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Dictionary
Blade - The part of an oar that goes into the
water.
Blister - Small, fluid-filled
bump often found on rowers' hands
after a vigorous practice
Bow - front of the boat, since
both end are pointy it's the end with
the small ball on the tip
Catch - The point at which the blade enters
the water
Cox or Coxswain - The person
who steers and calls out commands
to the rowers (typcially a under 130Ibs
and hence many are women)
Cox box - A microphone system
used by the cox that plugs into a
speaker system in the boat
Crab - When an oar blade enters
the water at an angle, instead of
perpendicularly, it can get caught
under the surface. The oar handle
drives into the stomach and has the
potential to throw a rower out of
the boat entirely! Even if not that
disastrous, "catching a crab" will
certainly drastically interrupt the
flow of the boat through the water.
Double - A two-person, four-oared skull
Drive - The part of the stroke
when the blade is in the water, this
is the high-exertion part
Erg - Torture device, aka Concept
II rowing machine. Used in training,
causes severe exhaustion
Feathering - When the blades
are brought out of the water, then
should all move horizontally at the
same height, just above the water.
The rower is "skying" if the hands
are dropped too low before the catch,
causing the oar blade to rise before
it drops into the water. Proper feathering
is always difficult, but becomes extremely
challenging in choppy water.
Finish - The point at which the blade exits the
water
Gate - The bar across the oarlock
that keeps the oar in place.
Gunwale - The sides of the boat
Hatchet blade - An oar whose
blade is, oddly enough, shaped like
a hatchet. Most popular blades because
they have a greater surface area
Head race - 5000 meter (3.2
mile) race, so-called because it runs
from the "head" of the river
Eight - An ninet-person, eight-oared
sweep boat (We row this at SHS)
Falling in - Occupational hazard
for novice scullers or winning coxwains
Four - A four-person, four-oared
sweep boat (We row this at SHS)
Keel - The bottom of the boat
Launch - The powerboat used
by coaches to stay alongside a rowing
shell during practices
Spoon blade - An older, symmetric
blade style. A traditional looking
oar
Oarlock - A pivoting frame
that connects the oar to the boat
Outrigger – the brace
along the side of the boat that supports
the oarlock.
Paddle - Rowing lightly. This is a good command
Pair - A two-person, two-oared
sweep boat.
Port - The left side of the
boat, facing forward. But remember
rowers sit backwards, the cox is the
only one facing forward
Pressure - How hard you're
rowing, expressed as a percentage
of how hard you can row. One might
row 100% in a sprint race, 80% in
a longer race and 50% on the paddle
Quad - A four-person, eight-oared
scull
Rate: How many strokes per
minute you're taking. 20 is low while
30 is high. Olympians may row at a
40. (Remember, harder doesn't mean
faster, it's possible to row at 100%
at an 18 stroke rating)
Recovery: The part of the stroke
when the blade is out of the water,
and the rower is getting in position
to take the next stroke. The recovery
is considerably slower than the drive.
Regatta – Any competitive rowing event.
Rigger - The triangular (usually) framework that
supports the oarlock about 2' from
the boat
Rudder - Small (often hand-size)
pivoting fin mounted under the keel
that steers the boat.
Scull - A boat in which each
rower has two oars, OR the oars used
in one of these boats.
Set - The balance and feel
of the boat. The most efficient boats
are balanced evenly over the center
line and remain so throughout the
strokes. If rowers are not aligned
properly, or a rower swings off center
as part of his or her motion during
a stroke, or if rowers on one side
of the boat are pulling with more
or less force than the other side,
the set of the boat can be altered,
introducing drag into its motion.
Shell - Any sweep or scull rowing boat
Single - A one-person, two-oared
boat
Skeg - A small, immobile fin
projecting from the keel, to help
a boat stay upright and go straighter.
Stern – back of the boat
Stretcher - Where the rower's feet go. The stretcher
consists of two inclined footrests
which hold the rower's shoes. The
shoes are bolted into the footrests.
Stroke - The rearmost rower in any boat but a
single, who sets the rate for all
rowers in the boat
Sweep - Opposite of scull,
each rower has 1 oar
Swing - The inexpressible "feel"
of a boat that is moving together
as a single unit
Uni or Unisuit – one piece
uniform for crew
Way
enough - (sounds like wain off)
Stop!! Often the next words you'll
hear after failing to respond to "heads
up"
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The two seasons of Crew
There are two types of
races: Head races, and Sprints.
Head races are usually held in the Fall
and sprints in the Spring. Sprints are
1500 meters for high school and 2000 meters
for college. In sprints, boats race directly
against each other in lanes on a marked
straight or nearly straight course. In
larger regattas, there will usually be
qualifying rounds, then petite finals
for non-qualifying boats and grand finals
for the top finishers in the qualifying
rounds. Qualification is by placement,
not by time, i.e. a second place boat
in one heat will qualify before a fourth
place boat in another, even if the fourth
place boat had a better time. Head races
are longer, usually 2.5 to 3.5 miles,
and are times events. Boats start off
typically at 15 second intervals and all
race the same course, often with many
turns, following the course of the river.
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Spectator Protocol / Etiquette
Encouraging and cheering
the team before, during and after the
race is very important. The race itself can
be viewed from several different vantage
points and it is important to remember
that, unlike other sports, there is no
stadium, gym or bleachers. Some regattas provide
seating, but more often than not, it is
best to bring your own chair.
For fall races on Quinsigamond
the finish is at the DRC, and spring races
finish down at Regatta point (Rt 9 bridge). When you arrive at an
away race, please look for the blue canopy
with the gold letters: “Shrewsbury Crew”. Please introduce yourself…the
parents of the veteran rowers will be
very happy to see you.
PLEASE
NOTE: The area near the dock
is often crowded with boats and crews,
and is potentially dangerous due to the
movement of equipment. We recommend that you
keep a safe distance from the dock as
you congratulate our teams as they leave
the water. (see "heads up" below)
Crew
- "Crew" means rowing team, so don't
inquire about the crew "team" since the
word "team" is redundant. The nine people--a
crew-- when placed in a shell are called
a "boat". One does not refer to an empty
shell as a "boat".
"Heads
up" - An eight is 58 feet long, so
it takes a lot of room to maneuver it.
If you hear "heads up" someone is trying
to move a boat in your vicinity, and you
are expected to get out of the way.
PAY ATTENTION when walking around
crews launching or coming off the water.
Regatta
- Any rowing event involving competition.
Any race is a regatta, however, large
or small. Races are never called "meets"
or "games" and rowers do not "play crew".
A popular crew slogan is "Athletes row.
Others play games".
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What does a Coxswain do?
This pretty much sums
it up....Sarah Sherman coxing the boys
varsity eight 2003 NEIRA Champs, Phillips
Andover Academy
Click
here for Sarah's
call (4.85 megs)
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Advice for first
time crew parents
As
a parent, being involved with rowing can
be a challenging experience. We hope that the information
and advice contained in this handbook
will help make this an enjoyable experience
for you as well as your child.
As the parent of an athlete on SHS Crew,
oftentimes, you will:
Travel
for over an hour to attend a race…
Position
yourself along the water’s edge…
Try
to guess if the boat you see in the distance
is your son’s/daughter’s boat coming toward
you…
When
you finally realize that it is their boat,
there is a frenzy of cheering as they
quickly row by you….
And
then….. it’s over
Although it
may seem that your involvement is marginal,
the effect of your presence on the morale
of the team is beyond measure.
Knowing that mom/dad/friends are
on the shoreline is one of the greatest
motivators that the team has.
And, always
remember the first rule of watching a
crew race…BRING BINOCULARS!
We also encourage
the photographically gifted amongst you
to take as many pictures as you can to
submit them for display on the website. In that way, parents
that cannot attend a race can still see
what happened.
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Helping your rower
Rowing
is a very demanding sport both in
terms of your child’s time commitment
and in terms of the physical demand
that it places on your child.
During the season your child
will burn 1500+ calories a day, so
it is important that the athlete eats
regularly (no skipping breakfast)
and appropriately (protein, carbs
& veggies).
The importance of rest and
nutrition is obvious, but just as
important is the extra encouragement
and patience that your child will
need to help him/her get through the
season.
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Helping the team
Many students report that one of
the most attractive aspects of rowing
is that there are no “stars” on which
all the attention is focused. More than any other
sport, a crew is selfless and represents
the essence of “teamwork.”
So, as often as you cheer for
your child, it is also very helpful
to cheer for the team.
In addition, like any school system,
the need for equipment and supplies
always outweighs the school’s resources. So, participation by
parents in any and all aspects of
fund raising is crucial to the success
of the team.
Get involved with the Friends
of Shrewsbury Crew, where there are
many volunteer opportunities.
Overall, parental involvement is
the anchor that stabilizes the team
and it is also the rudder that helps
to steer the team to overcome challenges
and remain successful.
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