Racing a single (rowing shell) for my second time, any tips?

Question

Im racing a rowing single for my second time. Im 17 and a senior in highschool, Ive been rowing for 3 years. I raced a single this season at the New Hampshire Championship Regatta, I placed 8 out of 11; I was rowing against college students or older. My 5k time on the erg is 20:02 minutes flat, it took me 21:10 to row 4828 meters at the last race. I wasn't stearing very strait and I struggled to keep oars off the water, Im pretty sure my stroke rating was slower then others too. Were those probably the factors which caused me to go slower than my usual 5k time? How should a real world 5k time compare to that on the erg? Are you supposed to have a "0 pressure catch" and then build to full, will this slow me down? If you could provide any tips for my upcoming race or answer those questions I would really appreciate it, thanks.

Previous race results:

http://www.amoskeagrowing.org/Regatta/2007/results.html

(I row with GBR and would have been in the open single and men's junior 4/8)

Answer 1

Sounds like you have a lot rowing and sculling ahead of you. Mix up your time on the water with some light work focused on steering, and hard intervals.  As your steering improves, build power and try to maintain steering and see how much speed you can gradually build.  Back off when steering and technique start to go, rest and do it again.  You'll steadily improve.

A 0 pressure catch is to first be sure both oars are square and in the water prior to the pull.  Get going all out, and one little wrong thing will flip you in less than a heart beat if the entry is bad.  That build to full on the stroke only takes a fraction of a second.  Dragging oars certainly won't add speed. Work at that first at light pressure but a full stroke.

Pay attention to hand height. A rapid rising hand during a hard pull is a digging oar, and you must drop both hands immediately to recover, or get the wrist straight quick.

Work on more strength, with shorter intervals both on the erg and the water.  Rowing is similar to track.  You can't have a good distance time if you don't have good intermediate distance speed.

Work on water time, so you can learn to steer straight.  Watch your wake, you should barely even have a wiggle if you apply pressure even with both arms, and reach the same on both sides.  Try some one arm dumbbell bent rows to see if both sides are the same.  If not, do a little extra weight work on the weaker side.

Work on steering straight at all times, otherwise you are just building bad habits.

Download the training manual from the Concept 2 website.  Lots of recommended weight exercises to build more strength.  Stronger you are with great endurance, the faster you'll row.

In a race, don't go so hard that you get into lactic acid buildup, you can actually back off a little and go faster, since you'll ave less co2 build up in your bloodstream, heart, and muscles.

You have lots to improve at, and you'll get much better with patience and focused hard work.

Less erg time, more water time, or weights.  Many people do odd things on ergs that don't work on the water.

Answer 2

You could have been crunching towards one side or the other, or   you had more pressure to one side. Usally my 5k time ( ive only done a sinlge four times) is faster than my erg time. Id say maybe work on your strokes and make sure your entering at the right time!!