The old adage that the only stupid question is the one you don’t ask doesn’t always apply when speaking with college coaches. Your questions tell the coach something about you. Good questions are the ones that speak to your specific concerns, communicate your sincere interest in the team, and are best addressed by a coach. The worst questions are the ones that show you don’t really care, like asking for information you can find readily on the program website. 

In many instances, you will want to go to the student-athletes themselves with your questions rather than the coaches. They are more likely to speak the unvarnished truth, while the coach will be motivated to paint the program in the best light. 

It’s also important to know your place. Most college coaches are turned off when a 17-year-old asks, “What’s your coaching philosophy?” You’re not interviewing the coach for a job and you’re certainly not ready to answer a question about your rowing philosophy, so stick to the basics and use your powers of observation to see what the coach believes.

College coaches want prospects to take the initiative and lead their own college search. Prospects should communicate with the coach. Parents do, however, have an important role in the process, particularly when the talk turns to finances.

Often, prospects are interested most in how recruiting works at a particular school. They want to know if they can get a scholarship and/or if a coach can “support” their application with admissions colleagues. These are valid concerns. But would-be college rowers need to show coaches why they deserve a scholarship and their support before asking whether or not they’ll get it.

The post Why the Questions Prospective Student-Athletes Ask Matter appeared first on Rowing News.

Our athletes want to race and compete. Though motivated, they lack knowledge and experience. Coaches improve their rowers and crews by providing this knowledge and experience. We bring perspective from outside the boat and should look at the bigger picture always. We help our athletes best by identifying repeatedly the factors limiting performance and addressing them above all other concerns.

Athletes aside, most programs have substantial limitations. One or more of these may be addressable and, if remedied, result in a profound increase in speed. Survey the scene, compare your situation to those of your peer competitors (or those you want as your competitors), and see what can be done. Team culture? Recruiting? More coaches? Water time? Equipment? Admittedly, money plays a big role in the success of any program, but some limiting factors can be tackled without it. 

When thinking of limiting factors, we think more commonly of what’s happening in the boat. Here, it’s valuable to ascertain whether it’s limitations in skill, fitness and power, or psychology that are holding the crew back the most. If it’s skill, then differentiate between style and substance. Substance involves the laws of physics. Style is your way of doing things. Don’t fall into the trap of trying to dictate style at the expense of teaching substance. It’s shocking how much time and energy are spent on the minutiae of rowing at the expense of performing the basics better. 

If you’re not sure where to start, begin by making sure the boat is rigged appropriately for your athletes. Comfort in the boat is a precursor to performance. The next level of comfort involves stability of the shell when it’s moving. Stability provides a level platform for your rowers all through the stroke cycle. If that’s adequate, then everyone—and I mean everyone—can pull harder.

Yes, power is generally the ultimate limiting factor. If you’re pleased with the power output, help your rowers do a better job getting connected earlier in the drive. The front end is the ultimate technical limiting factor, and it can be coached. If still in doubt, enlist a more experienced coach to view your crew and offer his or her opinion on what’s limiting their racing. A fresh set of eyes can unlock amazing opportunities for increased speed. 

Sometimes the limiting factor may be just one athlete. Here your options are either to replace the athlete or coach up and improve the athlete. Replacing is easiest but not always available. Coaching up is harder, but by identifying the single greatest limitation of your athletes, you can speed their development. Better to focus narrowly on their limiting factors than overwhelm them by addressing every issue.  

Whether with your overall program, your crew, or a single athlete, exercise your coaching perspective by identifying the biggest limiting factor to successful performance. Once identified, address it continuously until progress is achieved and a new, but less detrimental, limiting factor emerges.

Then repeat the process.

The post Outside Perspective appeared first on Rowing News.

Coaches urge their athletes often to prioritize rest, whether focusing on recovery on a Sunday in season or on getting a real break from training for a week or two after the championship. We know this is a crucial part of not only performance but also longevity in the sport. Athletes cannot train at an ever-increasing volume or intensity; there must be time for adaptation. What’s often overlooked is that this is true for coaches, too. It’s in our nature to forge ahead all year long, always searching for that slight competitive edge, one more call with a recruit, one more note to a donor.

As Lizzy Houston, associate head coach of the Stanford lightweight women, puts it, “There is no office. I’ll make a lineup at 7 p.m. or check out the training plan I made for the next two weeks and see if I can make an adjustment.”

Wes Ng, head coach of women’s rowing at the University of Pennsylvania, sees parallels with training.

“There is certainly the analogy between the type of exercise you’re doing and the type of recovery you’re doing—stimulus and adaptation. Are we doing that on the coaching side? We’re probably skewed toward nothing but stimulus and very little recovery.”

Coaches, like their athletes, cannot work at an ever-increasing volume if the profession is going to be sustainable. To be good leaders and mentors, coaches need to walk the talk and seize the opportunity to rest themselves. Just as an overtrained, under-recovered athlete is ripe for injury or underperformance, coaches who don’t take time for themselves are going to lack the patience, clarity, and even motivation to bring their best to the job each day.

The realities of the competitive seasons mean that coaches are hard-pressed to take any meaningful time away from their responsibilities. That’s why it’s so imperative that we take advantage of the winter break. Our athletes have gone home for a week or a month. There’s likely nothing more that can be done to ensure they are training. Now we just have to wait. Rather than fret, something I was certainly prone to, now is the time to relish the space and quiet. Athletes are likely not texting or calling as regularly. Staff meetings are at a minimum. It’s one of the few times of year you can really turn off your work phone and email.

Another reason to take time off and be diligent about restricting your availability during this time is to teach your athletes how to treat you. If you answer every text immediately, even at night or on a day off, athletes will grow to expect that of you, understandably. Conversely, if you tell your athletes that you are available to them only within certain time frames (excluding emergencies, of course), you teach them to have realistic expectations and to solve problems on their own. If you say you’re taking time to focus on yourself, your family, and your friends over the holidays, you will undermine that message totally by being responsive immediately to every text and email.

This doesn’t mean you should abandon these team members about whom you care, no doubt, very deeply. Use your “Out of Office” email response. Set expectations with your team before parting ways for winter break. Give them the time and attention they deserve when you have the time and attention to devote to them. This is the best way to teach your team how you do, and do not, want to communicate during the regular season.

So take this rare time to do whatever makes you feel fresh and ready to take on the bulk of winter training and then the spring. Figure out what that is and don’t let anything get in the way of taking care of yourself.

Happy Holidays!

The post Off the Clock appeared first on Rowing News.

To determine the top 25 collegiate crews in the United States, each team was assigned relative weights for competitive speed, and a proprietary formula produced an overall score for each program, with the top 25 published here.

Right from the start, we know there will be howls of complaint about a university like Texas with a great NCAA women’s program not making the top 10 of the 2023 Rowing News Top 25 Overall College Programs. We can’t emphasize “overall” enough.

While the Longhorns finished a commendable fourth at the NCAAs—a result that would be the highlight of most rowing careers and included victory for the Texas varsity four—they didn’t score a single point in our overall ranking in the varsity heavyweight men’s, lightweight men’s, or lightweight women’s categories. Texas doesn’t have varsity programs in those three categories, although they certainly have the resources for it. That’s a choice.

Texas Crew, its club program, had some good results at the ACRA regatta, but those points weren’t enough to bring the overall score up to the level of universities that support more complete and nationally competitive rowing programs for men and women. The same is true of SMU this year and will likely be true in the years to come of many other universities that support only openweight women’s varsities.

The NCAA championships, which are for openweight women’s varsities only, are decided on team scores, while the other national championships are based on the individual varsity eights alone. The NCAA’s championship structure adds another complication to how we determine the ranking with its “automatic qualifiers” (the winners of 11 conference championships qualify automatically for the 22-school Division I field, and the remaining 11 spots are selected at large by a committee).

The result is that a program like Harvard/Radcliffe, fifth at this year’s Ivy League Championships, gets left out of the championship—and our previous ranking system—while slower, automatically qualified schools are in.

In this year’s system, we’ve added “fitting” to the process, awarding ranking points to NCAA Division I programs not invited to the championship, based on spring results against crews that were.

These rankings rely exclusively on demonstrated speed in 2,000-meter racing at season-culminating championships, with the exception of the aforementioned NCAA adjustments. They reflect the relative speed of the overall rowing programs at each college and not the quality of the experience for the student-athletes.

1. Princeton University

Princeton remains the top overall rowing college in 2023 after winning both the men’s and women’s lightweight national championships as well as finishing third in both the NCAA women’s championship and IRA men’s heavyweight championships.

The third-place finishes are even more impressive than the national championships because they came against deeper, faster fields, including universities whose athletic scholarships, program support, and coaches’ salaries exceed the Olympic programs of most nations and verge on being professional.

Rowing out of Shea Rowing Center on the man-made Lake Carnegie, purpose-built for rowing, the Tigers hardly go wanting. Even though league rules forbid athletic scholarships, the financial aid at Ivy League schools, and particularly at Princeton, is tremendous and often grant-only (no student loans) and better than athletic scholarships because it can’t be taken away.

At the end of the season, Princeton, across all four categories, was just plain fast. The Tigers celebrated in style with a massive contingent making the trip to race at Henley Royal Regatta.

See more rankings here.

The post Rowing News – Top 25 of 2023: Number 1 appeared first on Rowing News.

To determine the top 25 collegiate crews in the United States, each team was assigned relative weights for competitive speed, and a proprietary formula produced an overall score for each program, with the top 25 published here.

Right from the start, we know there will be howls of complaint about a university like Texas with a great NCAA women’s program not making the top 10 of the 2023 Rowing News Top 25 Overall College Programs. We can’t emphasize “overall” enough.

While the Longhorns finished a commendable fourth at the NCAAs—a result that would be the highlight of most rowing careers and included victory for the Texas varsity four—they didn’t score a single point in our overall ranking in the varsity heavyweight men’s, lightweight men’s, or lightweight women’s categories. Texas doesn’t have varsity programs in those three categories, although they certainly have the resources for it. That’s a choice.

Texas Crew, its club program, had some good results at the ACRA regatta, but those points weren’t enough to bring the overall score up to the level of universities that support more complete and nationally competitive rowing programs for men and women. The same is true of SMU this year and will likely be true in the years to come of many other universities that support only openweight women’s varsities.

The NCAA championships, which are for openweight women’s varsities only, are decided on team scores, while the other national championships are based on the individual varsity eights alone. The NCAA’s championship structure adds another complication to how we determine the ranking with its “automatic qualifiers” (the winners of 11 conference championships qualify automatically for the 22-school Division I field, and the remaining 11 spots are selected at large by a committee).

The result is that a program like Harvard/Radcliffe, fifth at this year’s Ivy League Championships, gets left out of the championship—and our previous ranking system—while slower, automatically qualified schools are in.

In this year’s system, we’ve added “fitting” to the process, awarding ranking points to NCAA Division I programs not invited to the championship, based on spring results against crews that were.

These rankings rely exclusively on demonstrated speed in 2,000-meter racing at season-culminating championships, with the exception of the aforementioned NCAA adjustments. They reflect the relative speed of the overall rowing programs at each college and not the quality of the experience for the student-athletes.

2. University of Washington

Even without lightweight programs for either men or women, Washington ranks second this year on the strength of second-place finishes at both the NCAA and IRA national championships. Both impressive performances came as surprises to outside observers, but not to women’s coach Yaz Farooq or men’s coach Michael Callahan. The Huskies staffs knew they had developing speed through the spring after taking their lumps in the early season—the men on a Canadian trip and the women at the San Diego Crew Classic. But when it mattered, they were faster than all but one and enter 2024 as favorites for both national championships.

The post Rowing News – Top 25 of 2023: Number 2 appeared first on Rowing News.

To determine the top 25 collegiate crews in the United States, each team was assigned relative weights for competitive speed, and a proprietary formula produced an overall score for each program, with the top 25 published here.

Right from the start, we know there will be howls of complaint about a university like Texas with a great NCAA women’s program not making the top 10 of the 2023 Rowing News Top 25 Overall College Programs. We can’t emphasize “overall” enough.

While the Longhorns finished a commendable fourth at the NCAAs—a result that would be the highlight of most rowing careers and included victory for the Texas varsity four—they didn’t score a single point in our overall ranking in the varsity heavyweight men’s, lightweight men’s, or lightweight women’s categories. Texas doesn’t have varsity programs in those three categories, although they certainly have the resources for it. That’s a choice.

Texas Crew, its club program, had some good results at the ACRA regatta, but those points weren’t enough to bring the overall score up to the level of universities that support more complete and nationally competitive rowing programs for men and women. The same is true of SMU this year and will likely be true in the years to come of many other universities that support only openweight women’s varsities.

The NCAA championships, which are for openweight women’s varsities only, are decided on team scores, while the other national championships are based on the individual varsity eights alone. The NCAA’s championship structure adds another complication to how we determine the ranking with its “automatic qualifiers” (the winners of 11 conference championships qualify automatically for the 22-school Division I field, and the remaining 11 spots are selected at large by a committee).

The result is that a program like Harvard/Radcliffe, fifth at this year’s Ivy League Championships, gets left out of the championship—and our previous ranking system—while slower, automatically qualified schools are in.

In this year’s system, we’ve added “fitting” to the process, awarding ranking points to NCAA Division I programs not invited to the championship, based on spring results against crews that were.

These rankings rely exclusively on demonstrated speed in 2,000-meter racing at season-culminating championships, with the exception of the aforementioned NCAA adjustments. They reflect the relative speed of the overall rowing programs at each college and not the quality of the experience for the student-athletes.

3. Yale University

Yale’s consistent excellence across the three categories of openweight women, heavyweight men, and lightweight men continued this year, with the heavies finishing fourth and the lightweight men sixth at the IRA. Combining the fifth-place NCAA finish by the women (tied for fourth on points) and grand-final speed across a nearly complete program (Yale lacks a women’s lightweight varsity) makes the Elis the third-best overall rowing college in America.

The post Rowing News – Top 25 of 2023: Number 3 appeared first on Rowing News.

To determine the top 25 collegiate crews in the United States, each team was assigned relative weights for competitive speed, and a proprietary formula produced an overall score for each program, with the top 25 published here.

Right from the start, we know there will be howls of complaint about a university like Texas with a great NCAA women’s program not making the top 10 of the 2023 Rowing News Top 25 Overall College Programs. We can’t emphasize “overall” enough.

While the Longhorns finished a commendable fourth at the NCAAs—a result that would be the highlight of most rowing careers and included victory for the Texas varsity four—they didn’t score a single point in our overall ranking in the varsity heavyweight men’s, lightweight men’s, or lightweight women’s categories. Texas doesn’t have varsity programs in those three categories, although they certainly have the resources for it. That’s a choice.

Texas Crew, its club program, had some good results at the ACRA regatta, but those points weren’t enough to bring the overall score up to the level of universities that support more complete and nationally competitive rowing programs for men and women. The same is true of SMU this year and will likely be true in the years to come of many other universities that support only openweight women’s varsities.

The NCAA championships, which are for openweight women’s varsities only, are decided on team scores, while the other national championships are based on the individual varsity eights alone. The NCAA’s championship structure adds another complication to how we determine the ranking with its “automatic qualifiers” (the winners of 11 conference championships qualify automatically for the 22-school Division I field, and the remaining 11 spots are selected at large by a committee).

The result is that a program like Harvard/Radcliffe, fifth at this year’s Ivy League Championships, gets left out of the championship—and our previous ranking system—while slower, automatically qualified schools are in.

In this year’s system, we’ve added “fitting” to the process, awarding ranking points to NCAA Division I programs not invited to the championship, based on spring results against crews that were.

These rankings rely exclusively on demonstrated speed in 2,000-meter racing at season-culminating championships, with the exception of the aforementioned NCAA adjustments. They reflect the relative speed of the overall rowing programs at each college and not the quality of the experience for the student-athletes.

4. Stanford University

The Stanford openweight women recovered from distinct losses to Texas at the San Diego Crew Classic to turn its season around and beat the two-time defending NCAA-champion Longhorns finally at the end of the season. That national championship, supported by the Cardinal lightweight womens’ silver medal and heavyweight men’s eighth-place finish at the IRA, leads to Stanford’s overall fourth-best ranking.

The post Rowing News – Top 25 of 2023: Number 4 appeared first on Rowing News.

To determine the top 25 collegiate crews in the United States, each team was assigned relative weights for competitive speed, and a proprietary formula produced an overall score for each program, with the top 25 published here.

Right from the start, we know there will be howls of complaint about a university like Texas with a great NCAA women’s program not making the top 10 of the 2023 Rowing News Top 25 Overall College Programs. We can’t emphasize “overall” enough.

While the Longhorns finished a commendable fourth at the NCAAs—a result that would be the highlight of most rowing careers and included victory for the Texas varsity four—they didn’t score a single point in our overall ranking in the varsity heavyweight men’s, lightweight men’s, or lightweight women’s categories. Texas doesn’t have varsity programs in those three categories, although they certainly have the resources for it. That’s a choice.

Texas Crew, its club program, had some good results at the ACRA regatta, but those points weren’t enough to bring the overall score up to the level of universities that support more complete and nationally competitive rowing programs for men and women. The same is true of SMU this year and will likely be true in the years to come of many other universities that support only openweight women’s varsities.

The NCAA championships, which are for openweight women’s varsities only, are decided on team scores, while the other national championships are based on the individual varsity eights alone. The NCAA’s championship structure adds another complication to how we determine the ranking with its “automatic qualifiers” (the winners of 11 conference championships qualify automatically for the 22-school Division I field, and the remaining 11 spots are selected at large by a committee).

The result is that a program like Harvard/Radcliffe, fifth at this year’s Ivy League Championships, gets left out of the championship—and our previous ranking system—while slower, automatically qualified schools are in.

In this year’s system, we’ve added “fitting” to the process, awarding ranking points to NCAA Division I programs not invited to the championship, based on spring results against crews that were.

These rankings rely exclusively on demonstrated speed in 2,000-meter racing at season-culminating championships, with the exception of the aforementioned NCAA adjustments. They reflect the relative speed of the overall rowing programs at each college and not the quality of the experience for the student-athletes.

5. University of California, Berkeley

Under the direction of Scott Frandsen, the 2023 Rowing News Coach of the Year, the Cal men had an IRA that was historically successful, winning the varsity, JV, and third-varsity heavyweight eights, plus the varsity four. The Golden Bears won the James Ten Eyck Memorial Trophy for points at the IRA, and the Cal women finished eighth in NCAA Division I points—three points out of sixth but also only 11 points ahead of 11th—for a combined overall ranking of fifth.

The post Rowing News – Top 25 of 2023: Number 5 appeared first on Rowing News.

PSRA has been a well-known and respected organization in the rowing community for many decades. They have hosted various events, including the Manny Flick/Horvat Series (also known as “The Flicks” or “Manny Flicks”), City Championships, and the Hidden River Chase. The organization has a strong commitment to its mission, which can be traced back to the early days of scholastic rowing in Philadelphia – a city that is synonymous with this sport.

RegattaCentral has been partnering with PSRA’s Flicks and City Championships since 2005, providing customized solutions that contribute to the organization’s growth and sustainability. In 2017, RC was appointed the official registrar, a year after adding the Hidden River Chase to the registration platform.

President of the Philadelphia Scholastic Rowing Association, Leslie Pfeil, shares mutual enthusiasm, “The Philadelphia Scholastic Rowing Association has enjoyed a decades-long relationship with RegattaCentral, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with them. Their services and products have helped us build and sustain our organization in its commitment to providing fair and safe competitive racing opportunities to scholastic rowers. We consider RegattaCentral part of our growing family!”

RegattaCentral takes pride in supporting organizations like PSRA, which share a vision of excellence and growth in rowing. The renewed partnership reaffirms RegattaCentral’s pursuit of providing top-notch solutions that empower rowing communities.

Lauren Means, Account Director at RegattaCentral, said, “We feel privileged to extend our partnership with the Philadelphia Scholastic Rowing Association. PSRA’s dedication to promoting the sport aligns seamlessly with our mission to enhance the rowing experience using innovative solutions. We are excited about the next five years of collaboration and look forward to contributing to the continued success of their distinguished events.”

In renewing its partnership with RegattaCentral, PSRA is celebrating its rich history and setting the stage for new heights of success and innovation in the years to come. The collaboration between these two entities exemplifies a shared commitment to advancing the sport of rowing and ensuring that PSRA’s legacy continues to thrive. Use the links below to learn more about each organization.

About RegattaCentral:

Founded in 1999, RegattaCentral got its start as a provider of online regatta registration. Since that time, RegattaCentral now provides innovative regatta and club management tools for rowing clubs, conventions, clinics, and camps. RegattaCentral serves over 500 regattas and 250 organizations annually.

About Philadelphia Scholastic Rowing Association:

The Philadelphia Scholastic Rowing Association (PSRA) is a non-profit organization of more than 75 high school crew programs from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and New York. The PSRA currently has 28 permanent (voting) member teams and is governed by a Board of Directors elected by the voting membership. The PSRA’s mission is to provide fair, safe and competitive rowing experiences to high school teams and their members and to serve as an advocate for junior and scholastic rowing.

The post Philadelphia Scholastic Rowing Association Renews 5 Year Partnership with RegattaCentral appeared first on Rowing News.

To determine the top 25 collegiate crews in the United States, each team was assigned relative weights for competitive speed, and a proprietary formula produced an overall score for each program, with the top 25 published here.

Right from the start, we know there will be howls of complaint about a university like Texas with a great NCAA women’s program not making the top 10 of the 2023 Rowing News Top 25 Overall College Programs. We can’t emphasize “overall” enough.

While the Longhorns finished a commendable fourth at the NCAAs—a result that would be the highlight of most rowing careers and included victory for the Texas varsity four—they didn’t score a single point in our overall ranking in the varsity heavyweight men’s, lightweight men’s, or lightweight women’s categories. Texas doesn’t have varsity programs in those three categories, although they certainly have the resources for it. That’s a choice.

Texas Crew, its club program, had some good results at the ACRA regatta, but those points weren’t enough to bring the overall score up to the level of universities that support more complete and nationally competitive rowing programs for men and women. The same is true of SMU this year and will likely be true in the years to come of many other universities that support only openweight women’s varsities.

The NCAA championships, which are for openweight women’s varsities only, are decided on team scores, while the other national championships are based on the individual varsity eights alone. The NCAA’s championship structure adds another complication to how we determine the ranking with its “automatic qualifiers” (the winners of 11 conference championships qualify automatically for the 22-school Division I field, and the remaining 11 spots are selected at large by a committee).

The result is that a program like Harvard/Radcliffe, fifth at this year’s Ivy League Championships, gets left out of the championship—and our previous ranking system—while slower, automatically qualified schools are in.

In this year’s system, we’ve added “fitting” to the process, awarding ranking points to NCAA Division I programs not invited to the championship, based on spring results against crews that were.

These rankings rely exclusively on demonstrated speed in 2,000-meter racing at season-culminating championships, with the exception of the aforementioned NCAA adjustments. They reflect the relative speed of the overall rowing programs at each college and not the quality of the experience for the student-athletes.

6. Brown University

Like Cal, Brown lacks lightweight varsities but earns its high ranking through equally consistent men’s and women’s openweight varsities, both seventh at the IRA and NCAA national championships, respectively.

The post Rowing News – Top 25 of 2023: Number 6 appeared first on Rowing News.