It’s all in the perspective, and experience

I recently sent a photo from a rowing club to two sets of friends.

The more unusual roles of coach

Coach or even just athlete… we all do bits of maintenance, not just on boats, but building or grounds related. I’ve also had to be a picture framer, trophy duster and bartender. But last season I added apiarist to my odd jobs. Well, bee exterminator more so than apiarist.

Thankfully we had an apiarist on our squad.

Caring for your blades – a tip from Concept2

Sometimes you may have no alternative than to store equipment outside. In these instances it is imperative to take extra special care and monitoring of equipment as one can never underestimate the power of the elements, especially the sun. Namely UV.

Last season I had an issue with athletes handling oars and getting what appeared to be rashes on their arms or hands where they may have come in contact with the oars. It was being caused by tiny shards of carbon fiber, so fine it was hard to remove from the skin.

But as so often happens, Concept2 customer service came to the rescue.

Rowing can keep you in good mental and physical health – being mindful of this when things may go wrong

Reflecting on a year of coaching the sport in 2023, highlighted the ways rowing, on the whole can be a very healthy sport. There’s no common contact colliding with others or concussions as the field sports can include. You’re escaping onto the water which can do a great job of helping one’s mind relax away from smart phone activity and carer duties. So what could go wrong?

The crew as an orchestra: taking for granted the ability of the coxswain

I liken the sport of rowing a little to an orchestra. Some musicians are barely aware of the conductor, some musicians focus purely on their line of music and are barely aware of the power of the combined parts, and some people think the conductor’s job is easy. Liken that to rowing where some rowers barely listen to the coxswain, focus only on their own rowing and not as a crew, and think the coxswain has the swanky “nothing” job.

Behind the scenes as a coach

If you’re expecting to see how I do lineups, or how I plan regattas, or notes that go into my thought process sending squad emails, this is not that behind the scenes insight. Instead this is an overview of transporting all the required ancillary equipment for each and every training session.

Entering starting blocks

Remember to be in the starting area 5 minutes prior to race time. You are then called onto the start. A two minute call is made. If everyone is ready to go, the starter has the discretion to start the race anytime from the 2 minute call. Have you been able to back onto the starting block in time?

A debrief on a calm morning

It was around 62f (17c) degrees this morning on a pretty calm Detroit River. The national flag limply welcomed you to the island we row from. It was probably one of the calmest training sessions we’ve had this season. The water temperature was 60f (16c) degrees. It wasn’t exactly t-shirt weather but with a hint of briskness in the air, it was comfortable for a local.

My squad consisted of a mixed eight, women’s quad, men’s coxed four and a single. Our first sprint regatta is coming up in a few weeks so I was playing with some possibilities within the resources of equipment we have and squad members available for the regatta. The single was on the water for the first time in about 8 months and totally lapped up the near pristine conditions. The quad had some rudder issues but otherwise a strong row. I didn’t get to see a whole lot of the eight swinging along together as my time ended up being taken over by my men’s four.

What could possibly go wrong? Shall I cut to the chase?

Demonstrating the load on the blade

This is a great way to show just how much flex is on the blade, and how much weight it can take. And is usually shown as a demonstration. But there are times when this needs to be used to test the integrity of the oar, such as after an impact, or extreme exposure to the sun. It’s also just a good test to do to check the stability of the oar on occasion.

Demonstrating slip

It’s only taken 11 years, but finally I have been able to play with a short snippet of video demonstrating slip!

Slip – what is it? It’s the difference between starting the drive and the oar being in the water; ie missed water at the catch. This is not something you should be trying to achieve – you are trying to minimize it as much as possible. If the oar is not in the water, you can’t move the boat.