Anonymous
Post 08/01/2025 09:23     Subject: Re:Rowing / crew hook
Anonymous wrote:Can someone answer a question from somebody who knows nothing about rowing (but who went down an insommina rabbit hole with this thread and now feel oddly invested in this thread despite having no kids in this sport):

If rowing is a bunch of kids rowing in unison in a boat, how do you identify who is actually a good rower? I always thought the ideal was uniformity of speed and strength, so what singles out a kid to be a Div I prospect vs. a kid who probaly isn't good enough to row in college? Does the boat start moving in circles depending on what side they are sitting on lol? Forgive my ignorance, but I'm just so dang curious (my kids do stopwatch sports, so it's pretty easy to see who's fastest!)


When they're training, they will do time trials of 2,000 meters on a rowing machine. This is the main stat that recruiters look at.

That said, coaches will typically move kids around in the boat to see what combination produces the best results. Physical fitness and leadership add up to make great rowers. There are some technical things -- for example, rowing with correct form so as not to "catch a crab" or create drag. It's more complicated than it looks, but also a little hard to see from the outside.
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2025 09:22     Subject: Rowing / crew hook
Anonymous wrote:I grew up in the Midwest and never met anyone who did crew until I attended my East Coast SLAC.


It's kind of like Orchestra. Midwest is Band country and many schools don't have an orchestra program.
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2025 09:18     Subject: Rowing / crew hook
Would take a lot of paragraphs to fully explain how coaches are able to discern differences when on the water, but the two clearest ways to differentiate are (1) erg scores: Rowers' 2k times on ergs are critical to both boating determinations and recruiting, and (2) seat races: when coaches aren't sure who makes the boat go faster, they will have their boats row a course once with one kid in a particular seat and then with a different one (but everyone else the same) and see who wins.

Beyond that, coaches watch how the boat goes, who has a good stroke and many other things.
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2025 08:56     Subject: Re:Rowing / crew hook
Anonymous wrote:Can someone answer a question from somebody who knows nothing about rowing (but who went down an insommina rabbit hole with this thread and now feel oddly invested in this thread despite having no kids in this sport):

If rowing is a bunch of kids rowing in unison in a boat, how do you identify who is actually a good rower? I always thought the ideal was uniformity of speed and strength, so what singles out a kid to be a Div I prospect vs. a kid who probaly isn't good enough to row in college? Does the boat start moving in circles depending on what side they are sitting on lol? Forgive my ignorance, but I'm just so dang curious (my kids do stopwatch sports, so it's pretty easy to see who's fastest!)


Thank you for asking! I have always had the same question. I know they can report their individual scores on machines but that is only half the battle - how do you determine if a rower is a good fit with a group? And how do you determine where they sit in the boat (front, middle, back)?
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2025 08:46     Subject: Re:Rowing / crew hook
Can someone answer a question from somebody who knows nothing about rowing (but who went down an insommina rabbit hole with this thread and now feel oddly invested in this thread despite having no kids in this sport):

If rowing is a bunch of kids rowing in unison in a boat, how do you identify who is actually a good rower? I always thought the ideal was uniformity of speed and strength, so what singles out a kid to be a Div I prospect vs. a kid who probaly isn't good enough to row in college? Does the boat start moving in circles depending on what side they are sitting on lol? Forgive my ignorance, but I'm just so dang curious (my kids do stopwatch sports, so it's pretty easy to see who's fastest!)
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2025 08:01     Subject: Rowing / crew hook
Anonymous wrote:My daughter is 5’2” and weights 98 pounds. Is it even worth trying to row in the high school crew team? Clearly she doesn’t have the body type of a rower.
She is rising 9th grader and does competitive XC and track.


If she is open to learning to cox she could be primarily a rower in high school but switch to cox in college. A cox who knows how to row is extra valuable. I am a rower who takes a turn coxing a recreational masters 8. I do it only because we all take turns. She may find she really likes one more than the other - entirely different experiences.
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2025 07:52     Subject: Rowing / crew hook
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My daughter is 5’2” and weights 98 pounds. Is it even worth trying to row in the high school crew team? Clearly she doesn’t have the body type of a rower.
She is rising 9th grader and does competitive XC and track.


do you only want her to row if she'll be a recruit?

There's no way she'll be recruited at that size but she could still enjoy the sport in high school.


Exactly. Sports are not just about being recruited. It is about having fun, teamwork, being healthy, making friends, etc.

My child is very average at one of the popular tiger mom sports (think fencing, squash, crew, etc). When I told friends my child was taking up this sport, they all immediately said "oh, that will help with college." No, it really won't. It is still very hard to get recruited in these sports. My child does the sport because they enjoy it (what a crazy idea!) I go to the competitions and there are countless stereotypical tiger parents there (all ethnic backgrounds including many rich white people - this is not a racist comment). And many of them look around and realize their kid is just not that great and it isn't going to be as easy as they thought it was. And you can hear their brains spinning and thinking about what sport to switch their kid to rather than just letting their kid have fun and be happy.
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2025 04:48     Subject: Rowing / crew hook
Anonymous wrote:My daughter is 5’2” and weights 98 pounds. Is it even worth trying to row in the high school crew team? Clearly she doesn’t have the body type of a rower.
She is rising 9th grader and does competitive XC and track.


do you only want her to row if she'll be a recruit?

There's no way she'll be recruited at that size but she could still enjoy the sport in high school.
Anonymous
Post 07/31/2025 23:33     Subject: Rowing / crew hook
My daughter is 5’2” and weights 98 pounds. Is it even worth trying to row in the high school crew team? Clearly she doesn’t have the body type of a rower.
She is rising 9th grader and does competitive XC and track.
Anonymous
Post 12/19/2024 14:55     Subject: Rowing / crew hook
It's a good hook but you need the body shape for it.
Anonymous
Post 12/19/2024 14:49     Subject: Rowing / crew hook
Anonymous wrote:What about DII schools? Why do people always talk about DI and DIII but never DII?


There are only a handful of D11 rowing programs. https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/rowing/d2/regional-rankings
Anonymous
Post 12/19/2024 14:47     Subject: Rowing / crew hook
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.


Especially for girls, it is easy to get recruited to a D3 school. THere are not a ton of experienced rowers out there.
Anonymous
Post 12/19/2024 13:03     Subject: Rowing / crew hook
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The D1 rowers I know in heavyweight are almost all 6”5+ (closer to a 6”7 average), while lightweight was closer to 6”-6”3. But those lightweight boys were encouraged to do crazy things / starved themselves for weigh in and that always seemed so rough. They spent so much time rowing, I had no idea how they had the energy for classes.


D1 rowing is intense. Though you may get money, the athlete is working extremely hard every single day for that team!

This. It's a lifestyle and kind of a lonely one for some as you do it at the expense of other parts of college. A friend's kid was just sharing about this. I guess this is the case with all or most athletes but crew seems especially early and time consuming.


That is a strange take. I must be a unicorn - was a recruited cox who got a scholarship to attend a D1. Crew was amazing in college — you had an automatic “tribe”, both male and female — and we figured out how to party outside of spring racing season.


Isn't your day-to-day a lot different than the people rowing the boat? I honestly don't know but it seems kind of analogous to what practice for the field goal kickers and punters is like compared most of the football team (i.e., physically much easier).

I only know 2 D1 rowers and they both quit because they were missing out on the college experience and were just exhausted all the time. They still have great relationships with the team, but have been able to experience so much more as well.
Anonymous
Post 12/19/2024 12:55     Subject: Rowing / crew hook
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The D1 rowers I know in heavyweight are almost all 6”5+ (closer to a 6”7 average), while lightweight was closer to 6”-6”3. But those lightweight boys were encouraged to do crazy things / starved themselves for weigh in and that always seemed so rough. They spent so much time rowing, I had no idea how they had the energy for classes.


D1 rowing is intense. Though you may get money, the athlete is working extremely hard every single day for that team!

This. It's a lifestyle and kind of a lonely one for some as you do it at the expense of other parts of college. A friend's kid was just sharing about this. I guess this is the case with all or most athletes but crew seems especially early and time consuming.


That is a strange take. I must be a unicorn - was a recruited cox who got a scholarship to attend a D1. Crew was amazing in college — you had an automatic “tribe”, both male and female — and we figured out how to party outside of spring racing season.
Anonymous
Post 12/19/2024 11:45     Subject: Rowing / crew hook
Anonymous wrote:The D1 rowers I know in heavyweight are almost all 6”5+ (closer to a 6”7 average), while lightweight was closer to 6”-6”3. But those lightweight boys were encouraged to do crazy things / starved themselves for weigh in and that always seemed so rough. They spent so much time rowing, I had no idea how they had the energy for classes.


100%

Friend's kid was a rower at a private that sent many to Ivies. He was 6 feet and 'too short' to recruit.