ons w/o experience. (do some of your own research here, depends on your schools) Taking your height into account and assuming you’re in decent shape it’s pretty safe to assume you’ll defiently get on the team, but boat placement is different. Boat placements are different from team to team and different teams will put more emphasis on different tests (2k, 5k, 6k, Seat Race) to determine aptitude and placement. Some tests put more emphasis on strength and stamina (2k, 5k, etc… which are on land) and others on technique and how well people actually row together (Seat Race which is on the water), if you want more info on this pm me. The practice schedule of teams vary from team to team. Some practice early in the morning, some in the afternoon, some more serious programs practice twice a day, it really depends on the team. I would highly recommend trying to find a team page or a coach’s email to get the specifics of the school’s program. Sorry if I left anything unanswered please leave another comment or pm me if you urgently need more info.
At many D3 schools, you’ll find coaches soliciting tall, strong, athletic kids who aren’t part of a team to fill their boats during orientation. While there are many ways to compete, the 8s are the heart of college rowing, so having a full roster is helpful to being able to fill boats. There are often races for novices, and it is common to find several of the seats in the novice boats filled by kids who have never rowed before, and at many schools, the newbies who like the sport will move up to the varsity boats. There are more than a handful of stories about people who have rowed for the national team who took up the sport in college.
Depending on the size of the teams and the facilities, you could find yourself rowing very early in the morning, in the afternoon, or some combination of the 2 with time in the gym or running mixed in. It tends to be a year round sport with longer head races in the fall and sprints in the spring and conditioning in between.
As a former college rower said, “imagine the hardest thing you’ve ever done. This is harder.” But the teams have great camaraderie and as there’s no defense, it’s a great way to make the best of yourself for the benefit of the team.
Absolutely go out and try to be a walk on wherever you end up for college. My son’s team has a few frosh walk ons and according to my son they seem be enjoying it. Having said that…rowing is a very demanding sport both athletically and time wise but what you sacrifice is gained with an amazing experience. Good luck and certainly send an email introducing yourself to your college’s recruiting coach (usually assistant) letting them know you are looking to walk on.