<p>Hi, </p>
<p>I am a junior in high school and have been rowing since freshman year. As I look toward the future, I am considering rowing in college. I am considering mostly ivy caliber schools, but am clueless as to the first step one should take towards contacting them.</p>
<p>First of all, when should I fill out the recruiting questionnaires?</p>
<p>What are respectable erg times (2k and 6k) that will get the coaches' attention/possibly get me recruited?</p>
<p>Thanks for the help</p>
<p>If you’re a junior, you could go to the websites for the rowing team at the ivies and fill out their questionaire right now.</p>
<p>Respectable erg times depend on whether you are heavyweight or lightweight. You can get an idea for respectable times by going to the Crash-B erg race website and look at the times for the last competition. They have the affiliation of the rowers (i.e., school) so you can get an idea of what guys from Harvard row. You can match the names to that listed on the website to get an idea of how good the freshmen or varsity are.</p>
<p>I was on MIT’s lightweight team and I think our split times for 500 m were like 1:30-1:45 or so for the varsity. The ivies are probably a little better than that. But the standards for freshman are a little bit more lax. My guess is that for recruiting for 1st boat on a lightweight freshman crew, a time of 1:30-1:45 split time (500 m) would get you looked at very seriously. At MIT the best couple guys on our boat had split times in the 1:40’s, but almost none of our guys had rowed before.</p>
<p>Anyway, the easiest thing would just be to ask the coach what the erg times of the people on their team. It’s a perfectly reasonable question.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info, I think I’ll start filling some of the questionnaires for the schools I’m looking at now.<br>
As per 2k erg times, for high school we have to do 1500m tests and I am down to about a 1:41 avg per 500. Over the winter I’ll try to translate that pace to the 2000m distance in time for the Crash-b’s.</p>
<p>Rowing at Harvard is bigtime. They are among the best in the nation and win the NCAA championships every now and then. So you probably need to be very talented to make the team.</p>
<p>All the rowers I’ve met in the past week or so have been incredibly muscular, tall, good-looking, and overall extremely well-prepared. You’d likely be up against serious competition.</p>
<p>really don’t worry about it… As long as you’re fast (im open, so i don’t know about light men) you’ll get recruited somewhere. Just make sure you have tons of communication with the coaches. </p>
<p>To answer your questions… fill them out in the next month or so. This isn’t soccer or something, so recruiting doesn’t start before junior year. My suggestion would be to fill out the forms then send the head coach or assistant coach a personal email. It shows that you’re really interested 
Also, they will take 1500 but do make sure you do a few 2ks to make sure you have the best time possible. </p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>
<p>“All the rowers I’ve met in the past week or so have been incredibly muscular, tall, good-looking, and overall extremely well-prepared.”</p>
<p>Good looking? LOL </p>
<p>Handsomeness overtakes erg times!!! Ugh-moes need not apply!</p>
<p>^ I was noticing the same comment. I have a feeling the encounters have been social not athletic.</p>
<p>I think I can help - I coxed my one of my school’s varsity boats my Sophomore, Junior, and Senior Year, and I plan on coxing heavyweights when I get to Harvard next fall. Rowing in the Northeast is a pretty small community, and I have many friends who are now rowing at many Ivy programs.</p>
<p>For heavyweights, you’re looking at a 2k time of under 6:20. I don’t know what the lightweight times are (they’re a little higher). Having some summer rowing experience is really important, as is having some sort of national regatta exposure (Canadian Henley, Junior Nationals, etc.).</p>
<p>Linda Muri is the freshman lightweight coach. You’ll want to get in touch with her.</p>
<p>The best place to go to see the erg times of potential competition in the US Rowing junior website. Every rowing season starting in November, rowers post their 6k and 2k times. The ltest scores are fro the 2009-10 season. You will find the top rowers erg under 6:20 for a 2k and under 21:00 for a 6k. These times are no small task to achieve, but these are the times you will likely need to get a likely letter to the Ivies.</p>