Ivy/University rowing?

[Hrath]

I am super new so please bear with me as I try to write this in the 5 minutes that I have to spare in between homework assignments...

Currently I am in my second full year of rowing, and have no real awards to speak of (disappointed that I have once again not been sent to CSSRAs)

I am 5'11"-6'0", 190 lbs.
The last 2k I pulled was a 7:00.0 at Monster Erg (if anyone knows what that is), way back in january.
As my school rowing season is slowly grinding to the end, with a single major regatta left, I have finally decided to begin training for the next year of rowing.

I have one major question for you all:
Can I get into an Ivy rowing program with my times? All summer I will be training and slimming down, to hopefully get a sub 6:45 2k and become a lightweight (yes I am aware that losing 30lbs will be unhealthy and difficult to boot).
I am not looking to be recruited to their rowing teams and get a scholarship or anything, but I am extremely passionate about rowing (bad as I am right now) and know that there is lots of room in me for improvement so it would be heartbreaking for me if I wasn't able to continue rowing.
No I do not want to set my goals any higher, because rowing is a secondary objective in my life after all and I would not want to compromise by getting a sub-par education in favour of rowing at an 'okay' university.

I am from Canada (some may know that already), am a Ukrainian national, and currently am looking at all the major "ivy" universities;
my top choice is Harvard and second top choice is Princeton.

Any help whatsoever would be appreciated, and ridicule will be ignored

[c2jonw]

Well, as an example my daughter was able to walk on at Penn with very little rowing experience. She rowed initially as a freshman/novice but by the end of her first season had made it into a varsity four. I'm sure most established crew programs have something similar for tapping unrefined talent. A former elite college level coach that I know used to hang out a lot at basketball tryouts looking for big guys that were riding the bench......prime candidates for rowing!
I wouldn't worry too much about the weight at this point- 30 pounds in 3 months is a recipe for disaster. C2JonW

[ArmandoChavezUNC]

How old are you?

I highly discourage you from trying to become a lightweight. Not only is it going to be very unhealthy, but it's also not going to be sustainable and you're probably not going to get any faster on the erg.

You can walk on to a rowing team pretty much anywhere, but to have a chance to be in one of the top boats you probably need to be sub 6:15. You didn't list your age/grade so I'm not sure how much time you have until college.

[c2jonw]

I also meant to mention that erg scores are only one indicator of a persons ability to move a boat. Coaches all have their own methods, and erg scores are but one of many considerations in filling a boat. Relax, have fun and don't worry about the weight.....C2JonW

[Hrath]

unfortunately I am already a junior in high school, so next year will be my last year of high school.

I am well aware that you need to be sub 6:15 in order to be competitive, however I am unsure if I would be capable of that. I thought that losing weight and setting my goal as sub 6:40 (generally accepted 'good' time for a lightweight) would make more logical sense.


Thanks for all the help guys!

[ArmandoChavezUNC]

If you were 170-175 I would say try it, but you are not going to be healthy trying to become LW if you're already 190 lbs. It'll just make you a miserable person and I'm sure your times would suffer greatly because you'd be putting your body under so much stress training and losing weight.

[Hrath]

what would you recommend I do then? Seems like there is no easy way out...

[Cyclist2]

what would you recommend I do then? Seems like there is no easy way out...

Concentrate on getting accepted, academically, to a school that has a rowing program. After all, rowing isn't going to earn you a living (with a few exceptions. Noted). I, too, had a daughter that walked on to a D1 program and had success, so it can be done. School is the key word here, and if you can't cut the coursework, you won't be rowing either. Good luck, in both school and rowing!

[jvincent]

what would you recommend I do then? Seems like there is no easy way out...

Correct, there is no easy way out.

If your goal is to get your 2K time as low as possible over the summer, then you need to pick a target time and train towards that.

You said that you think 6:15 may not be achievable for you. Whis is that? If you really want to try and get there, go to the interactive plan generator and plug your numbers in. It will be a lot of work, but if there's no other way.

http://therowingcompany.com/training/interactive

[Hrath]

I don't know exactly why I feel like I can't hit 6:15, I think it's a combination of several factors such as: me not being as athletic as most rowers (really only started playing sports extremely competitively in grade 10), me not being as tall as everyone (currently 5'11"/6'0", whereas most heavyweight men on my team are closer to 6'4"), and a major part is the mental factor- I go into a 2k piece thinking that it will be good, however I always hit my wall at exactly 1340 meters in and my split will drop 5-10 seconds.

Thanks everyone for the help and support

[ArmandoChavezUNC]

I go into a 2k piece thinking that it will be good, however I always hit my wall at exactly 1340 meters in and my split will drop 5-10 seconds.

So you're flying and dying. You need to start at a slower pace and maintain that pace. The most efficient way to approach a 2k if you want the best time is either even split or negative split. Fly-and-die is by far the worst strategy.

Also, don't focus so much on a 6:15. Just focus on improving. Put in the quality meters and your splits will drop with time.

[Hrath]

I agree with you, however I am very competitive and if I see the top guys pulling away from me then I will throw everything at them to keep on top
For instance at monster erg I was in second place from the very beginning and maintained that until approximately 1500 meters in, I finished eighth overall.

[Bob S.]

I agree with you, however I am very competitive and if I see the top guys pulling away from me then I will throw everything at them to keep on top
For instance at monster erg I was in second place from the very beginning and maintained that until approximately 1500 meters in, I finished eighth overall.

Take a look sometime at a video of Xeno Mueller winning Olympic gold in a single. He just hung back in the pack for the first 1500 meters or so, then put on an astounding surge at the end for a decisive win.

Row smart. Row your own race, at your own pace, for that first 1500. Then, if you have paced properly, you can let the adrenaline effect loose and go after the competition. Actually that is a bit early. The last 200 or so is the time for all out, but you can begin to try to lower your pace a bit after the 1500 mark.

Bob S.

[ArmandoChavezUNC]

I agree with you, however I am very competitive and if I see the top guys pulling away from me then I will throw everything at them to keep on top
For instance at monster erg I was in second place from the very beginning and maintained that until approximately 1500 meters in, I finished eighth overall.

At the end of the day no one is going to remember that you *were* in 2nd place until 1500m in.. They're going to remember you finished 8th.

If there's one quality that will help you in sport it's humility. As Bob said, row your own race and stick to your plan. It does you no good to go all out and then die - only the end result matters.

A coach looking at your times is going to see that sort of strategy as immaturity.

I don't want this post to sound too rough/mean but the earlier you change your mindset, the better.

[Hrath]

@Bob S
I don't ever have a problem with the final 250, I can pull off a sprint under pretty much any circumstances no matter how tired I am if it's just 25 strokes.

@ArmandoChavezUNC
Okay I will try to do that next time, but being ahead is what gives me the strength to pull hard. I am afraid that if I fall behind I will not be able to make up that time later....