Anonymous wrote:Nothing about rowing is easy.

I mean, unless you’re Aunt Becky’s daughter?

Seriously though, I miss rowing. I miss the camaraderie, I miss the biting cold wind and the peaceful sunrises (made unpeaceful hearing my coach over the megaphone, of course).I was a walk on at a D3 (SLAC) and had never rowed but pulled a good erg time in try outs. I was always a 5a person anyhow.

I’ve always wondered why more folks don’t try crew, but I can see mornings being hard. I think it either works for you or it doesn’t. Haven’t rowed since grad school, but I do want to get back to it when my kids are older. We have a concept2, but obv not the same as being out there.

I really hope one or both of my kids like crew— super fun sport to watch, no head trauma risk, and might work for my tall, long-torso, but probably not gifted w hand eye coordination kids.

I suspect some ppl look at #s of spots for recruits and just decide crew is worth a go, based on sheet volume.

Anonymous wrote:As a former collegiate rower, if you aren’t a morning person, don’t bother. I was up at 5:30 every morning as long as the water wasn’t frozen solid. It’s dark & cold & grueling. We did that 6 days a week, year round bc you’ve got sprint season & longer distance season. Plus erg work outs, lifting & independent running. It’s worth it if you find beauty in the movement.

Before you start the sport with the intention of being a recruited athlete, make sure you kid can thrive with early mornings (in college no less!), year round commitment & a lot of work. It’s not the easy way in

Crew has one of the highest quit rates of college sports. I don't want to say that kids stick with it in HS only to help them for college...but I think college recruitment is a potent external motivator. For 99% of crew athletes (with 1% becoming Olympians), there is nothing to strive for past college and so the grueling practices at early hours, getting to/from the boathouse that is usually a decent distance from campus, no students giving two shits about the crew team...they decide it's not worth it to lose out on the college experience.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The HYP recruits are 5'8" up as girls (many close to 6'), 6'3" up as guys.

Wait - this 5’8”+ (girls) / 6’3”+ (boys) is really unfair!

How are colleges getting away with this?

It's not unfair. That is the body type that tends to do well with crew.

There are exceptions, but a long, lean body type lends itself well to crew. Honestly, work ethic has a lot to do with it as well.

That seems extremely ableist.

If you have longer legs each pull of the oar is longer too. That’s why.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The HYP recruits are 5'8" up as girls (many close to 6'), 6'3" up as guys.

Wait - this 5’8”+ (girls) / 6’3”+ (boys) is really unfair!

How are colleges getting away with this?

There’s always the coxswain. If your kid is short and thin, and has the right loud personality…

Coxswain's, even top ones do not typically receive recruiting support. It is more....love to have you if you get in.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most rowers don't actually start until high school (or late middle school), often through a learn-to-row summer camp. Be forewarned, though, high school rowing can get eye-wateringly expensive.

Interesting. What's so expensive about it?

It's like alot of club sports in high school, and there's travel involved.

Plus the equipment is expensive. Teams need to own boats of various sizes (an 8 is typically 60' long), transport those boats to regattas (via a trailer), oars (for sculling and sweep), launches for the coaches to coach from, and maintenance for all of the above.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not too late. Kids at our public get into HYP for rowing, and started in 8th/9th. Being tall helps!

So this doesn't happen.

Most rowers are from top privates with few from public schools. There are a few public school exceptions for kids from some wealthy NY/CT (or CA) suburbs who rowed at elite clubs. Rowing is the ultimate white DEI sport.
Most recruited rowers at HYP are European and competitive at the national level.
Being tall doesn't just help, it is a prerequisite. 6'2" for men and 5'10" for women except for coxswains (who typically do not receive recruiting support).

Overall rowing is not by any means a easier path to admittance to a top school.

At the Stotesbury Cup for HS students last year, all the competitive public HS boats were blown out of the water by elite private school boats.

We found out some of these private schools have their own lakes / rivers right on the private grounds of their schools. Also found out they start rowing in middle school and practice all school-year long. Some of them recruit for high school. They had privately-catered chefs prepare lunch for their athletes, while all we had was an EZ-up, a few folding chairs, and some homemade sandwiches.

It was eye-opening.

Very interesting. Multiple family friends recruited for rowing were from TJ.

Really? Where are they? There is not a single TJ rower that I know of at an elite school.

Anonymous wrote:I thought there used to be lightweight rowing. Is that not a thing anymore? Then you can “only” be 6’0, no?

There is still lightweight rowing, although I don't know that scholarships are given to lightweight rowers. Mens lightweight is also different than womens, but I can't remember the exact rules.

If you're petite you could be a coxswain, especially if you're close to the minimum weights (if you're below minimum weight you carry weight for races).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not too late. Kids at our public get into HYP for rowing, and started in 8th/9th. Being tall helps!

So this doesn't happen.

Most rowers are from top privates with few from public schools. There are a few public school exceptions for kids from some wealthy NY/CT (or CA) suburbs who rowed at elite clubs. Rowing is the ultimate white DEI sport.
Most recruited rowers at HYP are European and competitive at the national level.
Being tall doesn't just help, it is a prerequisite. 6'2" for men and 5'10" for women except for coxswains (who typically do not receive recruiting support).

Overall rowing is not by any means a easier path to admittance to a top school.

At the Stotesbury Cup for HS students last year, all the competitive public HS boats were blown out of the water by elite private school boats.

We found out some of these private schools have their own lakes / rivers right on the private grounds of their schools. Also found out they start rowing in middle school and practice all school-year long. Some of them recruit for high school. They had privately-catered chefs prepare lunch for their athletes, while all we had was an EZ-up, a few folding chairs, and some homemade sandwiches.

It was eye-opening.

Whitman finished 3rd, Mclean was 10th and Yorktown 12th for the boys Varsity 8 race. I think two years ago (maybe 3), Jackson-Reed won the whole thing.

For girls, Whitman finished 3rd, Wakefield 4th, BCC 5th, Alexandria City 8th, Jackson-Reed 9th.

I find it actually crazy that any public schools are able to finish in the top 20 considering the mismatch in resources.

Nothing about rowing is easy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The HYP recruits are 5'8" up as girls (many close to 6'), 6'3" up as guys.

Wait - this 5’8”+ (girls) / 6’3”+ (boys) is really unfair!

How are colleges getting away with this?

Are you serious? Of course ability matters with athletic recruiting.

It's extremely rare to find someone who's 5'5" who's competitive with a great 6'0" athlete. Even with great erg splits, you need the height and wingspan to make the boat go faster.

Anonymous wrote:As a former collegiate rower, if you aren’t a morning person, don’t bother. I was up at 5:30 every morning as long as the water wasn’t frozen solid. It’s dark & cold & grueling. We did that 6 days a week, year round bc you’ve got sprint season & longer distance season. Plus erg work outs, lifting & independent running. It’s worth it if you find beauty in the movement.

Before you start the sport with the intention of being a recruited athlete, make sure you kid can thrive with early mornings (in college no less!), year round commitment & a lot of work. It’s not the easy way in

+1 And make sure you love rowing for itself. It's easily 20+ hours/week. There are much easier paths to ivies if that's your goal.

As a former collegiate rower, if you aren’t a morning person, don’t bother. I was up at 5:30 every morning as long as the water wasn’t frozen solid. It’s dark & cold & grueling. We did that 6 days a week, year round bc you’ve got sprint season & longer distance season. Plus erg work outs, lifting & independent running. It’s worth it if you find beauty in the movement.

Before you start the sport with the intention of being a recruited athlete, make sure you kid can thrive with early mornings (in college no less!), year round commitment & a lot of work. It’s not the easy way in

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not too late. Kids at our public get into HYP for rowing, and started in 8th/9th. Being tall helps!

So this doesn't happen.

Most rowers are from top privates with few from public schools. There are a few public school exceptions for kids from some wealthy NY/CT (or CA) suburbs who rowed at elite clubs. Rowing is the ultimate white DEI sport.
Most recruited rowers at HYP are European and competitive at the national level.
Being tall doesn't just help, it is a prerequisite. 6'2" for men and 5'10" for women except for coxswains (who typically do not receive recruiting support).

Overall rowing is not by any means a easier path to admittance to a top school.

At the Stotesbury Cup for HS students last year, all the competitive public HS boats were blown out of the water by elite private school boats.

We found out some of these private schools have their own lakes / rivers right on the private grounds of their schools. Also found out they start rowing in middle school and practice all school-year long. Some of them recruit for high school. They had privately-catered chefs prepare lunch for their athletes, while all we had was an EZ-up, a few folding chairs, and some homemade sandwiches.

It was eye-opening.

Very interesting. Multiple family friends recruited for rowing were from TJ.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The HYP recruits are 5'8" up as girls (many close to 6'), 6'3" up as guys.

Wait - this 5’8”+ (girls) / 6’3”+ (boys) is really unfair!

How are colleges getting away with this?

There’s always the coxswain. If your kid is short and thin, and has the right loud personality…

Do they recruit for coxswain?

I see so many squash recruits this year. How hard is it to be fencing? I know some families who are very very dedicated to fencing, but I just feel bad when I see them driving and flying everywhere for tournaments, in case their kids aren't recruited in a few years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not too late. Kids at our public get into HYP for rowing, and started in 8th/9th. Being tall helps!

So this doesn't happen.

Most rowers are from top privates with few from public schools. There are a few public school exceptions for kids from some wealthy NY/CT (or CA) suburbs who rowed at elite clubs. Rowing is the ultimate white DEI sport.
Most recruited rowers at HYP are European and competitive at the national level.
Being tall doesn't just help, it is a prerequisite. 6'2" for men and 5'10" for women except for coxswains (who typically do not receive recruiting support).

Overall rowing is not by any means a easier path to admittance to a top school.

At the Stotesbury Cup for HS students last year, all the competitive public HS boats were blown out of the water by elite private school boats.

We found out some of these private schools have their own lakes / rivers right on the private grounds of their schools. Also found out they start rowing in middle school and practice all school-year long. Some of them recruit for high school. They had privately-catered chefs prepare lunch for their athletes, while all we had was an EZ-up, a few folding chairs, and some homemade sandwiches.

It was eye-opening.