The Internet is the great equalizer. During the winter months, when the idea of rowing on the water seems months away, rowers can compete against opponents from all over the world in challenges ranging from holiday fundraisers to international ergathons.
Concept2 has pioneered erg challenges since 2000, shortly after its online logbook debuted in 1999. On March 15, the manufacturer’s World Erg Challenge begins as groups from all over the globe enter to rack up the most meters during a one-month span.
“Overall, we try and make the challenges fun and cover a range of things, so that they don’t all require a lot of effort,” said Concept2’s David Hart. “These are really popular and the camaraderie and competitive element provide lots of motivation for people.”
The data backs it up. Hart said over 10,000 people participated in the company’s Holiday Challenge in 2016, with more than 70 percent rowing more than 100,000 meters each. Concept2 now offers challenges throughout the calendar year at different distances, including full and half marathons in May.
In 2017, the World Erg Challenge will try to surpass the 274 teams and 3,578 athletes who competed in last year’s competition, which was co-sponsored by World Rowing and saw 25 individuals erg more than a million meters.
By participating in challenges, even those run online, athletes can set goals for themselves, which numerous studies have shown helps with athletic performance, so long as those goals are specific and measurable. A 2013 study from the Association for Psychological Science said that people like being able to compare themselves with others, and demographic factors affect their buy-in in competitions. In most challenges, Concept2 sets a target for everyone to achieve, but the World Erg Challenge is focused on who can go the furthest in 31 days.
Additionally, the World Rowing Indoor Sprints offer racers a chance to put their best 1,000-meter time up against anyone else between March 10 and 12. The top three finishers in gender, weight, and age categories receive medals. More information on erg challenges is available on Concept2’s website.
Choose Your Challenge
R.I.P, Light Four
It’s hard not to see FISA’s decision to end lightweight sweep events at the Olympics through anything other than my own biased perspective, given I spent the majority of my national team career in—or trying to get into—the light four.
It was a confounding boat class; more technical than a small boat and at times as fast as an eight. Its most advanced practitioners—the Swiss, the French, and, of course, The Danish—put on a clinic every time they took to the water and our sport was better off for it. To this day, I’m in awe of what went on in that event.
But times, and tastes, change. And when it came to choosing between long-overdue gender parity and preserving an event that, however exciting, failed to meaningfully increase universality, the decision was clear.
Many didn’t see it that way. In the days that followed the FISA Extraordinary Congress, my Facebook feed was overrun with posts decrying all that was lost with the decision. None, however, considered what was gained.
For one, the change likely strengthened rowing’s position in the eyes of the International Olympic committee, which in the Agenda 2020 era, is a good thing. But more importantly, there are now four additional seats for women’s sweep.
I think back to what it was like when I learned that lightweights could race at the Olympics, and I can’t help but feel there are athletes out there who look at the increased opportunity in the same way.
As for lightweight sweep, I am less hopeful. It’s hard to argue we’re better off today than before the start of this Olympic experiment. But traditions run deep in this sport, and like the women’s four, there’s no ruling out a comeback.
Get with the Program
Of all the options on the table, this was probably the one most of us expected. Under increasing pressure from the International Olympic Committee to align the sport with its Agenda 2020 strategic plan, FISA made the decision at this year’s Extraordinary Congress Feb. 9-12 in Tokyo to remove the men’s lightweight four from the Olympic program, replacing it with the women’s straight four. Additionally, para-rowing events will now be 2,000 meters, as opposed to 1,000 meters, at World Rowing events and the Paralympic Games.
The moves accomplish two very important things for the sport: gender equality and inclusion. But while these changes are necessary, they come at the cost of one of rowing’s most beloved—and hotly-contested—events. The decision to eliminate the light four, shortly after the removal of the men’s lightweight eight from the world rowing championships (the latter due to low subscription numbers over the past several years), has spelled the demise of lightweight sweep rowing at the Olympic Games, and likely means a diminished place for lightweight sweep rowing at the elite level more generally as rowing federations prioritize Olympic events.
“In terms of gender equality, that’s great—that’s where we should be heading,” says 2016 Olympian and now USRowing Interim President Meghan O’Leary. “That’s progress. It’s a leading principle behind Agenda 2020, and for rowing to step up and want to make sure we align ourselves with that is important not only for the sport, but also to show that we agree with those values.”
Still, the question remains: In the changing landscape of Olympic sport, does this make rowing better—and more competitive with sports gaining traction in the Olympic Movement—in the long run? Or are more, and more significant, changes necessary to ensure the place of rowing in the Olympic Games?
“Rowing is one of the oldest [modern] Olympic sports and the hope is that we will continue to be a part of the Olympic program,” O’Leary says. “But the cultural appetite for sport has changed, and dramatically so, especially in the last 10-15 years.”
She continues: “The Olympics, the way it is now, with the television rights, and sponsorships, and partnerships, all the money that’s associated with it—it’s no secret that there has been a movement toward the Olympics as entertainment. So for sports to remain a part of the program, you’re seeing them have to make adjustments.”
Current Cal men’s head coach Mike Teti is in something of a unique position in the midst of all this. Teti coached the only U.S. men’s lightweight four to medal at the Olympics (a bronze in 1996), and his wife Kay Worthington of Canada won gold in the women’s four in Barcelona in 1992, the last time the event was raced in the Olympics.
“I’m in a no-win situation here,” Teti says with a laugh. “I tend to be a little more radical—I think one of the biggest problems with our sport is that we have all these events, and everyone competes in one event. What other sports, like swimming, have over us, they’re able to have multi-medalists. If it were me, I’d reduce the number of athletes and make everybody double up or triple up—some kind of derivative of that.”
In other words, Teti is looking for more of an outside-the-box approach.
“I think the thing that would fundamentally change rowing is if we had heroes in our sport. Look, we’re rowers, and we understand it, and we like watching it. But for the layperson?”
This is something that cuts against the grain of much of rowing’s selfless lore, but it also makes perfect sense.
“To me, I’m a sports fan, but during the Olympics there are events that I watch because they pique my interest. I don’t watch swimming, but now all of a sudden Katie Ledecky is going to win six medals, or Missy Franklin, or even the Winter Olympics is probably a better example. I’ve never skied in my life, and I don’t really know a lot of these sports, but then, wow, this person is going to win three medals in cross country skiing, or this person is going to win the downhill and the Super G—that’s what we don’t have.”
In fact, the superstar athletes are already there. Take Kimberly Crow Brennan, who won two medals in 2012 doubling up in the single and double (the only rowing athlete to race two events). And there are other examples. “I mean, look at [Hamish Bond] from the New Zealand pair, who jumps in the single and beats everybody,” Teti says. “It would be kind of cool—what if he rowed a pair, a single, a double, and a quad? He might win four medals.”
When the NBA decided to add the shot clock, and the three-point line, it wasn’t popular with basketball purists (in some cases, it’s still not popular.) But can it really be argued that the NBA isn’t much more compelling as a result? That the sport, while changed from its original form, is better for it?
The 2,000-meter, six-lane, straight course is nothing like the way the sport began, when Thames watermen started competing with each other for business and pride, as evidenced by the Doggett’s Coat and Badge race. Even now, outside of spring racing, there are head races of various lengths, featuring every boat class and many athletes competing across multiple events. In order for our sport to retain its place and influence within the Olympic movement as one of the founding sports of the modern Games, does some of this ingenuity—this willingness to experiment and try new things—need to filter up to the highest level?
Q&A with Andrew Triggs Hodge
Andrew Triggs Hodge has formally announced his retirement from rowing. Rowing News writer Connor Walters caught up with Triggs Hodge and asked a few questions about his career and the future. Look for our full story in the April issue of ROWING Magazine.
When did you decide that Rio would be the last race for you?
I had to rethink my approach to rowing at a fundamental level when I had to take a year off due to glandular fever recurrence. I did this to manage my expectations about Rio, moving my sights towards something I could achieve, I had to come to terms with not making the Olympics. To do this I forgot about Rio and started to action plans about a life after rowing, to plan around what else there is in life. This process laid bare the road to a full retirement. The only question was when — was it 2015 or could I fluke a last Olympics. I guess I got lucky!
What did it mean for you to go out on top, with gold in the 8+?
That eight was an incredible boat. A mix of some of the best guys in the team. They all had great attitudes, and while not the fastest in trials, we produced the essence of what makes rowing great. Team Work. It’s one of the best displays I’ve seen in the sport and I’m incredibly proud to have been part of this crew. The way we executed the final in Rio was the cherry on the top. A beautiful race, overflowing with passion and grit, but wonderfully contained within a process we’d worked on day in day out, sold ourselves to and critically believed in. It was a dream.
I read your post on Facebook announcing your retirement and I looked up the Tideway Tunnel you said you would be working on; what will your role be in this big project? How did you first get involved with this work?
I studied environmental science and water management at university, which reflects an upbringing in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales. And while I rower I’ve always had a to get back into this work. Tideway has given me this opportunity. My work here is focused and I have always had ambitions around creating something that will promote the benefits the tunnel brings to one of the most iconic rivers in the world. The tunnel will prevent millions of tons of untreated sewage entering the river each year. This will have a huge impact on the city and the way we interact this important part of our capital.
Your rowing career is remarkable, with three Olympic gold medals to your name. Was there a constant in your life or training that helped you succeed at the Olympics over and over again?
I always approached each session with the simple goal of being a little bit better, becoming an Olympic champion was never about being one. There are so many facets to rowing there is always something to work on. Achieving your best, in my opinion, doesn’t involve aiming for perfection, but just making what you do a little bit better, do this often enough and it’s surprising how good you can get. I believe it’s important to develop without the distracting pressure of the ‘result’ hanging over you. I think it’s why I’ve been able to enjoy the sport so much.
What’s the most unexpected thing that happened to you during your national team career–something that made you say, ‘Wow–I never thought that would happen.’?
I never thought I’d go to the Olympics when I was 21.
I never thought I’d become and Olympic champion when I was 24.
I never thought I’d know a good man at Cambridge.
For the rest, I’m too much of an optimist to worry about doubt.
Friend or Foe?
Athletes’ opinions about carbohydrates range from evil to essential. The research, however, is more conclusive. It supports eating a sports diet based on grains, fruits, and vegetables—the wholesome kinds of sugars and starches that feed the brain and fuel the muscles during hard exercise. But what about those who say they feel better when cutting out carbohydrates? When I hear this, I’ll ask what they were eating prior to making the change. The answer is almost always the same: fast food and junk rather than high-quality meals. No wonder they feel better; they are eating better.
An easier way to reduce sugar cravings is to prevent extreme hunger.
Of course, those who do report feeling better after cutting out grains might be dealing with food sensitivities. When you cut out a whole food group, though, you eliminate a lot of foods. It’s likely just a few foods contributed to their feeling unwell. A registered dietician can help you reach the same level of “feeling great” by working with you to figure out which foods are the culprits. Some athletes rave that their low-carbohydrate diet allows them to curb their addiction to sugar. A high-fat diet curbs hunger, and simultaneously curbs cravings for sweets. An easier way to reduce sugar cravings is to prevent extreme hunger.
Boat Speed, Explained
To get your boat going faster with ease you need momentum. To carry that momentum down the race course you need swing. To capture swing you need rhythm and suspension on the drive. Sounds easy enough, right? It’s not. First, the recovery has to be spot on. To release the energy of the drive you need to release the blade cleanly and let the boat run. From there, focus on sending the boat when you follow through and pivoting at the hip to set your reach out of the bow. Hold your body angle stable as the wheels on your seat turn until you set the blade. To capture swing on the drive you will need a solid entry. Bury your blade properly so you have a secure hold on the water. Think hips as you press off the foot stretchers. Engage your glutes and then squeeze to slightly lift and unload the seat. Simultaneously stabilize your shoulder blades and draw down against your rib cage. Try to create a connection between your trunk and the handle. When you start to swing your shoulders over your hips, keep your weight between your feet and your handle. Stay light on the seat. Gather in the arms when you feel your weight starts to settle onto the seat. Keep the same lightness of the hips that you felt at the initiation of the drive through the release. Complete the leg drive and hold pressure to the footplate as you pivot over again out of bow.
Game On
Cross-training is a fact of life this time of year. But those who feel they are missing out on valuable water time should reconsider their negative attitude. According to a recent German study, we should embrace the opportunity to participate in activities beyond the boat. For their paper, the researchers examined a large number of rowers and the factors that correlated best with success at a later stage of their career, including the age they started rowing; in which boat they first learned the sport; how intensively they focused on rowing; the specific boat type they had their greatest success in; and several other factors. Interestingly enough, the factor that had the greatest correlation to future success was the number of hours they spent in another sport before they came to rowing. So what does this tell us? That athletes who practice different sports experience many other motions, become versatile, learn balance, and have many more ways to develop their cognitive abilities. They also learn tactical behavior, expand their competitive drive, and don’t tire of the repetitive nature of a single-sport focus. Most important of all, they stay engaged in the sport longer and have a broader general base to draw from.
Never Forget
When Theo Koerner, the former East German rowing coach, died in October, his obituaries noted his role as the architect of many successful rowing programs after the breakup of the former East Germany. Like a number of other Eastern-bloc coaches, Koerner moved to the West and worked to revitalize national rowing programs in Australia and Italy. But many oarsmen who had competed against German Democratic Republic (DDR) crews raised their voices in protest of the celebration of a man who had been a part of a sports program notorious for its use of performance-enhancing drugs.
One such protest came from David Lindstrom, who rowed for New Zealand in the 1970s. “We raced against the DDR from 1972 to 1978. Without the DDR in our races we would have had a world title in 1977 and an Olympic medal in 1976 [in the four]. I personally challenged Theo when he was in New Zealand after the Berlin Wall came down about drug taking, which he denied as all cheats would. The DDR do not deserve any acknowledgement of their rowing results. They were cheats. End of story.” It is important to note that besides the cheating, many athletes themselves suffered long-term health problems, including organ failure and death.
Without any evidence to the contrary, most rowers naively assumed that our sport was clean.
Olympic gold medalist Martin Cross of Great Britain says competing against the East Germans “was absolutely hellish. They had won medal after medal and I assumed at the time they just trained more and were better athletes and I was doing well just being in the same race as them.” Although no East German oarsman ever tested positive for doping, after the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, a huge cache of medical records was uncovered that proved the DDR had systematically doped up to 10,000 of its athletes, rowers included.
Koerner, the technical director of East German rowing (DRSV) from 1962 until 1989, was the man in charge of the program that brought the country of 17 million people 48 Olympic medals, 33 of them gold, from 1968 to 1988. Undoubtedly, there was more to the “Easties’” success than drug use; their sports system included nutrition and technical advances, and scientific monitoring of performance through lactate levels. Lindstrom recalls a conversation after Koerner had moved to the West, “Theo Koerner told me he was instructed to beat the West Germans at all costs to hold his job and as years went on ‘to beat the Western countries’ to show their political system was superior.” Should not those medals at least be doubted or come with an asterisk the way they do in “the steroids era” in baseball?
No allegations have been made that the former East German coaches introduced doping into the training programs for Western athletes. Instead, the professionalism of the DDR, which allowed for a huge volume of training, spread throughout the rowing world.
Today, in order to be competitive, indeed to win in rowing, it precludes having any meaningful job other than rowing.
When Koerner went to Australia after the Wall came down, he helped them prepare for the world championships in Tasmania in 1990. Those worlds, the first ever held in Australia, were successful and reignited what had been a slumbering program. The Aussie Oarsome Foursome won gold in the men’s heavy four to begin a string of four world championship gold medals, culminating in gold in both the 1992 and 1996 Olympics. Koerner was not the coach of those boats, but as a consultant to Australian Institute of Sport he helped engineer a major shift in training.
As Peter Antonie, Australia’s preeminent sculler throughout that era, explains, “When Koerner arrived, our training methods and program changed significantly. We began to do more volume and less intensity; our results showed that it worked.” Antonie, himself, benefited from Koerner’s training program. Although he had already been a world champion in the light single in 1986, in the 1990s with the East German’s influence, his training yielded better and better results. “In the heavy double we went from fourth at the worlds in 1989 to third in Tasmania to a gold medal in the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.”
Antonie concludes that “History tells us that there was a drug factor and that was unfair, but their methods were more than that. They were better supported—cars, jobs, food—and motivated because without success they had nothing.”
Not every East German coach had great success in the West after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Is that because they could not win without doping or the tremendous state support? One who showed that he did not need doping is the most successful coach in the post-DDR era, Jürgen Grobler, who moved from East Germany to Great Britain to become its chief coach. In an interview with the BBC, he said: “I have to live with what went on in East Germany. I was born in the wrong place. It was not possible to walk away.” Steve Redgrave defended his coach: “I’ve known Jürgen for the seven years he’s coached me and if there was any involvement it would be the system and not the man himself to blame.”
No one wants to pillory coaches who, in a corrupt sports administration, were forced to play along with directives from higher-ups.
But for a great many rowers who had to race against doped-up opponents, the bitter taste will never go away. The great Argentinian writer, Jorge Luis Borges wrote, “Olvidar es perdonar”—To forget is to forgive. Let us never forget. We should acknowledge the cheating that went on in the past and not hide our heads in the sand.
