Making the USA Olympic Rowing Team

Rowing. One of the most prestigious sports at the Olympic Summer Games. The United States Olympic rowing team. It is practically every professional rowers dream to make it to the world stage and compete with the best in the world. Getting on the team is no easy task, but it sure is easier than winning the sought after gold medal at the Olympics.

There are many procedures that are involved with getting onto the Olympic team. The selection process consists of many layers of regattas and evaluations by the official USA Olympic team coaches and staff. Basic categories separate the athletes into four distinct groups. Boats are named “big boats” and “small boats” which signify the class in which the boat will be chosen as. Then these boats are categorized into a qualified or non-qualified group of boats.

For the athlete, his or her steps for the selection process begin almost an entire year before the Olympics and of course he or she would have been training over the past four years to prepare for the process. Typically, there is a qualification race which is the World Championships or, at a later date, the Olympic Qualification Regatta. This is where the coaches can see the rowers in action and compare their times with the competition. The top two boats in each category of boat class sizes, eights, fours, pairs, doubles, singles, or quads, move onto the next round.

First of all, it is extremely hard for any athlete to even make it to these major regattas. The competition is fierce and only the best of the best move on. Unless the rower is incredibly strong, which there are only a hand-full in the field of competitors, the determining factor to their success is how they row. The efficiency of each stroke must be impeccably good. In rowing, power can only get a rower so far when racing at the highest level. Working together in a boat is the solution to a fast race. Finding and making four guys, let alone eight guys, row altogether in unison with each stroke is essential to speed and strength throughout the race. Even if one person is out of sync during the row, precious seconds will be lost and that could mean between a second or first place finish.

Every rower knows that the pressure is on during every Olympic trial race and that there are no second chances. Learning how to deal with that pressure is what can sometimes win a race and shape a dream into reality. Rowing takes athleticism and mental toughness to a whole new dimension and the Olympic rowers that have achieved this glory are the best examples of what the sport of rowing entails.

The Infamous Ergometer Machine

The rowing machine that transforms average athletes into Olympic caliber beasts. I am not talking about a magical pill that makes you stronger overnight. No, I am talking about a machine that can potentially make you extremely fit, but you need to put in the time.

The ergometer, or erg for short, was first created in 1981 when two Brothers Dick and Pete Dreissigacker thought of making a machine that was easy to practice the rowing technique while not always having to go on the water. Also, their machine was almost $2,400 less than the next indoor athletic machine on the market and this made it become extremely popular over the years. Over more than thirty years, only five models have been produced; each erg better than the last one. This just goes to show how the public began to love the design and simplicity of the machine. Rowing athletes ranging from Olympians to recreational people wanting to get a workout in the gym were all using the erg.

Key features of the erg is the stationary foot plate with the long track on which the seat slides on. The large fan that uses air resistance to increase or decrease the drag factor (how hard it is to pull the handle to make the fan spin) allows the rower to personalize his or her workout accordingly. Also, the ergonomic handle with the bicycle chain forces the user to maintain a certain handle height that mimics the rowing form. The body of the machine rests on two metal plates; one place at the back of the slide and one placed right beneath the fan enclosing.

The most important aspect of the erg is the ergometer screen which is adjustable to be directly in front of the athletes face while rowing. The digital screen displays the split, which shows the time it will take to complete 500 meters if the split is maintained. Also, the screen also shows the stroke rate, which is how many strokes the rower will take in one minute. Another key instantaneous statistic is the number of meters that the athlete has completed during the workout. These three main data collections are all averaged when the workout is completed and the athlete can even break down the workout by meters or time back in the memory section. All of these awesome features make erging one of the most fun workouts to do! (That was sarcastic).

But seriously, erging is a very healthy activity and I recommend athletes who are looking for some cross training during their sports season or after, to hop on and row some meters. I promised it will hurt badly in the beginning, but it will be well worth it. I guarantee that you will like the way you look after a few weeks.

The Racing Shell

Ever wonder how a boat that is so long and so delicately narrow and thin can be afloat in the water with nine people sitting in it? Well, I am here to clear things up a bit. I am going to start from the beginning of rowing time. When the racing shell was just beginning to find its shape.

The racing shell was designed based on the simple working rowboat that was used every day to transport goods and people. The sturdy hull designs, made from thick wood or metal, allowed for heavy loads and year around usage as they could withstand the constant beating of wear-and-tear. However, once boats with racing capabilities were developed in the 1800’s specifically for team racing, the same heavy materials could not be used. A more light-weight and sleek design was needed. This involved the difficult task of creating a narrower and longer boat with a sharper angle, while still remaining light and very strong. The process of lapstrake wood building was first introduction to create these boats in the early 19^th century. The labor intensive method of lapstrake wood boat building is where the edges of the boats hull planks overlap and then the planks are joined end to end into a strake. This old technique was developed in Europe and used by the Vikings, so it had to be somewhat strong. Unfortunately, due to the overlapping and hard wood that had to be used, this made the boats strong, but heavy, which detracted from the boats speed through the water. Slowly throughout rowing history, boat companies such as Resolute, Empacher, Vespoli to name a few, began to drift away from using heavy woods and instead used a composite material to decrease the weight and increase the strength. Early composite racing shells were produced from a mold of papier-mâché, which was popular in the 1870’s. The new and improved modern racing shells are now crafted out of carbon-fiber reinforced plastic that is set in a honeycomb structure. This provides an even stronger shell that lasts longer and maintains its shape through intense usage from a crew.

           

Why are there multiple racing shells companies if a boat is supposed to be made the same way with the same materials? The answer is that every company shapes their boats in unique ways that are special to the companies design. Some companies create boats that have a more prominent bow and that cuts through the water differently to maybe make the boat go faster. Some crew programs, especially at the collegiate or Olympic level, prefer specific boats that are made by a particular boat company based on how they feel the boat. The meaning behind “feeling” the boat can only be described by the crews that row in the shells. For example, how the boat sits in the water, high or low, and how the boat glides through the water, smoothly or roughly. These and many more are factors that crew programs take into consideration before buying a boat.

Interestingly, every boat company has their own thoughts on what makes a boat go faster and that is way they shape their boats the way they do. However, no company can fully prove that their boat design, with the minor changes that are different from the competitor products, is better and faster. This is because there is physically no way to accurately test the boats and compare with the various hull designs and modifications due to a row on the water being different than the next row on the water. Therefore, the companies name rests at the mercy of their boats dependability, attention to detail, and the big races that are won in them, such as at the Olympics.

Another important feature for the boats are the sliding seats that allow for the rower to move back and forth with ease while rowing with his/her oar. Now, it was not always like this. Back in the day, when rowing was first becoming a sport. The rowers did not have the luxury of the sliding seats, but rather wore thick and padded leather trousers that were greased so that they could slide back and forth while maneuvering the oar. Eventually, the sliding seat with tracks and four wheels on the bottom was invented and immediately implemented into the developing racing shells.

Lastly, the rowing shoes are an essentially part to the boat. Rowers do not just wear any ordinary shoes in the boat, as normal athletic shoes are too thick and would cause blisters to form on the feet. Also, there would be no logical way to attach them to the hull. Racing shells have evolved to have a foot plate where stationary shoes are attached at a sixty-five degree angle. The shoes themselves can pivot at the heel to get extra compression with the legs. The rowers uses the shoes with socks and straps in with either Velcro or ties. It is very important that the boat company makes good quality shoes that are padded just enough for comfort, but are not too heavy that they add extra weight to the overall boat. Some companies are now even designing special shoes that make the compression with the legs at the catch more efficient by inserting an elevation piece to make the whole foot become involved in the leg press.

As any rower knows, and now the reader as well, boat companies are constantly trying to make their boats faster and popular by advertising and showing the great crews that won races in them. Their reputation is in the hands of the rowers competing in their shells. The quality and sophistication of the boats are transforming the sport and the way people think about rowing. This is why the racing shell is a vital component to a racers speed.