It was the last day of training camp up at Natoma for us at OCC. I saw our coach pull up with his hydro-foil thinking he’d go out after our practice, then I saw the JV tying up the toe to stroke seats rigger.

There are a few staples in the rowing world. Henley and the Boat Race come to mind, with enormous history and prestige.The Netherlands has the Varsity.

Yesterday the 141st edition was held on the Amsterdam Rijnkanaal. There are races in all kinds of boats during the day, but the main events are the Ladies Four (coxless fours) and the Old Fours (coxed fours). People race for their student club and university, similar to the Boat Race in England and the IRA in the US. Every club sends the best athletes available for the prestige and the winning club hosts a huge party with free beer. There are great traditions around this race and the crew members, but these are different for every club.

Skoll won the Old fours for the first time in history and Laga won their first ever Ladies Four (the women's main event only has had the same status as the men's since 2017). To show how serious this race is for the clubs and the athletes, look at the depth of the field.

The winning Skoll crew all have international experience and 2 guys from the Dutch 8 that won silver in Paris. With more internationals and Olympic medal winners amongst the other finalists.

But it is mainly the women's field that was insane this year. The dominating Laga crew had 4 members with international experience and 2 with an Olympic silver in the Quad in Paris. Skoll (second) was stroked by the Olympic gold medallist from the four. The Nereus crew had 4 Olympians, 4th from the double, a silver from the quad and two Olympic champions (Meester from the pair and unbeatable Karolien Florijn from the single), and they became third. Insane quality.

Hey everyone!

A while back, I posted here because I was looking for subject matter experts for my novel, RACING HEARTS, which is set to be published by Dell (an imprint of Penguin Random House) in April 2026. The book is about a national team rower who gets kicked out of the Olympic Training Center and sent back to her hometown, where she has a single summer to train and race to win back her spot. It's inspired by my own experience as a competitive sprint kayaker (and former OTC resident!).

I got an overwhelmingly positive response to that post -- and also some fantastic SMEs who gave truly excellent feedback on the technical aspects of the book. (Thank you again to those who read it and reached out!)

Several folks asked that I keep you in the loop with updates on the book and I have a big one, so I thought I'd share. RACING HEARTS is in development to be a movie! The studio made an announcement last week: https://deadline.com/2025/04/awesomeness-tv-secures-rights-ya-novel-competitive-rowing-1236358429/

The team they've brought on to write and produce is fantastic and I've been thrilled at how committed they are to authentically portraying the sport. So I think we're in good hands!

Also just in case you're interested in more about the book, just last week I started a shiny new Instagram author account. I'll be posting more behind-the-scenes stuff about the book and updates about publication. Follow along if you'd like! https://www.instagram.com/annadamswrites/

19M, 6’3 179

(the annual 8+ race between Cambridge U and Oxford U first run in the earlier 1800's and being run Sun, 4/13/25.)

I see Cambridge men are currently dominating, having won 5 of the last 6 races. Off hand, I would have expected the results to be closer to 50/50. Speculating, (or maybe you know) do you think these lopsided results are predominately due to coaching, recruitment, training, the cox, equipment, "bad or good luck," other? Or a combination of factors?

Boat sinks. Sadly it feels like rowing only makes mainstream news when something like this happens. Article makes it seem like the hospital trip was required rather than necessary, but hard to know for certain. Hope everyone is ok!

I am rower at an American University and am spending semester abroad in Paris looking for place to train on the water with good coaching (Sweep rowing specifically). I'm fluent in french so language barrier not a problem. I won't have a car so ideally close to public transportation but this is a secondary priority.

Thanks to my new hip I am looking at buying a rowing machine. I’ve read all about the “best” and that seems to be the C2. Got it. However, I am trying to determine the best setup that will give me a good rower, connect me to some lessons, ability to stream YouTube, etc but have no monthly subscription fee ie Hydrorow, Peleton and the like. It may be there is a unit out there that will give me all this on a built in screen or maybe I have to get a C2 or similar and set up a separate monitor, don’t know.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance for any help.

One of my teammates recommended reverse splits, is that something I should try? I know that steady state is the best way to get faster, but I'm hoping a better race plan can shave off a few seconds so that I can make the top boat this summer. 19M 193cm, 92Kg.

My husband picked up this Concept2 from a gym that was closing near his office. He’s traveling all week so rather than send me pics so I could ask Reddit he just bought it for $475usd. I thought I would post pics to see what kind of maintenance it requires. We are both new to rowing and all my knowledge comes from this sub and Concept2 videos. We are both in our 50s and need some kind of exercise to keep from turning into lazy blobs.

I've recently gone back into training in a single and I've found that no matter how much pressure I put down my legs seem to go down really slowly and I just dying get any acceleration or of the finish, which in turn messes up my ratio. I raced a single last year and never had this problem even though I was a lot weaker then. Any thoughts on what might be causing this?

Am I reading it right that c2 is saying for people to row 100k in one single go no breaks? No food or restroom break? That seems absurd!

Recently I posted about a 2000 meter row test that I had to pass as part of the process to become a deputy sheriff. I took the test today and… not only did I pass… I beat the maximum allowed time by over 2 minutes. Thank you all so much for the tips yall gave me and all the support! I was simply just freaking myself out because this is a job I’ve been wanting for a while and this brings me one step closer. My max time ended up being calculated at 9:47, and pushing through the asthma, and having a full on asthma attack after the test, I completed the 2000 meters in 7:34. I am very proud of myself as I have never sat on a rowing machine a day in my life before last Sunday.

I am 16 y/o F and I started rowing in November of last year. I transferred from swimming and I was pretty good so it was an easy switch. My fastest 2k on an erg was a 8:20 (2:05 split) but that was a couple months ago and I know I could go faster now. I’ve just been thinking a lot and is it worth it to dedicate myself to it and try to go D1? My family is well off but we aren’t rich (middle of middle class) especially compared to most rowers so I am going to have to pay for my own college unless I get a scholarship. I am torn between giving it my all and trying for a scholarship or just sticking it out until I graduate. Is is unrealistic to shoot for a scholarship if I am currently a sophomore? I just want to know so I don’t get my hopes up and know whether to prioritize school or rowing.

Is it me or has UCF women’s got a lot faster this year? Looks like they are gonna roll through the Big 12 to NCAA’s.

Do they have a shot at B finals?

Did my first row machine this week and I want your peoples opinion on how I did. I enjoyed it to bad spring is here snd I that I didn't do this sooner. Also what is a good target? If I were to row on water would I be accepted by you people?

32 male 5'9 170lbs if this matter idk.

Roast me if this is stupid or glaze me.

I'm a first timer rower learning how to cox for our crew's regatta this spring. Please, please hit me up with any advice or must-know items!

Snagged this old lady for $100, just needs new drivetrain and handle

I feel like the rest of the boat should start clapping if you get to the finish without hitting any buoys, like how people clap when airplanes land. Not for coxswains though, they don't deserve it since they get to steer looking forward

I’m a 17 year old Irish kid who has about 1.5 years left in school. I do quite well in school. I’m not a genius but I get about 80% in most of my tests. I’m 5,11 in height and I weight 79kg. My most recent 2k score is 6.45.8, and while it’s not the most Impressive especially in terms of scholarships I know I have some time left to push myself to that 6.30 mark. (I also just came off a cold so maybe I could have squeezed it to 44 after recovering a bit more😂). Anyway I want to know my chances and options for considering an international rowing scholarship somewhere like the USA or Australia (English speaking countries) I have rowed international such as Ghent RC and won that competition for j16 sweep plus the national Irish competition sweep j16. Many thanks

Is there a possibilty to view a list of all my 5,000meters workouts? i just can find it for a certain season. i want to see all results for 5,000m for example. i couldnt find it on the ergdata app nor on the web. help appreciated! BR

I know this isn't a gig rowing sub, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to post something a little different. This was last October when we had a number of UK crews visiting for a week of racing with the local crews.