Looking to Row in the USA? Here’s Where to Start

 The United States has one of the largest collegiate rowing systems in the world due to the sheer size of the country, as well as the focus on college athletics as part of the university experience. Whether you’re the top athlete on your team or nearer the bottom of the pile, there is a university program for you in the United States. With that being said, not all programs provide athletic scholarship, but most schools have excellent financial aid and academic aid available to all students. 

 Row2k is the United States webpage for all things rowing-related. They have a section of their website dedicated to helping aspiring US athletes locate the schools that might fit their profile: the Row2k Teams HQ. On this page, you’ll find the various universities within the USA that offer rowing. This is a great resource to understand what your school options could be given your rowing class: Lightweight, Open Weight, Male, &/or Female. From there, just click on the appropriate category, and you’ll be given a summary of the team with direct access to their website.

In the last few years, numerous companies have emerged to help families navigate their way through the recruiting process, but they often charge a hefty fee. Many head coaches are far from thrilled to work with these organizations as it makes the process feel more transactional. So, if you do choose to work with a recruiting service, make sure you are doing all of the initial contacting, emailing and academic stats. After all, this is your journey, and if you’re coming over to the USA for rowing and education, the head coach needs to see that you are capable of managing the process.

As you start your search for a school that fits your athletic profile, also be aware that you can change your major as many times as you’d like in the first two years of your collegiate experience in the United States. Often times, students will pick a school solely for what they think they want to study and then change their mind! 

When you first email a coach or the recruiting coordinator of a program, here are the things the coach needs to know: height, weight, erg score, and grades. Make it short and sweet – if the coach has to scroll down to read the rest of the email, it’s TOO long! 

Once you land a phone call – here are some good things to ask:

1. Injury rate on the team per year
2. The number of seniors graduating? How many did that class start with (retention)?
3. How often does the head coach replace assistant coaches? 
4. How many athletes do they recruit each year? 
5. What’s the school’s timeline for their process?

Here are the things not to ask:

1.  What’s your practice schedule? Almost everyone will train twice a day – expect it. You can ask what time morning practice is and which session is on the water.
2. How do your athletes manage academics & rowing? If a school has a high graduation rate, their athletes are managing just fine! If the retention rate is low, ask them ‘why do athletes quit?’.
3. What are you looking for in a recruit? Coaches are looking for the fastest athletes in the world that they can find for their team relative to their speed. Instead, ask them what is the erg average for the incoming class and what’s the erg average of the outgoing class?

Here are a few things to be prepared to talk about:

1. How your training is going – be ready to talk about splits, workouts, areas that you’re working on and places where you’ve made good gains.
2. What you add to a team.
3. What your values are.

Prior to any phone call, do your own research. Read each school’s mission statement, look through the team’s Instagram account, see what you can glean from these places to get a sense of the boathouse, the body of water they row on, and their training formats. If you know someone at the school, call them. Ask them to be candid about their relationships with the coaching staff, as these are the people that you’ll see six days a week during the school year for four years! If you don’t know someone on the team, but you see someone on the roster from your country – reach out to them on your own!

“If the coach has to scroll down to read the rest of the email, it’s TOO long!”

Lastly, make a list of questions as you go and share all of your information with your family so that they can help you generate questions you would not have thought about. You will be nervous, and nothing is worse than forgetting all of your questions! 

This article was written by Laura Simon, currently the lead recruiter at Yale University for the Women’s Team. To find out more about her work and story, head over to our content partners page, or read more of her work here.

If you’re hungry for more, check out any of our other pieces from The Catch, listen to our latest podcast episode, or flick through our race previews.

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Photos by Roesie Percy and Fergus Mainland

About The Author

Laura Simon

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