Coxswains

To those outside the sport, coxswains are funny creatures. The idea of four or eight rowers lugging around some small, noisy person who yells "stroke!" seems silly. While coxswains are typically very noisy, their jobs involve a whole lot more than the proverbial "stroke" yelling.

Cox-what?

As a coxswain (pronounced: cox-sin), your job is to serve as the brain of a boat. Sitting in the back of the boat (stern-loader) or lying down in the front (bow-loader), your jobs include such things as:

• Steering
  If steering a 60-foot long racing shell was easy, the rowers would have no use for a coxswain and would run around the water without worry of hitting anything. This is your chance to race strapped to the front (or hanging from the back) of a long, human-powered rocket that you get to play a part in building.
   
• Assisting with training and practices
  When not on the water, coxswains help correct technical issues while the rowers are working on indoor rowers (ergometers). They help provide motivation, feedback, and have the option of participating in the workouts themselves.
  
  While on the water, coxswains are given instructions for directing their boats through practice. As a coxswain becomes more skilled, he or she may be able to correct technical problems just by feeling the boat and listening.
   
• Holding it all Together
  During a race, coxswains must be diligent in pointing out technical problems as their rowers begin to lose focus due to the oxygen deprivation that comes with such a high intensity sport. By the time you reach the half way point, your rowers' bodies are complaining loudly and telling them to just stop and take a break for a while. Obviously this is counter to the idea of winning, so it is your job to also keep them motivated and concentrating on what they're doing. Even the simplest technical concept becomes very complicated to the rowers by the last few hundred meters.
   
• Making the Calls
  As coxswain, you are the un-questioned authority in a boat. Rowers are trained to listen to your commands during practice, and especially during races. Coxswains learn race strategies that are crafted for each boat and execute certain moves at certain distances, or in response to the moves of other coxswains. By calling for certain things like power pieces, you can help nudge your rowers past the competition. Last minute calls by our coxswains have helped propel our boats to victories with margins in the tenths of seconds.

Examples of Coxing

While coxing isn't visually interesting (thus why we can't really show you a video), there are a number of good recordings around the internet of coxswains of all skill levels doing their thing. For an idea of what a higher level cox sounds like, listen to Marcus McElhenney cox the U.S. 8+ (eight rowers with coxswain) against Oxford University for a rough idea of what goes on during a race.

For an idea of what the coxswain sees in an 8+ (a racing shell with eight rowers) from the back (stern) of the boat, check out a video of the 1999 Dutch Men's 8+.

Size Matters (but not in the typical sense)

Due to coxswains providing no physical boost to boat speed, we generally require those filling this role to be on the lighter side. For competitive coxswains, we recommend 135 pounds or lower, with an ideal weight in the lower 120's for Men's boats, and slightly lighter for Women's boats. Coxswains may be of a different gender from their rowers.