High School Crew

[Anonymous]

With respect college recruitment for girls. I have been told that due to Tiltle IX and having no female counter to football, college crew is often used for recruitment (scholarships). And because not a lot of schools have crew, some colleges are in a position to offer spots to athletic girls who may not have even rowed before because they need to fill the spots. Has anyone else heard this? I have no first hand experience or knowledge. My DD just started rowing.

[Anonymous]

So, just for fun, I went through the Harvard, Yale, Princeton rosters for men's and women's lightweight and openweight crew teams.

There are no GDS alumni listed on any of these rosters.

There are 2 St. Albans - both on Harvard men's lightweight crew.

There is 1 Sidwell grad - on the Harvard women's openweight.

The only other DC area private school representation on those rosters was a Princeton men's heavyweight from Gonzaga, a women's openweight from Bishop Ireton, and a women's lightweight from Holton-Arms.

Not exactly an Ivy League pipeline.

Interestingly, there were 7 kids from TJ. One openweight male and female at each of HYP, and 1 women's lightweight at Princeton.

Bottom line, if your kid is going to do crew, it should be because they want to row, not because they're looking for a ticket to the Ivy League.

[Anonymous]

Are head games the normal among the coaches?

[Anonymous]

Alexandria City also has (excellent) crew. The kids get into spectacular colleges -- as the PP indicated, not because of crew itself, but because being on crew requires a good deal of motivation.

Unfortunately, the Alexandria school board is converting crew to a "club" sport that will charge fees, so only about a dozen kids will be left participating. Then the school board will close the program and sell the boathouse (they've already stopped maintaining the facility).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: With respect college recruitment for girls. I have been told that due to Tiltle IX and having no female counter to football, college crew is often used for recruitment (scholarships). And because not a lot of schools have crew, some colleges are in a position to offer spots to athletic girls who may not have even rowed before because they need to fill the spots. Has anyone else heard this? I have no first hand experience or knowledge. My DD just started rowing.

This is a really good interview with the UVA women's coach:
http://www.tier1athletics.org/2012/06/16/the-coachs-view-uva-rowing-coach-kevin-sauer-on-erg-scores-scholarships-and-character/

I found both parts to be very helpful and insightful.

[Anonymous]

Crew is rough, especially with 4 hours of hw every night. They practice whenever; remember it rained this past Tuesday, well DS came home totally drenched. Last regatta this past weekend was canceled after the first race due to boats flipping, water was choppy, and some caught crabs..lol.. There's even a polar bear regatta - kids couldn't even feel their fingers with windy conditions and below 20 degrees. There's exact time when practice ends That's the one I hate., and leaving home at 6 am, to wait to see kid race at 1 pm for 12 mins, and wait around until 4 pm for regatta to end, then to put boats away. Your day is shot for a < 15 min race...

It builds character it seems....

[Anonymous]

Yes, it is a very tough sport pp. Wall Street loves crew people because it knows how tough the men and women are who have done it. It's not for the faint of heart.

[Anonymous]

Something else to consider is the prevalence of injuries. My freshman daughter is on a crew team and probably 1/3 of her team has suffered injuries, ranging from long-term and severe tendonitis to back problems to shoulder injuries. It's tough, tough, tough. That said, it attracts an awesome group of kids -- very hard-working, motivated, serious, down-to-earth. No prima donnas there.

[Anonymous]

I rowed in college (ran and swam in HS) and beyond--it's a tremendous sport, and one I wouldn't hesitate to encourage my kids to do, if they showed interest. As PP noted, it can be tough on your body. I'd make sure my kid was stretching post-practices and races and doing appropriate strength exercises. Lots of core work, squats, bench press or similar to prevent intracostal tears.

But, yeah, the kids who stick with it are indeed hard-working, intrinsically motivated, often thoughtful types. It's a particularly good sport for girls and women, I think, because it places such a premium on strength. Absolutely loved my years on the water.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Something else to consider is the prevalence of injuries. My freshman daughter is on a crew team and probably 1/3 of her team has suffered injuries, ranging from long-term and severe tendonitis to back problems to shoulder injuries. Plus parasitic skin infection especially if your DD shaves her legs and bacteria get into the open tiny cuts It's tough, tough, tough. That said, it attracts an awesome group of kids -- very hard-working, motivated, serious, down-to-earth. No prima donnas there.

And parents!

[Anonymous]

I agree completely that you should row because you love it, not because you're hoping to get recruited by an Ivy.

A key thing for being recruited is hitting the right erg times. The erg, if you're not familiar, is that instrument of torture that the kids practice on when they're not on the water. There are different times for men, women, lightweight, et cetera. Colleges with more competitive teams have lower erg time requirements. I know a TJ kid who made it his goal to get into an Ivy, spent the summer working on the erg, and succeeded. Having a great erg time is a combination of long arms and legs, good lung capacity, and sheer dogged persistence. So, it's not for everyone!

I know several local kids who row for Harvard or other Ivies. They come from Blair, TJ and Washington-Lee. One of the common denominators, besides great erg times, is that these kids are all top notch academically, with amazing SATs (I know for a fact that one of the kids scored 2400 on the SATs) and near-perfect GPAs. So it's not like you can be a promising rower with so-so grades and SATs, and expect to waltz onto a competitive college crew team.

Rowing for the fun and teamwork is an equally valuable part of the high school crew experience. Do it for that!

[Anonymous]

I agree the sport is great. What happens when you have a terrible coach? My son missed practice and texted the coach that he would miss the am practice. Unfortunately, the number was wrong so it never got to him. Now my DC is off the 1st boat and probably won't race this coming weekend. They won't even put him on the novice boat. He has been in purgatory this whole week. The coach will not acknowledge him at practice. The sad thing is my DC crewed this summer and this fall to get ready for his first spring crew season. He is the only one who has experience among the Freshman team. Character building ? Stick it out hopefully the tide changes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, just for fun, I went through the Harvard, Yale, Princeton rosters for men's and women's lightweight and openweight crew teams.

There are no GDS alumni listed on any of these rosters.

There are 2 St. Albans - both on Harvard men's lightweight crew.

There is 1 Sidwell grad - on the Harvard women's openweight.

The only other DC area private school representation on those rosters was a Princeton men's heavyweight from Gonzaga, a women's openweight from Bishop Ireton, and a women's lightweight from Holton-Arms.

Not exactly an Ivy League pipeline.

Interestingly, there were 7 kids from TJ. One openweight male and female at each of HYP, and 1 women's lightweight at Princeton.

Bottom line, if your kid is going to do crew, it should be because they want to row, not because they're looking for a ticket to the Ivy League.

Your fun exercise may state the current crew rosters, but sheds no light on next year when this year's admitted HS seniors will matriculate at the Ivys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree the sport is great. What happens when you have a terrible coach? My son missed practice and texted the coach that he would miss the am practice. Unfortunately, the number was wrong so it never got to him. Now my DC is off the 1st boat and probably won't race this coming weekend. They won't even put him on the novice boat. He has been in purgatory this whole week. The coach will not acknowledge him at practice. The sad thing is my DC crewed this summer and this fall to get ready for his first spring crew season. He is the only one who has experience among the Freshman team. Character building ? Stick it out hopefully the tide changes.

I hate HS coaches, well not hate, but have a short fuse for some of them, not for crew coach, but for other sports. It's all about the win.....

AM practices are the hardest to get to, he should of showed some compassion. Next year he won't be a novice and would probably have a different coach. Is there a HS regatta this weekend or is it a scrimmage?

[Anonymous]

Its a regatta this weekend. Its a tough one for a parent to watch happen. The 4:30 mornings 6x a week makes me wonder if it is worth it. My son loves the sport plans on crewing this summer as well as club crewing hopefully in the fall.