Join me in the coxswains seat for an intense 480m sprint at the 2024 Bendigo Grade and Masters Sprint Regatta!

Listen in as the Hawthorn Rowing Clubs Female Masters coxed quad (FMX4+) takes on this short, sharp course. The action starts at 3:40 on the video as we move into position, but don’t skip the build-up.

All the intensity of sprint racing from the best seat in the house!

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This is a ripper! We had a tough battle against Yarra Yarra and Mercantile. The Mercantile Crew were an A grade (meaning late 20-year-olds…) and we had a big handicap in our favour the start. The game was to hold the charge off while keeping Yarra Yarra at bay.

We always have a great battle with Yarra Yarra, so this was going to be fun from the start. Whilst we didn’t “get the bikies” I would say one of the most enjoyable races for a while.

Race start is at 16.30 on the clock, but it’s always interesting listening into the leadup.

The post Miked Up – Footscray Saltwater Grade and Masters Regatta MM4+ appeared first on The Coxswains Journey.

Join me live from the “cockpit” for this MM8+ race (MM8+ is Masters 8’s, and the + is the coxswain), we raced 2 Melbourne Rowing Club Crews in a tight battle with one of them.

The recording is on from pushing off the staging, but if you want to shortcut, we move to the start at 16.30, the race start is 18.10, and race finish is at 22.15. So tune in to hear the action from the Coxswains seat.

Great to listen to as you doze off at night 😉

The post Miked Up – 2024 Nagambie Grade and Masters Regatta MM8+ appeared first on The Coxswains Journey.

Welcome to one of my recordings of the Hawthorn Rowing Clubs Female Masters Quads, first and final at the 2024 Barwon Regatta.

There’s a few takeaways from this recording; firstly these guys were a good crew, and we won this comfortably, so it made keeping the crew motivated and racing more challenging as they were competing with themselves for the most part.

So why not back away and take it easy? well I brought them back a little, only enough to reduce risk of errors, but not enough to stop them working; never forget, anything can happen so always treat it as a race and always race hard.

The other points, as we were getting ready for the start I gave a few coxing tips to the crew; why? because some of this crew also help out and do some coxing, so I wanted to pass that info on.

The main takeaway, as its only Audio you cant see the rate, but you will notice I use my voice to assist in maintaining rate and rhythm, like the drummer of the band, just keep it tapping away.

Enjoy!

The post Miked Up – 2024 Barwon Regatta FM4X+ appeared first on The Coxswains Journey.

We are fortunate to have been given access to the live recording from the 2016 Nationals (SG4X+) crew.

In this tape we hear the coxswain, Julia Crute, take her crew through the second semi final, achieving a respectable 4th place to gain a spot in the A Finals of the Sydney International Rowing Regatta.

Korowa had a solid stint in the Quad during the 2010’s making the A final in 2013, 14, 16, 17 and 19. Julia coxed the crew in 2016 and 2017 claiming a Bronze in the 2017 Nationals Sprint event with a respectable 1.41.42 for the 500m.

What I love about listening into the recordings is we can glean what went on in the boat and coxswains can really glean some great learning material.

Some key Takeaways:

• In the starting phase (3 minutes out out) as the crew is called into the “box” for the 2 minute call, Julia apears to be completely calm and relaxed.
• She is delivering strong, confident and sharp instructions.
• She is talking to her crew by name, not number (obviously harder in masters races when you are in different boats all the time).
• The crew then pulls onto the “finger” with 2 minutes to go, yet still everyone is calm, driven by a relaxed coxswain, of course nerves are extremely high and anxiety through the roof, yet the relaxed feel from the coxswain keeps all as relaxed as possible.
• Also worth noting, there must be a light crosswind as there is constant calls for touching it, yet all still remain calm, “Bodies up, Just relax” and “Breath” is said, no talking on the boat except the coxswain.

Then the Start:

• Instantly Julia’s voice changes, its “game on”.
• Straight away she is calling the stroke up!, she is calling on pairs (again by name), and alerting them to the surrounding competition.
• Through the middle stages she is using her voice to assist and control, rhythm and rate, this is a key thing Coxswains do; often they don’t even realise it, but its something you as a coxswain needs to learn to understand; you can bring rate up just with your voice.
• She focusses on keeping the crew invested during the brutal mid stages, this is of course vital.
• Yet still calling on stroke from time to time, no doubt to assist in executing the race plan and keep the stroke constantly focussed on every stroke.

The race is complete, and all calm is restored throughout the whole crew as they anxiously await the result to determine if they made the A final.

There are many more Takeaways, but this audio is certainly worth a listen, the race start is at 3.51 into the audio, but be sure to listen to the whole start.

Or listen on Spotify:

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