Rowing Recruiting with Good Academics

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I’m not an expert on the topic, but I believe you’re much more likely to receive a recruitment advantage as a rower. You’re a lightweight. Erg scores are important for initial contact with collegiate coaches, but they mean less for LW (a rower twice your weight could pull erg times twice as fast as you but would slow down a boat in the water). There are fewer colleges with lightweight women’s programs, but many are highly selective colleges: Stanford, Princeton, MIT, etc. Here’s a list: http://www.row2k.com/teams/ The colleges with LW next to them have lightweight women’s programs. If you’re rowing with a club and have multiple clubs to choose from, find one that has enough lightweights to send an 8 to Nationals.

Lightweight erg scores matter just as much in the recruiting equation as they do to open weight recruiting. Because there are fewer lightweight programs nationally they tend to be even more selective.

Thanks for your responses and support! I really appreciate your thoughts! I am just wondering, what is an acceptable erg time to make a lightweight women’s crew at a college like Cornell, MIT, Brown, Princeton, etc. ? Would they be able to take a rower with a good GPA and SAT scores even if their erg times weren’t up to expectations?

Thanks in advance!

You’re best bet is to talk to your coaches or girls on your team. Every school has different standards and each year could change a bit. But based on girls we know who are part of this years recruiting classes, you probably want to be at least sub 7:40 for LW, even with stromg academics. That’s a very loose estimate and a lot goes into their decisions. Again, it’s best to ask your coaches or the coaches from the schools you are interested in.

It’s great that you’re focused but I think you need to take a deep breath. You are so young and have just started with this sport. A lot could happen to impact changes. Getting recruited and one of these top D1 schools is a big deal and a big commitment. My child was top D1 recruit and loves rowing. You can’t do this without loving it. Even then the coaches can be brutal and the time commitment is tremendous. A great rower is a big deal. The coaches aren’t as concerned about recruiting a cox. Take a deep breath and re evaluate your priorities. To me, it sounds like yo’re in it for all of the wrong reasons.