RowingRelated

Hands in after training  My alarm goes off—it’s 4:22am.  It’s been a while since I did this. Immediately, I think back to a college dorm room, rolling out of bed and running down the steps to carpool caravan to Marina Del Rey.  Not this time, though. It’s a Tuesday in late September, and I’m heading across the Golden Gate Bridge to Greenbrae, California, where I’ll meet with the Marin Rowing Men’s Masters squad. Fortunately, it’s an unusually warm morning—and when I roll in, the boathouse is already buzzing with activity.  Launch time: 5:10. Heading out into the Bay before dawn The Marin Rowing Association program has both men’s and women’s masters boats competing to win at every event they attend. In the fall, that can only mean one thing: The Head Of The Charles .  The boat that Coach Rodrigo Rodrigues and I spend most of our time with is the Grand Masters eight—average age 60+. But that’s just one of five crews that launched with us that morning. Everyone’s ...

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...

The top 10 best rowing coaches, including guess who (Photo © Iain Weir / Rowing Photography ) It's time for the third and final part of our 3-part series on the best of the best in the rowing coaching ranks. These coaches not only command respect based on performance, but have also shown the ability to adapt to new circumstances, build dynasties, and ultimately help shape the trajectory of rowing as a sport. Honestly, it would be easy to extend this series into 10 more posts... But we wouldn't do that to you. As we've said before, the hope is that the following may serve to educate and spark discussion, as both an appreciation of history and of the coaching craft. Also note: As we stated in Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, there are few women in this list, but that is a reflection of a general underrepresentation of women in the head coaching ranks in our sport—and indeed (as has been well documented ) a growing number of NCAA sports in the United States. ...

The RowingRelated Top 30 (Photo: Al Ubrickson, courtesy of the Ulbrickson Family Collection) It's time for the second part of our 3-part series on the best of the best in the rowing coaching ranks. Selecting and ranking these outstanding examples of leadership in the launch is no small task, and, as we said last week, it's not a perfect system—yet. But the hope is that the following may serve to educate and spark discussion, as both an appreciation of history and of the coaching craft. Also note: As we stated in Part 1 of this series, there are few women in this list, but that is a reflection of a general underrepresentation of women in the head coaching ranks in our sport—and indeed (as has been well documented ) a growing number of NCAA sports in the United States. 20. Al Ulbrickson The man, the myth, the legend, who guided The Boys in the Boat to Olympic glory in Berlin at the 1936 Games. Ulbrickson was a special kind of talent, in that he understood—and us...

The RowingRelated Top 30 (Photo: 1899 Cornell Rowing Team) ROWING is a sport heavily steeped in history. It can boast some of the longest running traditions in contemporary sport, from the Doggett’s Coat & Badge , to Henley Royal Regatta , to the Boat Races of both the Oxford and Cambridge variety as well as that between Harvard and Yale. Learning from the best has always been one of our top priorities here on RR, and so here we look back at our picks for the Top 30 Rowing Coaches of All Time , in hopes of both appreciating those that have gone before as well as the excellence of our contemporaries. As with all ranking systems, it's not perfect, but it's a start—and the hope is that it will generate discussion not only about the past, but also about the future of our sport as we move further into the 21st century. Also note: There are regrettably few women in this list, but that is a reflection of a general, historical and present underrepresentation of women in...