Your Rowing Resume

As you prepare to contact colleges or other coaches (for rowing camps or junior national team interest), it is important that you have a resume of your rowing history ready. This is pretty easy to compose with a little research.

You will want to include: your personal information (height, weight, and erg times), your rowing accomplishments (results and boats rowed in), your experiences (races and regattas), and your personal interests.

Below is a sample resume that should help get you started.

Rowing Programs in College

Below is a pretty complete list of colleges and universities in the United States that offer rowing programs. For the most part, you can ignore the D1, D2, and D3 headings because that is an NCAA designation. Men's rowing is not an NCAA sport; therefore all the programs will be club, even those listed as D1, D2 or D3.

If you are interested in a particular school and want to see whether they have a rowing program, contact the school's athletic director.

Coachability

Among the many personal characteristics college coaches look for in a rower (among them being an excellent teammate, maintaining a positive attitude, having a strong work ethic, etc.), "coachability" is always at or near the top of the list. One study (Gould, Dieffenbach, & Moffett, 2002) describe "coachable" athletes as "athletes that display an openness to learn and develop quickly in their respective sports.

In addition to this definition, being coachable is a choice. It is the decision to accept criticism, responsibility, and change. It is the decision to act selflessly and put the team ahead of yourself. It is the decision to respect the sport with an eagerness to learn more and develop into a better rower. It is the decision to seek trust through integrity, discipline, and reliability.

When you talk with a college coach, they will probably not come right out and ask you if you are coachable. But as they listen to your stories and experiences they will be learning more about you and your personality. Prepare yourselves in advance with truthful examples of coachability both as a rower and as not. Your personality inside the boat should be the same as outside.

To help you start thinking of examples, use the following list for direction.

1. Enthusiasm - love of rowing, eager to learn
2. Listening, Concentration and Focus - respect for teammates and coaches
3. Selflessness - your role in the boat and as a team-member
4. Accountability - look to self first for improvement
5. Consistency - reliability
6. Work Habits - committment, personal improvement
7. Discipline - self-control
8. Confidence - in preparation and NOT arrogance
9. Integrity - doing what is right when no one is looking

Rowing in College: Preparation

Most of the team is beginning to investigate college and determine whether or not rowing is going to be part of the collegiate experience. For some, rowing may be very important: getting recruited to a top rowing school might be a high priority. For others, rowing in college would be fun but not necessary: perhaps a club team would be better. Whatever the case, selecting the right school comes down to knowing your interests, researching the schools, and planning your approach.

Row or no row, college is about academics first. Do not lose sight of the fact that college admissions, though interested in well-rounded individuals, want to ensure that your intellectual interests match their profile. Just be careful that crew doesn't muddy your college decision-making process. It should be part of your determination, but not all.

If you are highly interested in rowing in college, then here are a few suggestions to get you started:

1. Create a rowing resume. This doesn't need to be fancy, but it should include your best 2k time, your best 6k time, what side you row (port/starboard/both), what disciplines you row (sweep/scull/both), your height and weight, camps you've attended, regattas in which you've participated, and competitive highlights (1st at Empires, 3rd at States, 15th at CRASH Bs, etc.).
2. Develop a contact list. From the list of schools in which you are interested, make a spreadsheet that has the contact information of the rowing coaches: name, phone number, email, fax, etc. You may be referencing this a lot, particularly if you want to be recruited.
3. Schedule visits to the school. It will be very helpful to schedule school visits when the team is practicing that way part of your visit can be on the water. If you are in a launch with a coach you can get a lot of one-on-one time. This spring would be a great time to visit schools (whether a junior or sophomore).
4. Inform your coach of your plans. Say, for instance, you are going to visit a school and speak with a coach. It might be in your best interest to have your current coach contact that college coach first and let them know a little about you beforehand. You have a much better chance getting recruited when more people can reference your skills and abilities.
5. Don't let your academics slip. While you are planning for your future remember that you are still a student.