RowingRelated

The Lightweight Boat Races, 2020 (Illustration: RR) This year has been, well, a tough one so far. But, if this was to be the only time Oxford and Cambridge matched up against one another on the Tideway in 2020, at least it was a great show. The above race was a historic event for women's lightweight rowing, as it marked the first time the women's lightweight match between Cambridge and Oxford was contested on the 4-mile, 374-yard Championship Course . And the race proved worthy of such a milestone. In the words of the silver-tongued Robert Treharne Jones , "It's a popular myth that the crew leading at Hammersmith is the one that will take the victory." It was certainly looking like Oxford's day coming underneath Hammersmith Bridge, having had the better of a clash in the first third of the race, and with the advantage of the bend as the crews rowed past the Chiswick Eyot. Cambridge, however, held on—and then moved just when the conditions were at ...

The 2020 California Challenge Cup will continue a growing tradition, but with modifications to the format that the hosts hope will increase its impact, now and into the future. While the origins of the race (formerly known as the UC Challenge Cup) can be traced back to UC Irvine Men's Rowing founder, Duvall Hecht , the modern incarnation of the regatta has aspirations of scaling to involve every California rowing program. When : Saturday, February 29 | 7am Pacific Time Where : Newport Beach, California | View interactive map How to Watch : Livestream of the event via Vimeo Full Results : ClockCaster Here, we catch up with UCI Men's Rowing head coach, and California Challenge Cup organizer, Austin Brooks, on the new format and outlook for the future. RowingRelated: When you first started this tradition, was it always the goal for it to grow to this level? What was the inspiration behind the California Challenge Cup? Austin Brooks: The UC Challenge Cup was actual...

Last year around this time, USRowing athlete-turned-filmmaker Nick Trojan released his first in a series documenting some of the most storied rowing programs in the country, offering a window into Harvard Crew . Now, he's releasing the second in that series—this one on the program at Cal, where Canadian Olympian and Cal grad Scott Frandsen has taken the reins as head coach. Here, we catch up with Nick on the background and inspiration behind the project, as well as how he crafted this piece on the Golden Bears. RowingRelated: What is the inspiration behind your series on rowing? What is it about the sport that you feel the need to communicate? Is there more to the story than what is out there now? Nick Trojan:  I'd say my love for competition and my love for watching movies and filmmaking itself have driven me the most. Ever since my dad let me use our family's video camera to record my friends mountain biking and BMX riding, I've been hooked on maki...

PBC launching at Henley Royal Regatta (Photo: Penelope Wrenn-Jungbluth) Ah, the role of the "super-sub." Since it's more of a footnote to the Sydney win that didn't happen, the men's eight at the world championships in 1999 doesn't get discussed nearly as often as it should—on this side of the pond, at least. The video is riveting (watch it below), and the tensions builds perfectly in the USA-GBR duel. That lay-it-all-on-the-line move we see from the GB eight at 1,000m (and would see at roughly the same spot at the 2012 Olympics) is just great stuff, and of course a portent of what they would be capable of in Sydney the following year. But the hero of that race is Tim Foster . British English has a rule that no title is silly if it's alliterative, so there he is, in seven seat; the Capital-S Super Capital-S Sub . He'll have his day defeating the Italians in the men's four the following year, and while the eight doesn't quite carry the...

It's an old one, but still so watchable. In August, 2000, the BBC aired a three-part documentary series named Gold Fever on primetime TV in the UK. The episodes followed the British coxless four crew of Steve Redgrave (who had at that point won four consecutive Olympic gold medals), Mathew Pinsent , Tim Foster , and James Cracknell through the highs and lows of four years training in the run-up to the Sydney Olympics, and what would be Redgrave’s fifth and final Olympic Games. The series, comprising mainly intimate video diaries recorded by the four athletes, shows everything from Redgrave’s diabetes diagnosis to the birth of his daughter between training camps, erg testing, and tough selection decisions. "In fact, I truly believe that it was the catalyst that sparked my head-first jump into complete rowing obsession." The real life drama of it—not only a must watch for anyone who has experienced life as a rower—would be interesting to anyone. The series hol...

This week's featured video comes to us from Northeastern grad and noted rowing 'vlogger' Cameron Buchan , who takes us along on a cold Caversham morning for a look inside the British Rowing training 'centre' on 2k prep workout day. The video features a lot of prepping for prep, with the athletes taking some hard strokes in the midst of their warmup for the pieces—certainly more than we're accustomed to seeing from inside the mothership, but precious little in terms of erg score insight (no surprise there—though there is a decent bit of post-ergo banter to finish it off). You can check out Buchan's take on the Eights Head here . BREAKING: Josh Dunkley-Smith just posted the fastest 2k ever. Seriously. 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/th3cDjuA8c — RowingRelated (@rowingrelated) March 10, 2018 ON THE HORIZON: Speaking of ergs, stay tuned for an interview with Aussie legend Josh Dunkley-Smith , sometimes known simply by the hashtag #JDS, following his record-br...

It's nearly time for the Boat Race , and both Oxford and Cambridge will be in the midst of intense training cycles before tapering down to the big day. Still, Oxford Brookes is in top form (preparing for the Head of the River in their own right), and when all was said and done, it was nothing short of a historic week for Brookes on the Tideway. "This is the first time a Brookes crew has beaten both Oxford and Cambridge in the same year, and it is testament to the strength in depth of the squad that the 2nd VIII also beat both Goldie and Isis." —BROOKES|Rowing The first of the two fixtures was against Oxford. As you'd expect, both pieces are extremely hard fought, with Brookes only taking a real advantage in the first piece in the final minute (an advantage that they push out to roughly 3/4 of a length by the end). The second fixture, held just last weekend, came against Cambridge. Rather amazingly, the two pieces look almost identical to those against...

Princeton heavyweights on training camp (Photo: Princeton Rowing/Facebook ) This week's featured video post comes to us thanks to former Princeton lightweight head coach, and current Tiger heavyweight head coach Greg Hughes . It's a short but illustrative clip of the Italian lightweight men's eight from the 1980s—a formidable crew that won every world championship title from 1985-1991. "I watched that video hundreds and hundreds of times. I still share it with my team." The length, control, and run per stroke are remarkable with this crew. "This was the first rowing video I ever watched back in the late '80s when I was learning to row and I somehow got a VHS copy of this," Hughes says. "I watched that video hundreds and hundreds of times. I still share it with my team." And, speaking of the Princeton lightweights, they've just released a new winter training video that's pretty strong—or, as the kids say these days, ...

Michigan on the water in Ann Arbor (Photo via Michigan Men's Rowing/Facebook ) This week's featured rowing video comes to us thanks to Michigan Men's Rowing head coach Gregg Hartsuff . A roughly 5-minute training clip of the Dutch men's eight that won gold in Atlanta, this video gives a window into several key technical aspects of rowing that Hartsuff tries to instill into every rower at Michigan. (Without a doubt, all the Michigan rowers and alums who read RR will be familiar with this one!) From Hartsuff:  The 1996 Netherlands men's eight training—I think we have gone over this before, as this is clip is required viewership for athletes I coach. It highlights all the important points of rowing technique I emphasize: steady and connected acceleration on the drive initiated by the legs and the body holding its angle until the legs are nearly down, and strong core-pry off the end of the leg push without a crazy amount of layback. "'Undetecte...

Our featured video this week comes to us thanks to U.S. Olympian Esther Lofgren , 2012 gold medalist in the women's eight. Here, Lofgren shares some of her thoughts on an Olympic final from Athens, which included some of our sport's most important and influential names. From Lofgren: You’ve posted a lot of the videos I watched while training and that I encourage my athletes to watch. One I think does not get enough love is the 2004 W2- Olympic final featuring the Romanian greats Georgeta Andrunache [formerly Damian] and Viorica Susanu . Susanu is the last rower I recall who reaches around her knees in sweep. The catches, connection, and rhythm are beautiful, and the rowing (at 37+, in an Olympic final, etc., etc.) looks effortlessly efficient. The race for medals behind them is also great to watch— Kath[erine] Grainger sweeping (!) and Cath[erine] Bishop leading their pair in a fantastic sprint for silver, sprinting through Yuliya Bichyk and Natallia Helakh of Bel...

Walking it in with the Bears (Photo: B. Kitch) Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Well, that's how we feel, at least. TL;DR: We've got a bunch of new stuff on the way for you. Hopefully you've been enjoying the social media we've been keeping up over the past few months (by the way, how did this video of an erg relay blow up so much?)—it's not quite the same as keeping things up to date here, but it's good to stay connected. Now, however, it's time to kick the tires and light the fires once again. New things on the horizon... This moment of #rowingzen from a morning on the water with @calwrowing 🔊 #rowing #rowingrelated #dawn A post shared by rowingrelated (@rowingrelated) on Feb 13, 2018 at 10:20pm PST Here's the plan: Over the next three weeks, we'll be rolling out a three-part post on the Top 30 Greatest Rowing Coaches of All Time . As in the past, it'll contain opinions, but it'll also contain facts. Interes...

Ohio State and Cornell face off on land (Photo: Madeline Davis) The following is the fourth and final installment from the Buckeyes' trip to England for Henley Women's Regatta and Henley Royal Regatta, thanks to senior rower Stephanie Williams.

Rowing through the Montlake Cut (Photo: RR) The 2017 Cal-UW Dual might be the best one ever. And that's really not an overstatement. Don't believe it? Read on.

Weekend of racing in Amsterdam (Photo courtesy Heineken Roeivierkamp/Facebook ) Press Release: Olympic rowers competing on the Amstel River. The Heineken Roeivierkamp rowing regatta takes place for the 45th time on March 11th and 12th 2017. With 3,500 participants from all over the world and 10,000 spectators, the Heineken regatta is the largest rowing regatta of the Netherlands. It is the traditional start of the Dutch rowing season where the elite crews will compete against each other for the first time of the year.

PBS' American Experience documentary, The Boys of '36 airs August 2nd (Screen capture) Tomorrow marks the airing of the PBS documentary, The Boys of '36 , based on the epic story of Washington's underdogs (okay, underdawgs) who took on the world, and won, at the Olympic Games in Berlin. And, just to get you fully prepared, here are three videos—the first one a look at the first chapter of the documentary; the second, a look at what the current Washington athletes felt about their role reenacting some of the scenes from 1936; and finally, an interview with the filmmakers. If you've not yet read Daniel James Brown's book, The Boys in the Boat , then this ought to make it damn near impossible not to pick it up. The story of Joe Rantz and his crew is, in many ways, the ultimate American story, capturing both the essence of the time and of the American people, working their way through the Great Depression. While there's a great deal of continuity ...

Views from the launch (Screen capture) This week's video offers a skillfully shot and beautifully edited look back at Henley Royal Regatta, plus a quick interview with the filmmaker, Molesey Boat Club's Adam Heayberd.

An epic week in Henley-on-Thames (Photo: RR Staff) This year's Henley Royal Regatta was not short on excitement, crashes, upsets, and even controversy. The one thing that's indisputable, in our opinion, is that it boasted the best coverage of any regatta in the world to date, including the Olympic Games.

Looking back at the competition in 2015 (Screen capture) It's officially Henley week! And, just in case you're not already champing at the bit with anticipation, here's the latest video from Henley Royal Regatta , looking back on some of the outstanding performances of American crews—of which there were a record number of entries—in 2015.

Racing to the line at Olympic Trials (Screen capture) Thanks to the Friends of Cal Crew YouTube channel, you can watch the sprint from this morning's race that determined who would be going to the Olympic Games in the men's pair.

Marin training on home water, spring 2016 (Screen capture) And we're back! This week's featured video offers a glimpse of some high-intensity training with the 2016 Marin Rowing Association men's varsity eight.