<p>I'm a high school upperclassman rower in the lightweight category, so I'm looking for some college options. Being 20 to 30 pounds lighter and a few inches shorter than the rower norm, I tend to be at a disadvantage power-wise. I'm too tall and about 10 pounds too heavy to be a coxswain. What are some good schools with successful women's lightweight rowing programs, that aren't Ivy League schools? I've got a 3.3 GPA, a butt load of extracurriculars, and AP classes, but I'm just not Ivy League material.</p>
<p>Are you looking for scholarships or just a chance to participate in rowing in college?</p>
<p>Unfortunately, only a handful of schools offer an actual women’s lightweight rowing program/team. They are:</p>
<p>Stanford, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Georgetown and Wisconsin. Boston University has announced that it’s starting a program in the next year or so.</p>
<p>A few schools (most notably Bucknell) have a lightweight boat or two within the openweight program. I don’t think they recruit for lightweights though.</p>
<p>NESCAC coaches (Trinity, Tufts, Wesleyan, Williams --from our personal experience) will be interested in a powerful lightweight with the requisite academics for their openweight teams and can give support through admissions.</p>
<p>Bucknell definitely recruits lightweights. That is where they have had their most success.</p>
<p>Good to know Alex! The Bucknell lightweight 8 has definitely had some impressive results. When D was in the recruit process we heard only that Bucknell didn’t recruit lights per se but floated an 8 of lighter women from the open team at IRAs etc. </p>
<p>In any event SnohoCo, Bucknell is a school worth investigating if you’re looking to row lw at college.</p>
<p>SnoHoCo
You might want to ask your club coaches.
They will be a good source of guidance and can tell you more.</p>
<p>What’s the story with the changes at Bucknell?</p>
<p>SMU, Lehigh,Franklin & Marshall and U mass Amherst are probably happy to take a great LW too.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Just to make sure - you know - Women’s Lightweight Rowing is not an “official” NCAA port. There is no declared NCAA Lightweight Champion.</p>
<p>A few reviewers associated with US Rowing do rank the LW Varsity 8 boats. (Sorry, don’t know how often they do this.)</p>
<p>Here are the LW V8 rankings at the end of last year:</p>
<ol>
<li>Stanford University</li>
<li>University of Wisconsin </li>
<li>Bucknell University<br></li>
<li>Radcliffe<br></li>
<li>Princeton University<br></li>
<li>Georgetown University<br></li>
<li>University of Buffalo<br></li>
<li>Massachusetts Institute of Technology<br></li>
<li>University of Tulsa<br></li>
<li>Temple University<br></li>
<li>University of Massachusetts<br></li>
<li>Lafayette University<br></li>
<li>Stetson University<br></li>
<li>Fordham University<br></li>
<li>University of California</li>
</ol>
<p>Snohoco
Babsboat</p>
<p>Serious about rowing ?? Do some homework and research these things, look up the NCAA stats etc. changes in rules etc and past regattas finalists.</p>
<p>Stalkermama and GolfFather, great suggestions/ input. Fogfog, as the parent of a successfully-recruited female lightweight rower, I can attest that women’s lightweight crew is a tiny, niche, non-NCAA sport. Only a handful of colleges have an actual lightweight team (see my post above) and it’s really not that easy to identify the other colleges that may float a light 8 but certainly don’t have a dedicated lightweight squad.This isn’t soccer, swimming, lax or whatever mainstream sport your kid happens to participate in. This is women’s lightweight rowing. Tiny. niche. sport. And may I add that most club coaches aren’t much use in offering advice vis-a-vis recruiting because they tend to focus on their openweights, not their lightweights. Although my D was very, very lucky in her club and coaches, for the most part club coaches can’t be relied on as the"good source of guidance" for women lightweights that you recommend. Snohoco and Babsboat are absolutely justified in turning to CC with their questions about women’s lightweight rowing --and they’re getting some good answers here.</p>
<p>take elileo’s advice – She is VERY helpful and her D has been VERY successful!
Eilileo -Hi! pls see my PM :-)</p>
<p>I am just speaking from experience.My D is a LW rower and has picked her first choice school already. I am just mentioning what other schools were interested in her. That is how I know that those OW schools will show interest in a good LW. That is what this board is all about helping each other and sharing information.</p>
<p>I agree these boards are helpful…
…however a local coach who knows the ERG scores, sees the technique, knows the coachability etc of the student-athlete will be helpful in linking a student with the right programs.</p>
<p>Not all programs boat lights, however many programs will race lights not only in a heavies boat–yet also the expanding lights program.</p>
<p>The governing body of USRowing has information on its website.
Google is a great search tool.
Looking at past regatta results for which collegiate programs competed in those events are all reasonable and easy ways to look for programs.</p>
<p>Considering whether a student wants varsity vs club is also an issue.</p>
<p>It is easy to post on a thread an ask strangers for help— however—in my experience, athletes who are serious competitors in their sport in high school are watching results at the collegiate level with their eye on competing after high school in the collegiate arena.
As a coach I want to see athlete’s with a passion for their sport…who can talk about it all day…those are the ones who often perform at the highest levesl.</p>
<p>I have waited a couple of days to post this so as to not be in the heat of the moment, but I feel a response is necessary and frankly, I am surprised that no one else has responded. Congrats to your daughter on her successful recruiting, that is really great. But I am taken aback at the tone of your response to fogfog, a long time member of this forum. If you have read her previous posts, you know that she is quite knowledgeable about the recruiting process and has been very helpful to those seeking advice here. Your post makes assumptions about her and her child which could not be further from the truth. Yes, lightweight rowing is a niche sport, but the information is out there for anyone who is interested enough to seek it out. Regatta results are very easily accessed via the Internet, making it a simple process to discover which schools float lightweight boats and where they fit in the pecking order. While I agree with you that not all clubs/coaches are helpful in the recruiting process, at a minimum, most coaches can give an athlete an idea of where they may fit in in the big recruiting picture. </p>
<p>I don’t think it is unreasonable to expect athletes to do their own due diligence and come to a forum like this prepared with specific questions. The parents on this forum give very freely of their time and energy to help other parents and athletes seeking advice. And what you see on this board is just the tip of the iceberg, much more happens behind the scenes. Although my presence on this board has been minimal for the past year due to caring for an elderly parent, I have been in contact with several parents and students on a regular basis during that time, as are many of the veterans on this board. While these two first time posters may have been justified in turning to CC with their very general questions, I find the response to fogfog unjustified and condescending. She is an adult and was simply suggesting these posters do their research if they are truly interested in lightweight rowing. Good, solid advice in my opinion. As a coach, I would much rather have an athlete who has taken the time to research his or her possibilities and become knowledgeable about the recruiting process than one who takes the easy out. This forum is a tool, a group of mostly parents who have been through the process, volunteering their time to help guide athletes and parents who are in the thick of it, not a recruiting service that is paid to do all the dirty work.</p>
<p>Fishymom, fogfog and I have already had some private conversation in which we amiably explained ourselves a bit more fully. It’s all good. I’ve found reading CC over the past couple of years that many prospective student-athletes (and their parents–very few of whom are knowledgeable coaches!) join the board with general questions --often because they don’t know where to start-- to get some guidance to get them going, as happened above. IMHO, no question is too ignorant and if real direction can be provided, it should be. Like you say, this forum is a tool to guide athletes through the process.</p>
<p>I am also looking into lightweight programs. I am 120 and 5 feet 8 inches. I want to know what possibility i have of being recruited by either LW or OW schools. I pull a 8:11.3 2k and a 25:43.0 6k. What times do non ivy leagues look for?</p>
<p>Update: Boston University is now building the program and is out there recruiting lightweight women.</p>
<p>How much does winning a medal at Youth Nationals Girls LW8+ help?</p>