Rowing Chat

Lots of UT2.

Just do stuff like an hour on the erg at r18 at UT2 pace (I'm sure your coaches can help you figure that out) to build your fitness up.

Obvs it isn't so simple, but long distance work will help your fitness...

Okay! What's UT2 stand for? Sorry, not heard that term before. I've done half hour ergo's before, but after that i'm pretty much screwed. So I'll have to work at it Thanks!

If you go to Shrewsbury Id stick to your programme! They're pretty good at churning out decent rowers. Time in the water is probably the most important thing for schoolboys imo. By the time you get to uni smashing out good 2ks becomes a fair bit easier just because of your physiology. Being someone that can actually move a boat is a lot more useful.

On a side note we nearly took 3 pennants today at Quintin Moving towards being the 2nd strongest uni club in england too hopefully

Just checked the Quintin results.

Pretty good effort by UL.

Guessing their IM1 boys are good enough to be Senior/Elite at the very least but decided to enter for IM1?

Yeah definitely will be racing elite in summer. Elite is pretty much sewn up at Quintin with Cambridge being their. Likewise senior and LRC to a lesser extent.

My bad, I got you and the guy from newcastle mixed up again of course you were at UL boat house.

Couldn't tell you as I'm not really training with the uni boat club at the moment.

But if it was blue lycra with white and red stripes and the blue star on the oars, it was NUBC alright.

I was also wondering, do universities like Cambridge seem to favour 8+ rather than 4+?

I had another session today in a 4+ and I just hate it It's twice as hard to balance, twice as hard to move, and even worse when you're in an italian rigged boat!

Has anyone ever capsized before (into like a river for example)? This sounds rather melodramatic I know!

Its just that my illogical fear of drowning to death if the boat capsizes is keeping me from actually 'having fun' or concentrating on the rowing whilst out in the water, as I keep thinking if I go into the river (the Thames in my case), I'll just end up drowning and dying b/c its so deep and big.

I know how to swim essentially, but I've always swum wearing googles and a nose clip, which I don't obviously wear whilst rowing etc. I know that one naturally floats to the top of water if you hold your breath anyway, from which point you can find your footing and swim, but I guess I'm really asking those who row but don't think of themselves as super confident swimmers and in particular experienced a capsize situation. I can swim in a pool nice and fine, but being tossed sideways into the river with a boat above your head etc, isn't (obviously I know) the same thing :/

I realise the logical step would be to get more swimming lessons and head to the pool etc, but I don't have the time at the moment annoyingly...

Have you not done capsise drills?
For one thing, it's very difficult, as I've said, to capsise an 8. For another thing, it's not even a massive issue to capsise. The boat will still float, you just hang on to it essentially so unless you're in some sort of monsoon there's probably going to be little change you're going to lose the boat and drown. Also even in the thames there are people around to help and response boats.

Boy rower found drowned in river (BBC)
A 14-year-old boy has drowned after falling out of his boat while rowing on the River Thames.

He fell from the one-man vessel while rowing at Caversham in Reading, Berkshire, just before 10am on Sunday.

His body was discovered at 1pm after a three-hour search involving underwater divers and helicopter crews.

A Thames Valley Police spokeswoman said the body found was that of a 14-year-old boy who would be formally identified on Monday.

We haven't done capsize drills (I did have capsize drills for canoeing, but this was like 10 years ago now ha!) - though every time we row, the club has a rescue boat on standby, but that usually patrols a large stretch of water and so it isn't near us very much.

My fear of drowning is just something which has kept me back and I know its irrational, so I guess I was just looking for some reassurance as to those who may have capsized and not been the ultimate best of swimmers but managed to survive. I'm going to be rowing in a 4-skull(sp?) boat this week, which shall undoubtedly be a lot more difficult to keep steady given the team is pretty new and its easier to tip sideways I assume, than a usual 8 boat.

Could I just also say Jessaay, thank you so much for your help - you've saved someone who otherwise would have let his fear simply keep him away from rowing. When things are going 'right' on the river (i.e. team/boat is in sync and weather is perfect etc), its honestly the best feeling in the world (particularly in the summer), so I thank you for making me stick with it

I know, he was in a single-sculling boat and he went out without anyone else looking out for him, which increased his chances of a potential accident - but stories like the above seem to make me so much more nervous for some idiotic reason

Well stop looking for these stories The number of people who capsise and die compared to the number of people who capsise and are perfectly fine is incredibly low.

Does the number of people who die when crossing a road stop you crossing a road? It's pretty much the same thing really. There are dangers to practically everything.

Good point.

For once I think I'm actually going to go to a session without constantly worrying about ending up as a local news item from drowning

PS. Just one last question - our gym has the usual rowing tank (i.e. manual/self-powered), but there is a private gym (which we're allowed to use for free), that has one of those automated tanks (apparently to simulate real rowing conditions) but its about another 60 minutes away from where I live.

Just wondering, have you experienced both and did you substantially prefer one over the other? If the automated tank is a real help to ones technique, I may as well go the extra 60 minutes each week.

Thanks.