Switch from Running to Crew?

I was in much the same position as you, although my high school times were bad enough I doubt most D3 schools would have taken me even. I switched to rowing in college, was fairly successful, and returned to running after college much faster then when I left. Any advice I give will be primarily from one guy to another as womens rowing has a different organizational system I'm not personally familiar with.

Men's rowing in college is not an NCAA sport, womens rowing is. This is largely due to the history of rowing, the first contested intercollegiate sport, and needing a womens sport to offset football with respect to title nine. There are only a few "varsity" men's rowing teams in the country, some PAC 10 schools and the Eastern Sprints conference which includes the Ivies and about 8 other schools. All other programs are club teams with their own championship races.

All the varsity programs are competitive but club teams vary greatly so do some research on the schools you're looking at, team websites and results from major races, Dad Vail and ECAC regattas and Head of the Charles are good ones to look at. Some club teams rival the lower tier varsity ones with paid coaches, intense practice schedules, and state of the art equipment, others are more like frats that happen to row a couple times a week. I attended one of the more competitive club program schools and medaled several time at the Dad Vail regatta.

Requirements for making the team will also vary greatly. Some teams take everyone, some have extensive cuts. Due to the lack of high school programs and scholarship athletes basically every team will give walkons a chance. Making the team and earning a spot in the top boat is lately based on a time trial, 2 or 6km on a Concept 2 ergometer. As you are a runner I assume you will be able to compete as a lightweight rower (under 160 lbs), for a lightweight freshman 7:00 for 2k or 23:30 for 6k will make most teams and put in the top boat for the majority. While not necessary, prior rowing experience will help, even just a local club's learn to row program is good if you can find one.

Assuming you're on a varsity or serious club team expect to practice 6 or 7 days a week, often with doubles. Good crosstraining includes lifting and running, especially hills. Workouts are very similar to running ones except intervals are often based on 500m increments rather than 200 or 400m track uses. Examples include tempo workouts of 20 to 40 min, lots of steady state rowing, and interval sessions such as 12x500m, 5x1000m, or 3x2500m.

Overall rowing was for me a great experience competitively and athletically as well a socially and personally, all my best friends from college are former team mates. Hope this helps with your decision, reply to this thread if you have any additional questions or if something I said doesn't make sense to you, good luck.

If you're a typical runner, you probably also have the option of rowing lightweight (150ish if you're a guy, 125ish girl, less competitive by far at the collegiate level, but it's an option if you want to compete on a team setting). The great thing about rowing at the collegiate level is that almost all programs are willing to take novice/walk-ons and develop them; half of my teammates had never rowed before college (I was D1, Ivy, plug for Dartmouth being the most beautiful place in the world to row! When not frozen......). If you're any type of regular runner, you already have a good aerobic base built up and that will get you onto a novice team through the fall season. From there, it's up to you!

As far as erg times, hop on and pull a 2k. Again, depends on your size.....check out the results for the "CRASH-B" event to see a good range of top-mid end. For guys, heavies want to be near 6 flat, lights around 6:30, but if you're just starting and get under 7 then goodie on you. Ladies, add one minute to the above times.....

I've no personal experience with crew, but several years ago the top runner of a coaching friend of mine - a 4:30/9:45 guy - knew he wasn't going to make it in college XC/track so he walked on the crew team and loves it. I can see why it would appeal to runners - arms instead of legs, perhaps, but much the same mentality. Hope it works for you!

The Ivy League is not the bottom rung of D1 running.

I hate to hijack the topic, but I know of some very good runners who switched to cycling at my school because our school team was small for financial reasons. A lot of schools have large cycling teams. Downside is cycling can be expensive. Here is a list anyway:

http://collegiatecycling.org/Institutions.aspx

Not trying to dissuade you, but my University's crew team was pretty douchey. That being said, I have cousins who do crew and far from douches. Do what ever brings you happiness and less injuries.

I can back up what Shifty says, aside from erg times since I was a generation ago.

I was in exactly your position - at an Ivy but not a fast enough runner to make a difference on the team. I was a 10:00 2 miler.

So I tried out for lightweight crew and had a terrific time - the coaches and athletes treated my aerobic capabilities as basically not believable - I walked in as a freshman who had never seen a crew race and had one of the top erg times among freshmen.

My guess is that most teams will keep freshmen on the team if they can pull a decent erg time and have a good attitude. Definitely work out on an indoor rowing machine in the leadup to the fall.

I rowed four years and made some great friends and had even better experiences - I'm not sure anything hurts more than a 2000 meter race - I vomited more than I thought possible. It was great.

I also got much stronger than I was as a runner - which paid off when I returned to running after graduation. It took just 6 months of serious running after graduation to get back to my high school times.

Another plus is that I weighed just 138 back then - other guys loved when I was in the boat - they didn't have to lose so much.

biggest difference between rowing and running is the endless concentration on form - every move has to be to the inch and you have to do what everyone else is doing. Weird for a non-conformist distance runner, but sort of comforting.

In the end, rowing is a great opportunity to make a difference in a sport - because so few people row in high school, a fit runner can walk on and make a big difference in a fascinating sport.

i can only echo what everyone has said. i was in a similar position as you... i ran 4:27 but not good enough to make the top 20 d1 program at the university i attended. i also hit a major growth spurt as a senior in high school and didnt run well/ outgrew competitive running with broad shoulders, etc.

my natural rowing weight was around 168-- i got down to lightweight when it was necessary for the team, or ate whatever and lifted whenever when i was in a heavyweight boat. it was a great way to continue in a challenging and team-emphasized sport. i still have tons of memories of just being out on the water, surrounded by trees, at dawn or sunset.

i found the workouts to be very intense. running gave me a leg up on the other freshman at first, who weren't used to pushing themselves of pacing themselves. but 14-16x500, 8x1000, 4x2000, 2x5000 were all incredibly taxing aerobically and anaerobically. i agree with the previous poster in that i have never hurt as much as i did in crew races, erg tests, or workouts. i remember my third head race ever, a 5k, i couldnt feel my arms the last 1000 meters or so. i wasnt used to being anaerobic for so long. because there is less stress on the muscles, coaches may do more interval workouts per week than in running. we were either doing intervals 2x a week, steady state 2x a week, a race and 1 or 2 recovery rows. and the weights after a workout... that is a new type of pain.

in terms of advice now... if you know you want to row, get on an erg from time to time and practice getting up to 40minutes at a good pace and 60minutes at a controlled pace. you could throw in some intervals of 2x10 minutes, 5x500 to get used to rowing at a higher tempo and faster pace. do your steady state at around 26-7spm, your controlled at 22-24 and your intervals at 28-30. work on your form on the erg. watch some videos. the ways guys in the gym are doing it is not the proper way to do it, most likely. if you can, get out on the water for some intro lessons. a lot of rowing clubs do learn to row classes a few times a year for a few hundred bucks. this would be extremely beneficial. basically, if you want to make the top novice/ freshman boat, the decision will be made based on your form and your erg time. making it in the first boat will get you more attention from coaches and put you on a track to make varsity down the road. in my experience, the people who quit tended to be the people who were less invested, not on the first boat, etc.

i went to a club team where funding was always an issue. this made crew more time consuming than usual, as we were always fundraising, traveling in shitty vans, etc. i would look to teams that either have varsity or a well supported club team. UNC, UVA, Michigan are all well-funded club teams that compete at very high levels. A UNC team we lost to in regular season meets ended up placing 4th at IRAs my sophomore year.

i know this is long, but i hope helpful. i would certainly recommend rowing, and can second it keeping you in great shape. we often went for 7 mile runs during the summer, offseason if we didnt feel like erging and were running under 7 minute pace and would hammer at the end. i got down to a 6:24 erg my junior year before breaking my hand my senior year. so you can definitely be very competitive as a lightweight. in fact, a taller runner i ran against in high school (sam burns) ended up rowing in Washington's varsity boat, so it is possible to be top in the country with hard work. good luck.

Wow, thanks to all of you for this great help! I didn't realize that this was apparently somewhat common among runners. I would definitely be "lightweight" because I'm currently 6' 0" and 145 lbs. I'm sure I'd put on some weight from doing more lifting etc., but definitely I would not exceed 160 lbs.

I also didn't realize just how fast the standards are. I have never done an all-out workout on the erg, but when I was doing 1:55 500m repeats for cross-training I thought those were pretty fast. Guess not! Maybe trying one of those "learn to row" classes will help, since our school has no coach/team and I might be rowing with improper form.

Go for it. I have two athletes that ended up switching from running to crew in college. They were both back end varsity, top end JV guys who werent quite good enough for DI cross country, but like you, did not want to give up the team atmosphere.

They both absolutely loved it and one has been on the Varsity four man boat for his school for the past year. As for times I have no idea, I have never competed in the sport myself.

As far as looking for form goes, try either poking around row2k.com or else go to the concept2 website; both of these locations should have videos describing correct erg/rowing form (hint: not your arms! legs/core should do the work). If you're interested in seeing lots of good rowing, check out the universal sports videos for rowing; they have the entirety of most worlds/olympics up unedited. Hours of entertainment......

Really give the rowing a shot. Best thing I ever did with my life......

Hunted wrote:

Wow, thanks to all of you for this great help! I didn't realize that this was apparently somewhat common among runners. I would definitely be "lightweight" because I'm currently 6' 0" and 145 lbs. I'm sure I'd put on some weight from doing more lifting etc., but definitely I would not exceed 160 lbs.

I also didn't realize just how fast the standards are. I have never done an all-out workout on the erg, but when I was doing 1:55 500m repeats for cross-training I thought those were pretty fast. Guess not! Maybe trying one of those "learn to row" classes will help, since our school has no coach/team and I might be rowing with improper form.

Just wanted to add on here to not get discouraged about your times for repeats just now. For one, weight makes a huge difference, so pulling at 145 is a lot different than 155 or 165. Also, you are just starting out. These are not bad times for just picking up the erg. When I was in really good shape I was doing 12-16x500 (30sec rest) at 1:40 or so pace. But, this was after picking up the sport AND having 20 pounds on you.

Work on your form, getting power with your legs and core, and your pace. 1:55 at 30SPM is a lot different than at 26SPM in terms of strength and effort exerted.

When you row at a controlled SPM, 18-22, you can really feel how your body is getting its power. And, you always have more SPM in reserve. I always liked being a little more controlled through the beginning of my intervals, knowing I could bump of the pace if I started to get tired. Where my teammates who would start out at 30-32 SPM had nowhere to go but down once they started getting tired.

Work towards getting your intervals down to 1:50 if you are going hard, with little recovery. This should set you up to break 7:00 (1:45) in the winter of your freshman year. Add steady states where you can go for 30 minutes at 2:05-07 at 24-26 SPM and you should have a good base. If you want to get the SPM up there, just to see how it feels, that is okay, but the higher the SPM, the less you feel and control your form, and this is far more important at this stage in the game.

Good luck!

It may seem fast now - because you are new to the sport, but i really think you will be suprised by how much faster and more competitve you can be.

I was about 24 when i first sat down on an erg - a skinny legged runner with no rowing power. Breaking 10 for 2500 meters (the standard distnace in those days was good for me). Within a few years i was going sub 9:00...a few more years sub 8:20 (that's holding 1:40 per 500 meter). I was easily beating most of the crew guys on a D1 team that made it to Nationals a few times...and I still don't have a lot of power in the legs (probably can't go under 1:35 in an all out sprint), but the lungs - oh the lungs is where it is at.

the mistake most crew teams make is thinking they need to do all this heavy lifting to be good. The race is not about pushing a heavy work load a few times, it is an aerobic event of pushing a force continuously for the duration of the race (this is why distance runners - once they develop some leg strength - can be very, very good rowers).

Go For IT!