Bumps, Blades, and Bowballs- Cambridge Boatie Chat

Anyone have a decent race plan for a 2k test? The CUBC one was floating around the ergs last term and I stupidly didn't nab it.

I don't know what's happened to me - i actually bought lycra leggings today... i can now cake myself head to toe in lycra. I feel like such a boatie now...

^ i just can't take 2ks *that* seriously... I hate them, and i want to do well, but i simply refuse to get myself to the point that i want to throw up for, essentially, absolutely no reason at all.

Admittedly, i hardly have to fight to stay in my boat (pretty much the opposite infact), but nonetheless... I don't have that fighting spirit unless there's another boat and it's a real race...

Ugh, my 2k plan went to **** very very quickly. Made my boat though (and I think as the fastest stroke-sider), so have to be happy in the end I suppose. That said, I really really hate 2k tests, are there any other short tests that leave people that dead afterwards? I couldn't see for the last 500m, couldn't walk for about 10 minutes and was on the verge of vomiting for a couple of hours afterwards. I will die a happy man if i never have to do another one again.

^ i just can't take 2ks *that* seriously... I hate them, and i want to do well, but i simply refuse to get myself to the point that i want to throw up for, essentially, absolutely no reason at all.

Admittedly, i hardly have to fight to stay in my boat (pretty much the opposite infact), but nonetheless... I don't have that fighting spirit unless there's another boat and it's a real race...

In races, especially non-bumps races, I don't think you get that as you don't have a constant feedback of how much power you're producing like you have on an erg and you have a lot more to think about in a boat.

i love it when someone you know gets in a national newspaper - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/5119527/Mr-Asbo-the-swan-attacks-unsuspecting-rowers.html

6x500s are pretty sickening, though used as training rather than a test.

Plus, if you're the fastest strokesider you need to tell us what you got.

So the two aren't comparable and it doesn't matter...

Don't get me wrong, i do push very hard on 2ks, but i know the difference between pushing as hard as i can without throwing up, and pushing so hard i make myself ill (which, incidiently, isn't a very useful thing to do in a race anyway). Basically, i just don't care quite enough - this is why i don't think i'll ever class myself as sporty... a race is ultimately just a race...

That said, our boat should be much faster this term as we've lost three of the slower people (two who pulled 8 min 2ks, one who pulled something like 8.15-20 the other day - god knows how). Now all eight of us are in the 7.00-7.30 range (after a holiday of stuffing our faces with chocolate and no training, so hopefully room for improvement). So we might have more of a chance now.

That said, our boat should be much faster this term as we've lost three of the slower people (two who pulled 8 min 2ks, one who pulled something like 8.15-20 the other day - god knows how). Now all eight of us are in the 7.00-7.30 range (after a holiday of stuffing our faces with chocolate and no training, so hopefully room for improvement). So we might have more of a chance now.

Having said all that, ergs are useful, but I wouldn't want to select a boat just on 2k scores. My club (when it has the choice, which it occasionally does over the boats for one or two people) tends to use half-hour erg times, together with observations of how people row; my City W1 crew came together from 2ks, 6ks, and seatracing in IVs.

While most of what you say makes sense, surely if you're going to use ergs as a part of crew selection, 2ks are the most relevant, in terms of testing over the length/distance most races are?

Not necessarily. Different ergs say different things about you as a rower. I would say that a 6k says a lot more about you than a 2k. In a 2k, a fast first and last 500 can allow those who don't have the mental strength to keep a steady split to pull a decent time while slacking off in the second and third 500s and you can get a better time than someone more consistent. It's much harder to do the same thing in a 6k; the amount you can make up with a fast finish is pretty minimal compared to the amount you lose by dropping your split a couple of seconds.

In bumps, you need people who can put down power consistently; most bumps happen just around Ditton. If you have someone in your boat who slacks off in the middle of a piece, you'll be in trouble. Using 6ks as selection (in addition to 2k) will weed out those sorts of people.

Sorry to urinate upon your campfire, but...

...ergs don't float. You can have an 8 minute 2k, but still be more effective and better for the boat than someone with a 7 minute, if the latter rows like a one-eyed muppet. Erg tests are useful up to a point, but it's seat racing, or racing competitors head-to-head in sculls, to see who's best at actually moving the boat, which is how the "higher level" clubs select. I mean, at the end of the day that's what we do- we try and move boats quickly, we don't don't erg competitively (apart from Queen's Ergs- which I notably failed miserably at, blowing up after a mere 200m! That said, a 1:30 split was never sustainable over 500m for me.....)

Having said all that, ergs are useful, but I wouldn't want to select a boat just on 2k scores. My club (when it has the choice, which it occasionally does over the boats for one or two people) tends to use half-hour erg times, together with observations of how people row; my City W1 crew came together from 2ks, 6ks, and seatracing in IVs.