Eights racing is one of the most exciting bits of rowing to be a part of, the quickest and biggest boat class. Each seat adds something different and has something to offer, yet one of the most overlooked seats is the ninth. Many people forget that you cannot row an eight without a cox and the benefit that having a good cox gives you over those without. There are a number of factors that contribute to the ability of a coxswain, confidence being the most important, if there is no confidence in your own ability how are eight athletes supposed to be confident that you can get the best out of them. The stand out coxes always share a few personality traits, the first few that spring to mind are obvious: confident, intelligent, and able to communicate, but there are some that fly under the radar. Ruthlessness is key, you have to be prepared to do what it takes to get ahead, push the athletes further than they’ve been pushed before, it takes a certain type of person to do that to their mates. Being authoritative and firm is helpful, you’re in charge and you know it, if you’re being too nice then you’ll get pushed around. Most importantly is to have a personality, there is nothing worse than being sat in a boat and hearing what sounds like a robot count to 10 about fifteen times in a race.
When beginning rowing, no one wants to cox. Usually the unfairly titled ‘vertically-challenged’ rowers get thrown in the seat and sulk the session away. Having the confidence to step forwards and embrace the coxing life makes outings get better and boats go faster. Confidence comes with the decision to cox, and many young athletes grow up hugely when handling the responsibility of the boat. To be able to tell eight rowers what to do and have them hang of every word is amazing, all you need to do is know what to say. However, even if you say the wrong thing, having the confidence to style it out usually ends well, or at least not in a huge crunching sound and an angry boatman. Confidence in your own ability leads to trust from athletes and coaches, with the cox the middle ground between the two.
Being smart enough to understand how water works and boats move is so important to being a top cox. There are countless instances in every HORR and WEHORR where fast crews are steered out of the stream to cut a corner and the boat is all of a sudden twice as heavy and moving much slower. Being able to feel the boat, analyse what is causing certain disruptions and calling them out is a difficult skill to master and requires a lot of thought, not to mention the confidence to tell someone they can do better and to be ruthless in holding the rowers to your standards.
Ruthlessness is a key feature of coxing races, take no prisoners, hold your line, push your way through marshalling to a better position, and overtaking or cutting off other crews all benefit your crew. You also have to be prepared to push your squad beyond what they think they are capable of, and give honest feedback. If your best mate is rowing poorly and letting your crew down, then you need to tell them to get it together, nothing in the boat is personal and you need to remember that. Keep chatting to the rowers and get the best out of them, keep them alert and push them for the best (of course this is optimised with experience and greater familiarity within a team).
Having a bit of something about you is the best way to be a top cox, its hard to nail exactly what it is other than a personality. There are stories of under-the-weight coxes making weight to the shocking the team, and when asked how responding with wit and sarcasm, all while giving their crew a four kilo advantage. Or coxes taking crews to the start line of time trials when the conditions are more favourable and feigning that they are lost and do not known that crew 78 shouldn’t be up with crew 21. Telling jokes on the start to relax a boat, speaking about random stuff in long paddles to break the monotony. All of this is what makes a cox great. Give your crew every opportunity to do well and them push them to be at their best, all whilst enjoying yourself and having fun in your role. But as a bare minimum, don’t just count every stroke of the race.
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