Remember the Speed Boss? This was one of the first electronic gadgets to provide multiple and immediate feedback, including rate and speed. It also gave qualitative feedback on boat check, defined as the largest negative boat acceleration during the recovery—the thinking being that check was bad, and with feedback, you could reduce it. And that’s exactly what rowers learned to do, mainly by slowing their slide speed and executing a soft entry. But those same rowers also found themselves at the back of the pack. Today we know that a high negative acceleration, or a large check factor, is a sign of proper technique. Top crews actually produce large decelerations, but when graphed over time, the dip in acceleration tends to be very brief. These decelerations result from the change of one’s movements relative to the boat from recovery to entry. This motion is incredibly complex, requiring the coordination of a series of precise movements performed over a short time. Naturally, the ideal way to practice this is to row at race pace. But with most training done at lower stroke rates and corresponding lower boat velocity, the best way to engrain this movement is to row with a slow recovery followed by a quick motion into the catch. This is the source of the so-called micro-pause employed by so many crews today.

The post The Origins of the Micro-pause appeared first on Rowing News.

The post Pitch Perfect appeared first on Rowing News.

NCAA Women’s Rowing Championships  After the international circuit, there is simply no better showcase of women’s rowing talent than the NCAA championships. Last year, California played spoiler—in only coach Al Acosta’s third season at the helm—preventing the Ohio State Buckeyes from earning a fourth national championship. Is it the beginning of a streak, or will the ultra-competitive league crown a new champion in West Windsor, New Jersey? We’re about to find out.

May 26-28

European Rowing Championships  For North American rowing fans, the European championships are somewhat of a curiosity—and an anachronism, with the recently revived regatta serving as the de facto worlds before their was such a thing. A cross between a World Rowing Cup event and a full-blown international championship, the racing is not necessarily predictive, but always fun to follow. This year’s contest in the Czech Republic will be no exception. 
www.worldrowing.com

May 27-28

ACRA National Championship Regatta  As go the eights, so go the points titles. The University of California Santa Barbara and University of Michigan ran off with the women’s and men’s respective team and varsity big boat titles in 2016. Are repeats in the offing at this year’s ACRA season-ender in Gainesville, Georgia? 
www.americancollegiaterowing.com/organization.html

May 27 

NEIRA Championships  Deerfield won a tight one over Belmont Hill and Noble and Greenough School in last year’s grand final of the women’s eight on Quinsigamond. But at one of scholastic rowing’s most competitive regional regattas, past is rarely ever prologue. Expect great racing in Worcester, Massachusetts, as New England’s best put a season’s worth of training to the test. 
www.neirarowing.org

June 2-4

   IRA National Championships  This year’s IRA championships on California’s Lake Natoma is essential viewing (and streaming) for anyone who appreciates fast rowing. In the mix in the men’s varsity, as always, are California and Washington, with Yale looking to correct the record after coming up short at the end of last year’s stunning undefeated regular season. In the lightweight ranks, Stanford is eyeing a staggering seventh national title in eight years.

June 2-4

   CSSRA Championships  The Canadian Secondary Schools Rowing Association Championships—the event formerly known by the decidedly non-inclusive “schoolboys” moniker—features some of the best youth rowers in Canada and beyond at arguably the best venue in North America: St. Catharines’ historic Martindale Pond. 
www.cssra.ca

June 4

Stonewall Regatta  Hosted by DC Strokes, the annual Stonewall Regatta takes its name from the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Greenwich Village and draws racers from across the country looking to light it up on the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C. The regatta was first held in 1994 during preparations for the Gay Games in New York City.
www.stonewallregatta.org

June 9-11  

Youth Nationals  Sarasota-Bradenton’s Nathan Benderson Park hosts the top junior crews in the nation at the main event in USRowing’s seven-race Youth Series, which includes six regional championship regattas. Roughly 1,500 athletes representing 150 clubs across the country are expected to vie for the 18 national titles up for grabs in Florida. Expect the racing to be as hot as the weather.
www.usrowing.org

June 10 

Harvard-Yale Regatta  Though it no longer commands the attention it once did, the annual four-miler in New London, Connecticut, remains one of—if not the—most important events on the competitive calendar for both the Crimson and Bulldog programs. Steeped in tradition and never anything less than a bruising battle, the Harvard-Yale Regatta is a tangible connection as any to our sport’s storied past.

June 10 

Derby Sweeps & Sculls  New Haven Rowing Club’s Derby Sweeps & Sculls puts the “sprint” in spring racing. Held on the mighty Housatonic River in Shelton, Connecticut, the annual sculling and sweep regatta sees crews doing battle over an abbreviated 1,000-meter course. Settling is not an option.
www.newhavenrowingclub.org

June 15-18 

World Rowing Cup II  The second World Rowing Cup of this first year in the Olympic cycle arrives in Poznan, Poland, the site of the 2009 world rowing championships. It’s a reliably fast course, so expect quick times from some of the rowing world’s best in this tune-up for the season’s ultimate prize in Sarasota. 
www.worldrowing.org

The post June Racing Calendar appeared first on Rowing News.

The post NCAA Rowing Championship Points System Explanation appeared first on Rowing News.

The post Step and Repeat appeared first on Rowing News.

The post Grip it and Rip It appeared first on Rowing News.

The post Bishops in Boats appeared first on Rowing News.

The post World Indoor Sprints appeared first on Rowing News.

Harvard men’s heavyweight coach Charley Butt, former University of Washington coach and program director Bob Ernst, current Washington women’s coach Yaz Farooq, and New York Athletic Club rowing chairman Rob Milam join athletes Megan Kalmoe and Dan Walsh, whose terms wrap up later this year. Milam will serve as chair of the committee.

According to a press release, the board of directors chose to reform the committee with eyes toward 2020 and beyond after a high-performance task force reviewed results from the Rio Olympic Games. The move, it should be noted, came following the resignation of four board members. Not long after, longtime CEO Glenn Merry announced he would be stepping down effective April 15.

The new voices come at a time when the U.S. men look to reclaim spaces on the medal stand and the U.S. women hope to extend their unprecedented string of success. Additionally, the vote at FISA Congress in February to replace the lightweight men’s four with a women’s four gives the new committee more fodder for conversation in the months and years ahead.

“This group is qualified and, without a doubt, will lead us with insight and experience through the next quadrennial,” said Matt Imes, USRowing’s director of high performance.

Now in place, the committee is tasked specifically with helping “in the development and implementation of all plans and programs for identifying and selecting elite athletes to represent the United States in international competition.” Each new member has a resume befitting the task at hand.

Butt and Ernst each have coached in four separate Olympics, with Butt coaching Michelle Guerette to silver in the single in 2008 and Ernst guiding the U.S. women’s eight to gold in 1984. Farooq is a two-time Olympic coxswain and won four medals at world championships in the eight, including gold in 1995. Milam competed on two U.S. national teams in 2003 and 2011 and has managed rowing at NYAC since 2013.

USRowing’s new committee takes the reins as the United States prepares to host the world championships for the first time since 1994 in Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida.

The post High Expectations for High Performance Committee appeared first on Rowing News.

The post A New Test appeared first on Rowing News.