Rowing page

Blackrock College Rowing Club

25^th Feb 2012

Lagan Head of the River report

The faces tell the story of how hard the Blackrock crew are working

The annual Lagan head of the river race took place in flat calm water on Saturday 25^th February and Blackrock College had 3 crews taking to the water.

First up was the youngest crew who had an early start from Dublin to be ready to race at 10am. Three members of this crew from 3^rd year have been training consistently since September and they were joined by 4^th year Will Harvey for this race. Doug Clinch was the stroke man of the crew and he set a fine rhythm to bring his crew home in 3^rd position just 0.2 second ahead of Bann rowing club.

Mens Junior 16 4x+

Stroke: Doug Clinch

3:       Ross O Mahony

2:       Tom McNamara

     Bow:   Will Harvey

MCBRC:  Methody College Belfast rowing club

CAIBC:    Coleraine Academical Institute boat club

RBAIRC: Royal Belfast Academical Institute rowing club

All smiles after a great race by the Blackrock junior 16 quad

In the second race of the day Blackrock College had 2 eights entered in a very competitive field. In fact it was such a high class field that the second and third boat in the overall competition were two junior 18 crews which Blackrock was competing against. Well done to all Blackrock rowers for racing hard and representing their school so well on the day.

Coxswain Adam Keogh gives instructions to his 8 oarsmen after their race

Blackrock crew looking relaxed before the start of their race

Appreciation

Blackrock College would very much like to thank Trinity College ladies for the loan of their boat and also to Niamh for coxing one of the eights and Andrew Coleman (Trinity College boat man) for his help on the day.

Many thanks to Paul Romeril from Old Colegians (ex UCD) for taking the boats on his trailer to Belfast.

The men’s junior quad would like to thank Rory Hewllet from RBAI for coxing their boat.

Next race

Colaiste Chiarain from Limerick are travelling to Dublin on Wednesday February 29^th to challenge Blackrock rowers to a number of different races in all boat types from single sculls to an eights race. Racing will begin at 13:45 and food and drinks will be served in Guard boat club at 16:00 and all are welcome.

Dublin Head of the river

This race will take place on the 24^th March from O Connell Bridge to Heston station and is for eights only. Blackrock plan to race two eights which means rowers will have to prove they deserve a seat in one of the two boats by attending training regularly and training hard in the coming weeks.

Parents Group

It was great to see so many parents in attendance in Belfast many of whom were a great help in getting the boats set up to go on the water. The first meeting of the parents group will be held on Saturday March 10^th  after training is completed and all parents are invited to attend for a brief (10 minutes)discussion about the rowing club and how parents can be involved in a productive way for the benefit of the club.

Look at this page for regular updates on the latest rowing news and results.

Rowing-'Inches'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fmZmKsL5eE

Steve Redgrave - A Legend

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=757K1Ih0ug8&feature=autoplay&list=PLE30EBDB56D07832D&lf=results_main&playnext=2

Requirements

All rowers must be able to swim at least 50m.

Training times

In the school gym: Tuesday:  15:50 – 17:00

                                 Thursday: 15:50 – 17:00

On the water

Wednesday: 13:00-16:00 A bus will leave the school and travel to University College Dublin boat house in Islandbridge.

Weekends

Training will also take place on the water on Saturday and Sunday with a time to be confirmed with last year being 11:00-13:00

Please note, rowing times may change due to restraints occurring from UCD Boat Club or coaching restraints but it is hoped to keep the same times as last year, shown above.

Rowing is a team sport and if a member of a crew is late or fails to turn up, it disrupts the whole crew. It is important therefore to always be on time for training and if unable to attend please let the coaches know well in advance.

The Rowing Stroke

Although many non rowers don't realise, rowing and sculling are highly technical sports. The stroke is broken down into four main categories, the catch, drive, finish and recovery, each following into each other to create an effective stroke. In rowing (sweep oar) each individual holds one blade/oar, rotating their body round outside the boat, whereas sculling requires the athletes to use two shorter blades, one in each hand, this discipline not requiring the body to rotate.

Boats in sculling are singles (1x), doubles (2x) and quads (4x), in rowing there are pairs (2-), coxed fours (4+), coxless fours (4-) and the blue ribbon events, the eights (8+). Eights and coxed fours require a coxwain (cox for short) to steer the boat, and shout commands to the rest of the crew, in these boats they are the most important person. Typically coxes are small, weighing a minimum of 55kg (50kg for women), the most welcome member to any club. Boats are made of various parts as shown below, each part having an important purpose. 

The Catch

The catch is the part of the stroke where the spoon of the oar enters the water. This is done by raising the hands on the way to the front stops position (where the shins are vertical), before pressing with the legs to propel the boat.

The Drive

The drive is the main propulsive part of the stroke; it is from the catch to the finish/extraction. The athlete firstly squeezes with the legs till they are flat, then rocks the body backwards till about 5-10 degrees past vertical towards the bow, followed by a light arm movement just bringing it into the body, not pulling hard with the arms (rowing is all in the legs!).

During these body movements the spoon of the blade is maintained at the same height in the water, therefore the athlete’s hand heights must also remain at the same height, finishing near the ribs.

The Finish

The finish or extraction is the process of taking the oar out of the water. This is simply done by tapping the hands down in a vertical motion (in rowing only the outside hand should apply this pressure). When out of the water the athlete can then feather the blade, reducing air resistance, whilst quickly moving the hands away from the body.

A clean finish occurs when the blade is not feathered until out of the water and the blade was not too deep before extraction. The force applied during the drive should leave an air pocket behind the spoon of the blade in the water; this causes the puddle you see and allows for the blade to be extracted easier, without dragging any water upwards.

The Recovery

Named appropriately as you don’t need much energy, you just relax, catch your breath, and wait till the next stroke. Once the hands have gone away quickly and low, the body follows at about the same speed. The body rock is done from the hips, and the back remains straight, this movement requires flexible hamstrings. After rocking over a few degrees, it is now time to travel up the slide, allowing the legs to flex the momentum of the boat sends the body towards the frontstops position. During all of this the hands are maintained at the same low height throughout, with the whole crew doing the same, moving at the same speed. As the hands pass over the knees rowers should start to square the blade, preparing it for the catch. In sweep oar rowing during the recovery the athlete needs to rotate around their rigger to maximise length keeping both arms locked out straight, after all, the longer the stroke is, the less strokes you have to take in a race.