Rowing / crew hook

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

* it's actually a leg sport, NOT an arm sport.

Yes. Crew mom here. I mentioned this once on DCUM and people ripped into me. I know you're right.

High School/College/Masters rower here - it’s also a butt sport, and a back sport, and a core sport, and a shoulder sport. Not to mention a heart-busting cardio sport.

True!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, rowing is a massive hook because all the top universities have programs and yet very few high schools do (as most are not located near a body of water that will allow for training and the boats, etc are expensive).

That said, rowing recruiting has become more competitive and by-in-large the kids getting recruited to the elite colleges these days won the genetic lottery: the 3 girls i know this year (Princeton, Duke, Stanford) are 6'+ and the boys (Stanford, Princeton) are 6'5"+.

Both of my kids have rowed crew for all 4 years of high school, and I can tell you with all confidence, that almost ALL of the high schools around here have a crew team -- although, it's usually not considered a "school sport". Rather it's a "club sport".

Almost all of the schools in MoCo (both public and private) row out of either the Bladensburg Boathouse, in Bladensburg, MD and row on the Anacostia River, or row out of The Anacostia Boathouse and also row on the Anacostia River or the Thompson Boat Center and row on the Potomac.

My kids go to/went to WJ and row/rowed out of the Bladensburg Boathouse, which is only about 30 minutes by bus.
The kids leave on the busses right after school and we pick them up back at the school when the bus returns at 7:30pm.

It's an amazing sport, and it becomes like a really tight family (a very big family, as we have 80-100 rowers on the team every single year at WJ). They train 6 days a week together, all year-round (it's a year-round sport if you chose it to be, but my kids don't train in the winter). Every Friday night, a different parent will hosts the Friday night pasta "carb-up" at their house, and everyone brings something, plus we travel for regattas together almost every weekend, and we have a whole team of parents who travel to the regattas exclusively to feed the kids breakfast and lunch every weekend -- it's super impressive.

You don't have to have THE most athletic kid to row crew, as it's truly a team sport.
They want hard work, dedication and team spirit. Contrary to what people believe, it's actually a leg sport, but an arm sport. So it's OK if your kid has skinny arms, lol.

If your kid wants to play a sport, but doesn't know where to start, but they know they want a team/family environment where they will totally find their tribe (all kinds of kids row crew, they don't fall into one particular demographic) then crew might be for them!

Every school has a "learn to row" week at the beginning of each season (they also invite the incoming 8th graders).
Send your kid to that and let them try it out for a week for free!

They'll make lifelong friends and memories, and I know I don't have to tell you how great it looks on a college application. 😉

Only if you are recruited.

Why do you say only helps the application if you are recruited? I figure it gives as much help to an application as any other extracurricular project (school band, school play, etc.). My kids did crew and loved it and both were team captains. Shows leadership and organizational skills, ability to work with others on your team, willingness to work long hours, etc.

I can't see why it wouldn't look great on a college application, even if not recruited.

[Anonymous]

Recruiting is better for girls.

[Anonymous]

I know at least one girl recruited to Stanford for light weight crew…so you don’t have to be 6’ if you are 130 lbs or less.

I don’t know what the average specs may be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, rowing is a massive hook because all the top universities have programs and yet very few high schools do (as most are not located near a body of water that will allow for training and the boats, etc are expensive).

That said, rowing recruiting has become more competitive and by-in-large the kids getting recruited to the elite colleges these days won the genetic lottery: the 3 girls i know this year (Princeton, Duke, Stanford) are 6'+ and the boys (Stanford, Princeton) are 6'5"+.

Both of my kids have rowed crew for all 4 years of high school, and I can tell you with all confidence, that almost ALL of the high schools around here have a crew team -- although, it's usually not considered a "school sport". Rather it's a "club sport".

Almost all of the schools in MoCo (both public and private) row out of either the Bladensburg Boathouse, in Bladensburg, MD and row on the Anacostia River, or row out of The Anacostia Boathouse and also row on the Anacostia River or the Thompson Boat Center and row on the Potomac.

My kids go to/went to WJ and row/rowed out of the Bladensburg Boathouse, which is only about 30 minutes by bus.
The kids leave on the busses right after school and we pick them up back at the school when the bus returns at 7:30pm.

It's an amazing sport, and it becomes like a really tight family (a very big family, as we have 80-100 rowers on the team every single year at WJ). They train 6 days a week together, all year-round (it's a year-round sport if you chose it to be, but my kids don't train in the winter). Every Friday night, a different parent will hosts the Friday night pasta "carb-up" at their house, and everyone brings something, plus we travel for regattas together almost every weekend, and we have a whole team of parents who travel to the regattas exclusively to feed the kids breakfast and lunch every weekend -- it's super impressive.

You don't have to have THE most athletic kid to row crew, as it's truly a team sport.
They want hard work, dedication and team spirit. Contrary to what people believe, it's actually a leg sport, but an arm sport. So it's OK if your kid has skinny arms, lol.

If your kid wants to play a sport, but doesn't know where to start, but they know they want a team/family environment where they will totally find their tribe (all kinds of kids row crew, they don't fall into one particular demographic) then crew might be for them!

Every school has a "learn to row" week at the beginning of each season (they also invite the incoming 8th graders).
Send your kid to that and let them try it out for a week for free!

They'll make lifelong friends and memories, and I know I don't have to tell you how great it looks on a college application. 😉

Only if you are recruited.

Why do you say only helps the application if you are recruited? I figure it gives as much help to an application as any other extracurricular project (school band, school play, etc.). My kids did crew and loved it and both were team captains. Shows leadership and organizational skills, ability to work with others on your team, willingness to work long hours, etc.

I can't see why it wouldn't look great on a college application, even if not recruited.

It does look good. My kid was getting recruited and decided not to pursue. However, he did very well with his admissions. The time he had put into it was impressive, and it raised his game overall. (Time management, leadership, etc.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, rowing is a massive hook because all the top universities have programs and yet very few high schools do (as most are not located near a body of water that will allow for training and the boats, etc are expensive).

That said, rowing recruiting has become more competitive and by-in-large the kids getting recruited to the elite colleges these days won the genetic lottery: the 3 girls i know this year (Princeton, Duke, Stanford) are 6'+ and the boys (Stanford, Princeton) are 6'5"+.

Both of my kids have rowed crew for all 4 years of high school, and I can tell you with all confidence, that almost ALL of the high schools around here have a crew team -- although, it's usually not considered a "school sport". Rather it's a "club sport".

Almost all of the schools in MoCo (both public and private) row out of either the Bladensburg Boathouse, in Bladensburg, MD and row on the Anacostia River, or row out of The Anacostia Boathouse and also row on the Anacostia River or the Thompson Boat Center and row on the Potomac.

My kids go to/went to WJ and row/rowed out of the Bladensburg Boathouse, which is only about 30 minutes by bus.
The kids leave on the busses right after school and we pick them up back at the school when the bus returns at 7:30pm.

It's an amazing sport, and it becomes like a really tight family (a very big family, as we have 80-100 rowers on the team every single year at WJ). They train 6 days a week together, all year-round (it's a year-round sport if you chose it to be, but my kids don't train in the winter). Every Friday night, a different parent will hosts the Friday night pasta "carb-up" at their house, and everyone brings something, plus we travel for regattas together almost every weekend, and we have a whole team of parents who travel to the regattas exclusively to feed the kids breakfast and lunch every weekend -- it's super impressive.

You don't have to have THE most athletic kid to row crew, as it's truly a team sport.
They want hard work, dedication and team spirit. Contrary to what people believe, it's actually a leg sport, but an arm sport. So it's OK if your kid has skinny arms, lol.

If your kid wants to play a sport, but doesn't know where to start, but they know they want a team/family environment where they will totally find their tribe (all kinds of kids row crew, they don't fall into one particular demographic) then crew might be for them!

Every school has a "learn to row" week at the beginning of each season (they also invite the incoming 8th graders).
Send your kid to that and let them try it out for a week for free!

They'll make lifelong friends and memories, and I know I don't have to tell you how great it looks on a college application. 😉

Only if you are recruited.

Why do you say only helps the application if you are recruited? I figure it gives as much help to an application as any other extracurricular project (school band, school play, etc.). My kids did crew and loved it and both were team captains. Shows leadership and organizational skills, ability to work with others on your team, willingness to work long hours, etc.

I can't see why it wouldn't look great on a college application, even if not recruited.

It does look good. My kid was getting recruited and decided not to pursue. However, he did very well with his admissions. The time he had put into it was impressive, and it raised his game overall. (Time management, leadership, etc.)

I really think folks significantly overestimate how much things like this matter.

I bet if your kid requested their admissions file that this would factor very little into acceptance.

Some AOs are worried about the opposite…that one activity was so all consuming during HS that the kid will flounder when it no longer exists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It also costs a ton of money, so the vast majority of crew kids are full pay

It’s a lot less than club soccer in my experience.

Or club volleyball. I’ve got one of each. Volleyball is by far the most expensive because of the tournament travel requirements.

[Anonymous]

It does seem that the only kids admitted to Ivies from my kids' high schools are recruited rowers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It also costs a ton of money, so the vast majority of crew kids are full pay

It’s a lot less than club soccer in my experience.

Or club volleyball. I’ve got one of each. Volleyball is by far the most expensive because of the tournament travel requirements.

Crew only really exists at HS, so you don’t have the costs from younger ages.

The costs is also very dependent on how long the club team has been around and the amount of already purchased fixed equipment.

You also have a limited number of regattas to attend each year. It’s a production to secure river permits and have security and what not on the river so it’s not easy to just create a new regatta.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, rowing is a massive hook because all the top universities have programs and yet very few high schools do (as most are not located near a body of water that will allow for training and the boats, etc are expensive).

That said, rowing recruiting has become more competitive and by-in-large the kids getting recruited to the elite colleges these days won the genetic lottery: the 3 girls i know this year (Princeton, Duke, Stanford) are 6'+ and the boys (Stanford, Princeton) are 6'5"+.

Both of my kids have rowed crew for all 4 years of high school, and I can tell you with all confidence, that almost ALL of the high schools around here have a crew team -- although, it's usually not considered a "school sport". Rather it's a "club sport".

Almost all of the schools in MoCo (both public and private) row out of either the Bladensburg Boathouse, in Bladensburg, MD and row on the Anacostia River, or row out of The Anacostia Boathouse and also row on the Anacostia River or the Thompson Boat Center and row on the Potomac.

My kids go to/went to WJ and row/rowed out of the Bladensburg Boathouse, which is only about 30 minutes by bus.
The kids leave on the busses right after school and we pick them up back at the school when the bus returns at 7:30pm.

It's an amazing sport, and it becomes like a really tight family (a very big family, as we have 80-100 rowers on the team every single year at WJ). They train 6 days a week together, all year-round (it's a year-round sport if you chose it to be, but my kids don't train in the winter). Every Friday night, a different parent will hosts the Friday night pasta "carb-up" at their house, and everyone brings something, plus we travel for regattas together almost every weekend, and we have a whole team of parents who travel to the regattas exclusively to feed the kids breakfast and lunch every weekend -- it's super impressive.

You don't have to have THE most athletic kid to row crew, as it's truly a team sport.
They want hard work, dedication and team spirit. Contrary to what people believe, it's actually a leg sport, but an arm sport. So it's OK if your kid has skinny arms, lol.

If your kid wants to play a sport, but doesn't know where to start, but they know they want a team/family environment where they will totally find their tribe (all kinds of kids row crew, they don't fall into one particular demographic) then crew might be for them!

Every school has a "learn to row" week at the beginning of each season (they also invite the incoming 8th graders).
Send your kid to that and let them try it out for a week for free!

They'll make lifelong friends and memories, and I know I don't have to tell you how great it looks on a college application. 😉

Only if you are recruited.

Why do you say only helps the application if you are recruited? I figure it gives as much help to an application as any other extracurricular project (school band, school play, etc.). My kids did crew and loved it and both were team captains. Shows leadership and organizational skills, ability to work with others on your team, willingness to work long hours, etc.

I can't see why it wouldn't look great on a college application, even if not recruited.

NP. You are correct that rowing for a non-recruited athlete gives as much help as any other time-consuming activity. So, do it if you enjoy it. However, to be clear, if the student is not being recruited, rowing is not a "hook" and does not give the applicant any special edge.

[Anonymous]

Our private HS always has about 7-8 Ivy rowers. Rugby gets many too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our private HS always has about 7-8 Ivy rowers. Rugby gets many too.

The rowers are all tall--the recruits (males). A lot of kids got phased out of it be end of HS. Of course, except for the cockswain.

[Anonymous]

The best athletes don't do crew...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The best athletes don't do crew...

Right. They play football in the SEC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, rowing is a massive hook because all the top universities have programs and yet very few high schools do (as most are not located near a body of water that will allow for training and the boats, etc are expensive).

That said, rowing recruiting has become more competitive and by-in-large the kids getting recruited to the elite colleges these days won the genetic lottery: the 3 girls i know this year (Princeton, Duke, Stanford) are 6'+ and the boys (Stanford, Princeton) are 6'5"+.

Even the coxswain? I thought they had to be light