2015 Youth National Championships: Changes to Rules

“Ten to CRUSH THEM!!!” yells the coxswain in the Men’s Youth Eight A Finals. The Youth Rowing National Championship exhibits some of the craziest racing at the high school level of competition. The regatta hosts crews from all over the country who qualified in their region at a prior regatta. The best of the best crews come together at the six day event to show what they are made of. Especially at the high school level, rowing student-athletes are the most ambitious students that exist, due to their high tolerance of pain and commitment to excel in rowing and the classroom. Therefore, the specific rules that apply to the Youth National Championship regatta are very to the rowers who compete.

Recently, the USRowing Association, which controls the rowing events in the United States, created a proposal to make changes to the entry packet rules for the 2015 Youth National Championships. This proposal was apparently created due to criticism about the rules enforced in the 2014 Youth National Championship, except some of the proposal changes are very abstract and effect many of the rowers in the United States.

       

    
The most glaring proposal change is to eliminate all lightweight events. In rowing, there are two categories that rowers can be placed into based on weight class standards. Men under 160 lbs. and women under 130 lbs. during the spring season are considered lightweight rowers, while Men over 160 lbs. and women over 130 lbs. during the spring season are labeled heavyweight rowers. This means for lightweight boats, every rowers must weigh in prior to their race under their gender specific weight class. The reason for this division by weight class is that it would be simply unfair for small and less muscular rowers to compete against big and more muscular rowers in the same event. Makes sense, right?

I am a lightweight rower, so the proposed change to eliminate all lightweight events in the 2015 entry packet, at the biggest regatta of the high school spring season, caught my attention immediately. I could not understand how a proposal that diminishes half of the rowing community could even be considered by the USRowing committee. Lightweight rowing even exists at many of the elite colleges in the country and is highly respected. By eliminating the lightweight events at a youth level, it is harming the rowing at the lightweight Ivy League schools and beyond. Youth rowing is supposed to prepare dedicated rowers to row at a higher level at school, so by eliminating the lightweight category is taking away the preparation and encouragement of lightweight rowers to excel. I believe that the lightweight events at the Youth Nationals should be kept because lightweight rowers deserve an equal amount of recognition and competitiveness as heavyweight rowers receive.

Another big proposal change to the entry packet rules is to waive the “minimum weight of boats” rule, which would eliminate the need for weighing boats at the regatta. I also thought that this proposed change is ridiculous because all boats should be required to weigh in, as this will level the competition field and make sure that no one will be at a disadvantage. All boats weigh different amounts due to their individually unique maker specifications and if there is no standard weight minimum for a boat event, then lighter boats will have an automatic advantage over the heavier boats for the race.

Clearly, the USRowing committee must see the issues with these two major proposal changes and not include them in the 2015 entry packet for the Youth National Championships.

The committee is also taking any comments on the proposed changes.

Just email alvin@usrowing.org before December 31, 2014.

Visit: http://www.usrowing.org/Libraries/Events/2015_USRowing_YNC_Entry_Packet_Change_Proposals.sflb.ashx to see the 2015 proposal to the entry packet rules.