RowingRelated

Yale on the podium at the 2018 IRA Regatta (Photo © Joel Furtek) He's the winningest coach at the IRA Regatta in the modern era. He's coached multiple world champions and Olympic medalists. And, Steve Gladstone may be the only coach—in any sport—to win national championships with three different schools (four, if you include the 'de facto' titles he won with the Harvard Lightweights across four straight undefeated seasons). Here, he looks back on the 2018 season, how he approaches his work, and what drives him every day. Bryan Kitch: It seems like it has just been historic event after historic event. I'm just curious about the way you felt going into this season, the momentum you felt you had in the program, and maybe how your athletes maintained a hunger despite having proved a lot last year—how did they maintain that edge and want to come back for more? Steve Gladstone: Well, you asked a couple of questions—maybe two or three questions [laughs], but I...

Longhorns launching in San Diego The Texas Longhorns rowing program has come a long way since longtime Cal women's head coach Dave O'Neill arrived in Austin. In 2015, not only did O'Neill lead Texas to its first-ever NCAA Championships appearance, but also the Longhorns placed seventh overall. And, most recently, the Longhorns came within roughly one second of sweeping San Diego Crew Classic, winning the novice eight, second varsity eight, and varsity eight events, only to fall just short in the varsity four. Here, we catch up with Dave on his approach to coaching, changing team culture, and program development.

Painfully played-out: Why are we constantly harping on the negative? It seems like every few months, there is a new article or video published about how difficult rowing is. We're treated to another round of metaphors about abysses of pain, and needles being driven into legs, etc., etc., and for what? This isn't the first time we've discussed the topic here on RR, and it likely won’t be the last. And that's because 'rowing is pain' stories are not good for the sport. Here's why. 1. It's counterproductive Talking about how what you're doing is very hard in no way helps you achieve your goal, and in fact limits your ability to succeed. Acknowledging the realities of a situation is different from focusing on its difficulty. Focusing on the negative only serves to distract you from what’s important, rather than help you or those around you excel. This much seems self-evident. 2. It's self-indulgent Part of the reason that the rowing commun...

UVa men's squad training on Rivanna Reservoir (Photo courtesy of Frank Biller) The second post in our second season of #BestRowingDrills takes a closer look at determining, and improving, effective stroke length on land, and on the water.

Griggs Reservoir Boathouse (Photo: Madeline Davis) We're kicking off our second season of #BestRowingDrills with a look at making the transition from winter training to water time, thanks to Ohio State Women's Rowing.

The UCSB boathouse (Photo by Culver Lau) Editor's Note: In 2013, Olympian Brad Lewis discussed his time coaching at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in a podcast for a website called Sports Coach Radio. In the interview, which covers a range of coaching-related topics, Lewis attributes the team’s struggles to drunk and hungover athletes, calls the program "the worst in the country, bar none," and states that most students at the university have a medical marijuana card (skip forward to minutes 39-42 for Lewis' thoughts on UCSB). As most readers of RR know, UCSB has long had one of the strongest club rowing programs on the West Coast, and as such we thought there was more to the story than the singular perspective that Lewis offers. Here's a look at the reality behind the fiction. After Brad Lewis wrote one of the best books ever about rowing, Assault On Lake Casitas , he wrote a work of fiction entitled Wanted: Rowing Coach . Although Lewis ...

Conibear Shellhouse, Seattle (Photo: RR) Coaching is difficult. Success depends on the right mixture of soft and hard skills, in many cases unique to a particular group of athletes, program type, or other circumstance. Examples abound across all sports and professions. It’s not uncommon for a successful coach at one program to move to another and not see the same results. Why does that happen? Did they forget how to coach? What makes for success at one program and not at another? These are difficult, if not impossible, questions to answer. What is possible, though, is to better understand the challenge of assuming a new leadership or coaching position. First up, the evaluative and preparatory steps. Know the Level This applies to any new situation, for both veteran and novice coaches alike. Before you can hold athletes, coaches, and programs to a standard of performance, it’s imperative that you understand how that standard relates to success at your level. In rowing, m...

Nick D'Antoni (top left) coaching at a USRowing junior ID camp, 2015 (Photo: B. Kitch) USRowing junior national team coach Nick D'Antoni is no stranger to success. Here, he shares some insight into how to build technique and style for the long haul.

Conlin McCabe (right) and the #TrueNorthFour in San Diego (Photo: B. Kitch)  Wednesdays are coaching days here on RR, and today we thought we would shift gears a little bit from our Best Rowing Drills series, and take a look at preparation for that most important of tests, the 2k. We asked former Crash-B Sprints champion and Canadian Olympic silver medalist Conlin McCabe how he goes about getting ready for a test, from the night before to the warmup.  Here's what Conlin had to say. RR: Do you have a routine that you go through the night before a 2k test? If so, what is it (and what do you recommend)? Conlin McCabe: The night before I test I try to eat a feast — I know in the morning I will be nervous, and I'll have a hard time eating when it gets too close to the race. Thinking about the erg test is inevitable the night before, so I set a chunk of time aside in the evening (10-15 minutes) and make sure I have a solid race plan . Once I have a plan I am confident in...

While men's club rowing has become increasingly competitive over the past decade, there's no question that the Michigan Wolverines are still the top dogs. In recent years, the Wolverines have seen rivals emerge in Virginia as well as Grand Valley State University, but despite best efforts, Michigan has had a vise-grip on the men's points trophy since the inception of the American Collegiate Rowing Association. Going back to pre-ACRA days, Michigan crews often made inroads against varsity competition at the IRA Regatta—in fact, Gregg Hartsuff's frosh crew from 2002 won a silver medal, just over two seconds back of Washington. Here, Hartsuff shares three of his favorite drills for refining technique on the water. 1. Front-End Progression "This drill made lightbulbs come on in sophomores' heads," Hartsuff says, in speaking with him during a recent Georgia training camp with the Wolverines. "You start by taking a narrow, inside grip—you move the out...

For Dinares, it begins with how you approach the oar (Photo courtesy of Carlos Dinares)  Carlos Dinares is already a household name in many elite rowing circles, because the athletes he coaches tend to be fast. Examples? South African phenom Ursula Grobler set the lightweight women's world record for 2,000m on the erg, and has competed for the U.S. as well as the RSA national team. And, most recently, double Olympic champion sweep rower Elle Logan made the A Final at the world championships in Chungju in her first year sculling at the international level. Here, Carlos shares some insight into his approach through the below video, made specifically for our 'Best Rowing Drills' series, and outlines two ways to help understand technique better, on and off the water. 1: How We Greet The Oar "The first part is about how we think, and act, when we greet the oar," Dinares says. "It's about how we connect the handle, which is our connection to the water...

Megan Kalmoe in the single (Photo: Nikki Raab) The first three of articles in our 'Best Rowing Drills' series have focused on the view from the launch, so we thought it was time to flip the script—here, we check in with two-time Olympian and London 2012 bronze medalist Megan Kalmoe about her approach to skill and drill on the water. Kalmoe began her rowing career at the University of Washington, and earned her first international bid with the U.S. U23 team in 2005, winning gold in the BW4- in Amsterdam. Since then, Megan has more often raced with two oars, switching to sculling and competing at the Olympics in Beijing and then in London, the latter of which saw her win a bronze medal in the U.S. W4x along with teammates Kara Kohler , Adrienne Martelli , and Natalie Dell . Last season, Kalmoe switched back to one oar, and earned a silver in the women's pair with Kerry Simmonds at the 2014 World Rowing Championships. Here are a few of her favorite exercises to develop ...

Linda Muri in the launch at Dartmouth (Photo courtesy of Linda Muri) Longtime Crimson lightweight men's coach and newly appointed Dartmouth women's head coach Linda Muri knows how to move a boat effectively and efficiently. She combines an MIT-based knowledge and understanding of rowing mechanics with teaching savvy (Muri earned a Masters in Education at Harvard in 1997) as a coach—and did we mention that she's a three-time world champion (and nine-time U.S. national team) rower? Here, Muri shares three of her favorite multipurpose drills, useful on the water or on land. 1. Inside Arm Only "Probably one of my favorite drills is inside arm only. I use it a lot for the catch," she explains. "They get a very nice catch because they can't muscle it in—they can't force the blade in. They can hear what it's supposed to sound like, and feel what it's supposed to feel like, and then they have to hold onto that as they go back to regular rowing...

Mike Teti and Cal at Crew Classic, 2013 (Photo: B. Kitch) Talk to former U.S. Olympic rowing coach and current Cal men's head coach Mike Teti about drills, and you'll understand that it's about addressing specific problems in a methodical way. "Instead of saying what are my favorite drills, it's more what do I think the limiting technical factor of a given group is," he explains. "So we'll do a series of exercises that will help fix that problem. That's the approach that I take." He continues: "That said, for specific problems there are certain exercises that I think are really useful. You could say they're favorites [within that context]." The faster the boat class, the more the catch and the front end of the rowing stroke becomes paramount. If you're looking to work on the front end of the stroke, there are a few such favorites that Teti often uses with his crews. 1. Pause at Gunwale Pauses, in general, tap into ...

Kevin Sauer at the 2012 NCAA Championships (Photo: B. Kitch) Having done a little research recently, I discovered that, surprisingly, there's not much available on the Internets in terms of useful content for rowing coaches. Try scanning the web for decent examples of drills and technique, and you'll find that what is accessible to most is largely race footage, which certainly has its place in the coaching toolkit, but ultimately isn't that informative on its own. This is the first in a series on the best rowing drills, featuring some of the top junior and collegiate coaches in the U.S. If you like this idea, let us know, and share it—if it takes off, then we'll continue to build a library and create an index on our Rowing Drills page. For the first series, we'll be releasing the an article every Wednesday for the next five weeks. As with this post, this early series will be mostly geared toward sweep rowing, but sculling will also feature in the near future....

Community Rowing, Inc., Boston (Photo: © Essdras M. Suarez) As one of the country's top rowing clubs, and with a tremendous membership, Community Rowing, Inc. in Boston is often among the first to test new and innovative ideas. And, foremost among those ideas is the Institute for Rowing Leadership —a graduate level program founded at CRI in 2011that integrates classroom study of all aspects of the sport with on-the-water training. Matt Lehrer , who teaches at the IRL, is also the Director of Coaching Education at CRI. Here, Matt shares some of the background on the IRL, how the program works, and what the big picture looks like as CRI continues to push the boundaries with the aim of improving rowing as a whole in the United States.

Best of RR, 2014 Edition We're mere minutes away from the beginning of a new year, and we can't wait to find out what the 2015 rowing season holds. However, there's never a better time to look back on the previous 12 months than New Year's Eve, and that's just what we're up to this evening. And so, without further ado, here are our top 10 posts (according to you) from 2014. 1. Stop Seat Racing: The Future of Crew Selection Virginia Men's Rowing head coach Frank Biller's take on how best to select your crew, given the increasing level of data available to coaches and athletes. 2. Head of the Charles Banter: Can We Talk about how Badass This Year's 'Great Eights' Are? Apparently, we weren't the only ones excited about the increased number (and level of badassedness) of the men's and women's Great Eights at the Head of the Charles in 2014. 3. So, are Naked Rowing Calendars a Thing Now? If the level of success that this p...

This week's video is a beautiful example of the kind of sculling technique that might just get you a sub-6 minute result, and a world championship title. At least, it worked for the Sinkovic brothers . This dynamic duo not only scored their first world gold medal in Amsterdam (as a double, that is—the brothers had won gold as part of the Croatian M4x last year, following a silver in London), but also did so ahead of a tightly packed field in a time of 6:00.52—only slightly off their own World Best Time in the event from the A/B semifinal (a 5:59.72) at the Bosbaan. While we're all getting our long and low strokes in this fall, it's important to think about consistency of technique and execution. The Sinkovic brothers stressed this idea in our VOTW last week, and here Martin and Valent are shown applying that theory to the fullest. And there's more good news. The Sinkovici are coming to the Head Of The Charles this year , taking on several other very competitive crew...