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If you’re lucky, you’ll be packing a bag and getting on the water for a training trip or regatta with your team. As with everything about coxing, a little preparation goes a long way.
First, you need to get there with the right gear. Make a packing list so that you have everything you need for days on and off the water. Check the weather; just because you’re southbound doesn’t mean you’ll be basking in sunshine. If it’s going to rain for multiple days, pack enough waterproof layers and shoes that you won’t need to put your own soggy clothes back on. Read your itinerary, and make sure you have enough snacks, sunscreen, and battery charge to get you through the first day or two, since you’ll probably arrive and go straight to rigging and rowing.
Training camp means that you might be going from a relatively straightforward body of water to one with a lot more places to go—and more places to make a wrong turn.
“Look at a map. Know where north, south, east, and west are and know the traffic patterns in general,” advised Tessa Gobbo, the Loyalty Chair for Women’s Crew at Brown University (and 2016 Olympic gold medalist). “Everybody’s a little unnerved on a new body of water. It’s your job to know what’s happening. So look at a map.”
Use Google Maps to orient yourself with an overhead view (it’s good to know how the cardinal directions relate to the venue) and Google Earth to help identify some landmarks that you can connect to visually when you arrive. You can get creative here; power lines, buoys, notable houses, and odd flora are all good options.
Mastering the course beforehand allows you to show up every session ready to focus on anything else that might arise. Training trips always bring some adventure. Maybe the launch dies, maybe a pod of dolphins crashes your steady-state row. If you haven’t been in the coxswain’s seat in a little while, you might be feeling a bit rusty. Jump in with both feet.
“This is your time to be there and be involved with everything,” said Gobbo. “Make sure that when you’re around the team you’re ‘on.’”
Be present during practice and give yourself some time between sessions to rest and recover, just like your rowers. While you might not be taking strokes, out on the water your brain is hard at work.
Traveling for a camp can be one of the best experiences you’ll share with your team—flat water, great bonding, and fast rowing in a new environment. But it also can be draining. You’ll spend much of your day on the water, not always in ideal conditions, and a lot of time will be spent in selection. Emotions can run high.
This is a good moment to remember your oversized emotional influence on your team. You can make a tough practice better.
“You can set the tone more than you realize,” Gobbo said. “You want the team to be serious but have a good time? You can be serious but have a good time. You want your boat to go fast on the water? You’re only talking about that boat going fast on the water, not other stuff. It sounds super simple, but it’s so rare that a sport has a designated leader.”
A training trip is an opportunity to get back on the water and set the tone for the coxswain you’ll be this season. If you come prepared, treat your teammates well, and meet challenges with earnest effort, you’ll be on your way to a good spring.
Hannah Woodruff is an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the Radcliffe heavyweight team. She began rowing at Phillips Exeter Academy, was a coxswain at Wellesley College, and has coached college, high-school, and club crews for over 10 years.
