Lights and heavies. Quick and powerful. What's your preference?
I've (obviously) spent a lot of time in heavyweight boats. Big mungo crews like that take a lot of time to gel together and row well. A 210 lb "donkey" in a boat that pulls a 6:00 2k can really slow down the boat run. But there is nothing, nothing like the feeling of a (good) heavy boat when it's coming off the start. I always thought of it like being an engine in a B-70 Valkyrie. You were going to go really fast. We would spend our time in practice spotting the lightweight 8 a few lengths and then chasing them down. They were the "snacks."
Then I became a coach, and got crews with lots of lightweights. I gained an appreciation of some advantages of lightweight rowing over the ever-increasing search for a bigger, meaner heavyweight. Light racing taps into some of the appeal of NASCAR. Every car is supposed to be the same, more or less. The differences come down to the skill of the driver; racing with lights is the same. Suddenly, there isn't that "holy ****, look at the SIZE of their 6 seat" moment when lining up at the start. It's "we weigh the same. Let's race sucker because you row like Leatherface from the Texas Chain Saw Massacre." That is very cool.
And let's face it. Racing is fun (to watch) when it's close, and you won't find closer racing than what lightweights sometimes put on. So I'm enjoying the time I'm spending with the lights. But don't worry those who don't hate the scale. I'm still one of you.
Categories: Rowing, Coaching
8 comments:
Perhaps one of the best things about rowing light is the fact that you know that it all comes down to how hard you have trained that will decide the outcome of your race. The crew next to you has no physical advantage over you, you just have to know that you have done more than them and are going to win that race. Its a bigger mental challange than knowing that you will win simply because you have 50 more lbs of muscle in your boat.
Having 50 lbs more of muscle won't mean a boat will win. Rowing has and always will be a power-to-weight ratio sport and like most of these sports there is a natural weight limit set by the rower's body. A runner's body is so skinny because it is more efficient for them to run with less weight. For rower's, I believe the same thing holds true. There is a certain balance that is formed so that the body becomes efficient at pulling its weight yet remains powerful. The famous 1974 Washington vs Harvard race for the "national title" featuring Al Shealy and the Rude and Smooth crew was outweighed by Washington by at least 15 lbs a man, yet Harvard won by two lengths. A lighter crew can easily beat a heavier crew by being more efficient and remaining near their maximal power output throughout the race.
The light vs. heavy debate may continue on but the fact of the matter is that by nature heavy crews go faster than light crews because they can be bigger guys who get more "ratio". Lights will try to compensate by better conditioning, higher ratings, and just straight up nastiness (probably from not eating in order to make weight), but if a Heavy Crew is just as conditioned they will win 9 out of 10 times.
Yeah, don't worry Steve no one will mistake you for being a nerd. I also came into college weighing 170 lbs and am now a beastly 200. You only like the idea that raw power wins because your technique sucks so much. But I will agree that manliness wins races. Haha, just look at the boats that win women's races.
I'll just give everyone an opportunity here to thank me for taking bubowski out in the pair for the final 2-3 weeks of practice and teaching him some lightweight technique, thus enabling the FATTIES to do well at Vails. I am awaiting the forthcoming fruitbaskets. (I like mangos)
What you get when you train is a totally different topic which does not need to be discussed here. I will agree that lightweight and heavyweight rowing are very different in nature so it is hard to compare them. Although when your only competition on a daily basis is with the other it is hard not to find ways to say that your style of rowing is better. However, both weight classes can agree that men's rowing is far superior than women's rowing. Oh and by the way Steve R. you shouldn't be asking for a fruit basket from the heavies because all you end up getting is the basket and maybe a few cores.
hey jay,
guess what... i hit 199 the other day. Looks like that six seat is going to be big anyway.
pat
Pat is 199! Holy s@%$! Dude, Pat, I thought you were like 170 or something. Well, I'm still the same 144...yeah...light for life! I might also add that I'm entering college at that weight too.
So, heavyweight rowing may come (in large part) down to raw power, but that's not what rowing is all about, is it? You need skill in the equation. Technique. If it were too much about power than any coach could throw a bunch of linebackers from his school's football team in a boat and win. But they couldn't do that. The FC lightweights would kick their asses up and down the river...lightweight rowing involves power (who trained harder) but also lots of skill. But lightweight rowing is defintely a different world than heavyweight.
Incidentally 'better steve' that was a nice way of saying without saying it that your technique sucks. I'm going to have to remember that. Props.
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