News

Two intrepid teams from the University of Worcester Rowing Club will row thousands of kilometres during a gruelling non-stop world record attempt taking place in CrownGate Shopping Centre from Monday, March 1st.
The ten-strong teams, one men’s and one women’s, will attempt to smash existing ‘longest continual rowing’ world records by rowing day and night for several days in CrownGate’s Bell Square, to raise funds for local charity Worcester Snoezelen.
The men’s team is aiming to row more than 3,250km, equivalent to the distance from Worcester to Athens, in 11 days, and the women’s team needs to reach 2,000km in seven days to beat the record, currently held by a team from Florida.
One competitor from each team will row at any one time on indoor rowing machines supplied by Concept2, but the machine cannot be allowed to stop – if it does, the record attempt fails. Read the rest of this entry »

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Thanks again to Sean Wolf for allowing us to share his interview series.  The last one was with Lisa Schenkler - a written interview.

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Before Christmas, we asked for volunteers to review the Good Coxswain Guide series of booklets.  Written by Andrew O'Brien they form a great library resource for anyone who coxes or who coaches coxswains.

Here are the first three book reviews and our grateful thanks to Sudbury Rowing Club and Vesta Rowing Club whose members took time out to write these.

They are now available for sale in the Shop as electronic e-books . Each one costs £6 or £65 for the full set with a free bonus Log Book to record progress.

My name is Ellie Adams (photographed above), I am 11 years old and I am a cox and sculler at Sudbury Rowing Club.  I have been asked to check out some of your coxing guidebooks by a member at the club.  I have read two or three of them and I think they are good, they give you lots of information and are very helpful, especially all the pictures and diagrams. I think that lots of coxes like me should use these books to improve their skills.  I also like the way the books are split into different categories, this is helpful at the club as it allows as to borrow different books at one time.  I thought that the 'log book' was a good idea to record all of your outings as a cox with different crews and boats; therefore you can know what to improve on next time you are out. I think Sudbury Rowing Club will find these books very useful and will use them often.
 
Thank you for letting me try these books out.
 
Ellie Adams
Sudbury Rowing Club - Junior Squad
 
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Like many other clubs we have seen an increase in people wanting to learn to row over the last 12-18 months which has led to a growth in our junior and novice squads.  This has provided us a whole new audience to teach about the skills of coxing and has meant that as a club we have had to think again about how to train coxes.  
 
Having recently read 'The Good Coxswain' series of books I think they will be a positive step for us to helping find and nurture the potential in our new coxes.  The books are split into categories (1 - 12) so it is possible to focus on one element of coxing skills at a time.  Each book contains a guide detailing what is covered in that section, a glossary of terms (very important as sometimes we forget that we use a different language rowing!) and the informative text is accompanied by diagrams and pictures which help to explain the subject to all ages and experience levels.  The books also have tips and quotes from coxswains, rowers and coaches which help to make it more real to the reader.  These books are written in a way that explains things to those new to coxing, both junior and adult, but also contain tips and information that a more experienced cox can use as a refresher when they need it.
 
As a club we have recently trialled our own coxing course but we can now organise the content of the course to align with the categories of the. books to reinforce.  The fact that the books are in separate sections will also allow them the sections of interest to be 'borrowed' or used for a quick refresher whenever needed.
 
The final book (no. 12) in the series covers the difficult and sometimes overlooked area of how to coach the cox.  Coaches are used to coaching the rowers in the boat but when dealing with new and novice coxes the advice in here really focuses your mind on how to release the potential in your cox.
 
The 'log book' is such a simple idea I do wonder why we never thought of it ourselves but I think it is a good way of getting the cox more involved in their development and it will help document their coxing CV if we ever need to supply it (for coxing the tideway for example).
 
I also own 'The Down and Dirty Guide to Coxing' , which is another reference book I would recommend to coxes, but 'The Good Coxswain' series for me does have a distinct advantage for those of us in the UK as it uses the same terms as us (i.e. bowside and strokeside)!
 
Katherine Cass
Sudbury Rowing Club - Vice Captain, Learn to Row Coach   

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I decided to start coxing in December 2008. Unlike most coxswains, I had no previous rowing experience, so starting out felt really quite intimidating. There is such a huge amount to try and learn. Once you have basic steering skills, there’s rowing language. When you know your bowside from strokeside, you need to start fine tuning calls, work on timing of calls, annunciation, sharpening your steering and all this whilst keeping your crew safe on the Tideway and trying to tweak their rowing technique.

The majority of my existing coxswain experience has come from learning ‘on the job’, talking to other coxes and listening to the after outing sum up. I desperately wanted as much reading material as I could get to help with rowing terms and basic skills. Whilst information is on the internet, it’s few and far between. So when I saw Rowperfect had started to stock books which were for coxes, my inner rowing geek jumped for joy.

The Good Coxswain Guide Books are designed to be a handy source of information. Their aim is to cover complete basics of coxing for novice coxes to simplified explanations of drills etc for senior coxes. The guide books are also a resource for coaches who would like direction on how to coach coxes. They come in booklet form so they can be easily used as a quick reference. Separated into 12 different sections, they address core coxing topics, without all the jargon.

For someone who is thinking about becoming a cox or has just started, these booklets are invaluable. They explain everything from getting the boat out of the boathouse/shed to what the different components in a boat are called and what they do. I certainly found the section on creating a race plan useful (booklet number 9) and I am always on the lookout for tips to improve my landings (as is my Bowman!). What I also thought was a good aspect, is the section on how you can still be useful and an integral part of the crew when land training. To quote the first booklet, ‘I knew how to do it, I just didn’t know why’ was exactly my attitude and these booklets explain the Hows, Whats, Wheres and Whys succinctly. Each booklet has a glossary section and then a summary to reinstate what you should’ve learned.

My only criticism is that, for coxes who have steered more races and outings than they’ve had hot meals (granted a bad analogy – we are after all – always trying to make weight!!), the booklets would be quite redundant. Certainly adding further booklets to the series which concentrate on more advanced topics would be a superb idea.

To summarise, I found the booklets useful and enjoyable to read. They simplify ‘rowing speak’ without being patronising and all booklets have diagrams and/or tables to explain things further. I’d recommend owning them and I’ll certainly continue glancing at them from time to time to brush up my knowledge.

Celeste Boruvka, Vesta Rowing Club Coxswain

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Found this great image on an academic paper about whether training on a Rowperfect was a good way of selecting scullers.

The researchers end by saying
CONCLUSIONS: Static ergometers have previously been used almost exclusively for on-shore training and crew selection despite research indicating that they may not represent on-water rowing. The advent of dynamic ergometers such as the Rowperfect are reported to more closely replicate the inertial properties of on-water rowing and would therefore be more specific as a training and selection tool. The current study demonstrated a very high association between the force profiles from the Rowperfect ergometer and on-water indicating that this ergometer replicated the patterns of on-water sculling. In addition, the body positions at the catch and finish for both styles of rowing closely resemble each other. A more efficient transfer of learning may therefore apply across the two forms of rowing as they demonstrate similar kinetic andkinematic elements during the performance of the skill. These findings support the use of dynamic ergometers such as the Rowperfect as a more specific training regime and crew selection tool.

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Was browsing the web and found this article about "pattern and stroke consistency" in rowing.

BODY ACCELERATIONS AS PREDICTORS OF POWER OUTPUT ON A ROWPERFECT BOAT SIMULATOR
R. Anderson, A.J. Harrison, and G.M. Lyons1
Department of Sport Sciences, 1Biomedical Electronics Laboratory, University of imerick, Limerick, Ireland

The training and competition regimen of athletes at the elite level is highly intensive and demands rapid feedback regarding their performance. The aim of this study was to determine the kinematic parameters which correlate with power output per stroke on a RowPerfect boat simulator. Optimal movement patterns for each kinematic parameter were determined for ten elite lightweight rowers. A measure of time/area away from this optimal movement pattern was used to show consistency of movement. A stepwise regression indicated that shoulder and hip acceleration were correlated with power output per stroke (R=0.7, p<0.01). These results illustrate the viability of a training regimen utilising accelerometry based real-time biofeedback.

And the Research concludes:

The ability to train on a boat simulator that can assess movement patterns and stroke consistency in realtime, indicating to the rower whether they are outwith specific limits is an exciting prospect. Future research will concentrate on using biofeedback to improve technique and/or movement pattern consistency within elite and novice rowers.

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time is dragging for you eager folks hoping to get one of the new Rowperfect Indoor Sculler machines.

The manufacturer has put up a new video.

However, before you ask, we do not yet have firm delivery dates for the UK market nor pricing… but anyone wanting to join our list of people to get information as soon as it is available, please email us.

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Get cold hands and feet in the winter?  Whether a coach or an athlete there's always a tine when you wish you had better thermo-insulation.  

I contibuted the comment about the shooting mittens for sculling handle management.

Coaching Glove Recommendations discussion.

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Lisa Schenkler rows for the USA as theirlightweight single sculler.

Sean Wolf interviews her for his Speed5 series.

Wolf- You have an erg book out, now I am not a big fan of the erg much less a book about working out on the erg , so why the hell an erg book and what is in it? Who made these workouts up and do you actually follow them ?

Lisa-An erg book? Why not an erg book? It's the first of its kind, and its sweatproof. What's in it? 75 erg workouts for athletes - from beginner to advanced.

These workouts are from my coaches that I had throughout the years. I kept training journals during my rowing career. The beginner, intermediate and advanced sections of the book are variations of the workouts from the national team coaches I worked with. The last section is a series of 20 of the toughest workouts my coaches gave me. They were taken straight from my journals. I call them the "ruhige Kraft workouts". Oh, and Sean, if you - or anyone - can do all 20 of the rK workouts, I'll send out a free t-shirt. Yes, I am tossing down the gauntlet. You have to tell me your favorite rK workout, though. It's all up on my web site (http://www.urbanerg.com).

I do follow the workouts in ERG. I wrote the book so I wouldn't have to think of my workouts anymore, I can just flip to a page, set the book above my foot stretchers, and do the workout. Wait, let me change that: I wrote the book so I wouldn't negotiate with myself while I sat on the erg.

Wolf-Now I feel the lightweight women's field has tailed off since the 2008 Olympics and I hear you are in pretty good shape, so do you think you can mix it up with the young talent coming up in the ranks now , I am being real here as I can be, can you earn a seat in a boat if you wanted to ?

Lisa-I'm laughing. That's a loaded question. You can't ask a competitor that. The rowers coming up now are a talented group. Being the type of competitor I am, my brain always thinks that I can mix it up, but I'm not sure the body will follow.

About earning a seat - the amount of time and energy that it takes to get a seat - not just any seat but the seat that you want - is not an easy thing to do. If it was easy, everyone who wanted to, could be on the team. It takes an amazing amount of dedication and training to get a seat in a boat.

Wolf– Crash B's is around the corner and you are known for your "presence" on the ERG ( as well as the water ) , do you still hold the world record "on the machine " and what numbers are you dropping these days?

Lisa-Sean, at the time that you wrote these questions to me, I held "the" world record as the fastest lightweight woman, but as of Saturday, January 30th, Ursula Grobler James smashed that record by two seconds. Kudos to Ursula - an amazing performance. I still hold a couple world records though, just not "the" world record.

Ahh, what numbers am I dropping these days? Depends on the piece - come do a workout with me and we'll see.

Wolf– You were in the 04 Olympics and still went strong afterwards , what was that whole process like , did you prefer rowing in camps or were you more of a fan of running the gamut of trials ? The reason I ask this is that there are a lot of young ladies out there who dream of being in your shoes and I feel any insight you have would be helpful and welcome.

Lisa-In my career I had the opportunity to be on ten national teams, and had the chance to do both the camps and the trials gamut. Living in San Diego at the Olympic Training Center and in Princeton, there were huge benefits to training in the camp system, especially when the lightweights and open weights would all battle it out together. That type of daily competition certainly assisted with preparation - how to race, when to race - and being in the supportive team environment is powerful. The lightweight women's boats are all trials boats so even if you came from a camp system you had to go to trials. I actually enjoyed this process. When I was racing in the single, you have the heat, semi and final race, with the finals being the best two out of three, so you'd be racing four times. The trials process always made me feel that I had earned my seat by winning on the water. No matter what, it all came down to who was fastest on the water on that given day.

What I found is that if you could move a single, the coaches were going to look at you. They always look at who can move a single and who is fast on the erg. And not just against lightweights, but against everyone. That's where it worked for me. I was a smaller athlete, but I had a "big dog" attitude. I always wanted to mix it up.

Wolf- I know you have a loyal following , fill us in what are you up to now (and I don't mean weight HA!) ?

Lisa-Well, I'm at FISA weight right now, so that's good. My workouts are daily forest runs with my pup, and erg workouts from my book. I do a lot of private coaching and training and am an executive director of a rowing club. Like most rowers, I am waiting for nice weather to get back on the water. In the meantime, I get on an erg to remember what it feels like.

Extra one

Wolf-Which races in your career were you favorite ones erg, breaking the 7 min barrier , and water , was it the Olympics ? What made them special ?

Lisa-Two of my favorite races were on the erg. The first was the piece where I broke the seven minute barrier. That was eleven years ago. The second race was about six months later - pulling a 6:56.7 at CRASH-Bs. That was back in the days when we had to walk uphill for three miles in waist-deep snow to get to the heats to qualify for the finals at CRASH-Bs. I pulled a 7:12 in the morning and then did the finals race in the afternoon. Those were fun races. That's what makes them my favorites. They were just pure fun.

The Olympics - I came about being in the 2004 Olympic lightweight double in a round-about way. The culmination of all the years put in, some luck and being in the right place at the right time… to sit at the start line at the Olympics - that event is particularly special.

I don't have any gold medals (I do have three silvers), but each time, each race - rising to the occasion, going as fast as I possibly could and having no regrets, that was special. That doesn't mean I always crossed the finish line first.

Re: Ursula's new world record:

Wolf-It looks like Ursula Grobler broke the world record by a few seconds , how does that sit with you as the competitor I know you are?

Lisa-Impressive! Congratulations goes to Ursula. She not only beat the old record, she smashed it by 2 seconds. How fitting to have the record broken with a commanding performance. I have waited for 10 years for a lightweight woman to take the record as her own. The culmination of Ursula's power, speed, fitness and will made that record hers. She is now the fastest lightweight in the world.

When I read your email, I simply smiled. A smile created through respect of a performance. She is the real deal.

Sean,

Thank you for the opportunity for the interview with Rowing Illustrated.

Cheers,

Lisa

Thank you Lisa
- Wolf

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Thanks to the web team at Janousek who have put up their online shop including a link to our shop for anyone wanting spares for wiring looms, speakers and other Coxmate products.

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The Aero scullsthat were at the Caversham lake being tested by GB Rowing are now back in circulation for clubs to try out.

We have two pairs ready to send to anyone who wants them for a fortnight.

A word of warning:

• Skilled technicians will get the most out of the Aeros
• New equipment takes a bit of getting used to

We have had rave reviews from the Teign Scullers double who are using a set and did well in recent head races.  They say that they handle really well in rough water and in a headwind there's a real speed increase.

Get in touch if you are keen.

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