Reliability in Rowing

On the water, measuring consistency is difficult. It is no secret that coaches need to trust that their rowers, during any given workout or drill, are applying power consistently every stroke. The more evident it is to a coach that you are doing this, the more reliable you become as a rower.

This is important to understand as high school athletes because it factors a lot into boatings. Many coaches include erg scores, along with attendance, technique, teamwork, or motivation, as part of their boating determination. This is true for Niskayuna's varsity boy rowers. But it is also true that the top 8 erg scores don't always make the 1st varsity boat. Why?

Think back to consistency. The consistent rower, for any given erg piece, will keep his splits within a very tight range (maybe 3 seconds). The inconsistent rower, for the same erg piece, will produce splits over a broad range (maybe 30 seconds). If they both finish at the same time, all things considered, then the first rower is the reliable rower. He is more reliable because the coach can trust his performance on the erg and, thus, the water.

A coach may sacrifice a few seconds to put the more reliable rower in a boat. Reliability relates to consistency (as mentioned above), coachability, and focus. A reliable rower can be taught power and, more importantly, when that power must be applied. Always remember that your work in the boat must also be even and consistent with the 7 other rowers. Therefore, reliability is paramount to a boat's improvement. Although it is hard to measure reliability, because that is a coach's trust, it is easy to measure consistency.