Notes on Coastal Rowing: What?, Why?, and How? Sagar Sen
In the summer of 2006, during my first séjour séjour in France. Nicolas Nicolas Parquic asked asked me, “SagaAr you want to go to Brest to row on ze sea for ze Championnats de Bretagne? Zere will be waves and it will be interesting to mais..” mome adap adaptt to zem! zem!”. ”. Not Not know knowin ing g what hat to say say righ rightt away away I plun plunge ged d into into a “oui mais.. moment nt of light-hearte light-heartedness dness.. I had rowed only on water that was flat like a mirror or in a slightly slightly choppy St. Catherines Catherines river back in Canada. Rowing a sixty-five kilogram boat (almost thrice the weight of a normal rowing double) on the relatively big waves of the Atlantic ocean was quite out of the comfort zone I knew. Nevertheless, Nicolas had a voice of persuasion as he had already shared with me a lot about the French way of rowing that I found very intriguing intriguing and in resonance resonance with my inner self. self. We agreed agreed to to do it and drove from from Rennes Rennes to Brest carrying the oars of Rennes étudiant club. Nicolas and myself paddled into the ocean in a borrowed Eurodiffusions coastal rowing double along with the other teams. As we headed to the start line we could feel the deep breaths of the ocean in the form of waves rocking our boat. Nicolas told me not to worry and think about keeping ze blades in the water as I row, let it follow the wave and don’t fight with ze sea. I must reveal that Nicolas and my other friends spoke English with a beautiful Fre French nch accent which among other factors like the music, literature, science, food, and the history inspired me to learn French in about a year from then. A coastal rowing race is around a circuit of three or four large buoys derived derived from the format of of sailing sailing races. I didn’t think much about all that and let Nicolas (sitting (sitting behind me) me) take charge of placing placing ourselves ourselves on the start line and eventually ensure that we were going the right way. Nicolas said, “Lets place ourselves next to zeese guys from Concarneau, zose guys are fast”. The race started with the long sound of an air horn and an instant instant later I could could hear phu phu phu..sounds of breathing out all around me. The race was frantic and the start as we headed for the first buoy almost all together. If I remember correctly we avoided crashes except hitting the buoy on the right side. Boats then slowly spread out over a gruelling twelve kilometer (today the races are six kilometers long) race. Nicolas nicely managed navigating the boat and kept pushing me to surf and row light..” light..”léger SagaAr léger” he said. The meaning of these words dawned on me a few days later and that's that's when began my love for the sport of coastal coastal rowing. rowing. Coastal Coastal rowing is the art of surfing, slicing and dicing through the waves of the humbling sea and this is an article about the what, the why, and how of coastal rowing. What is coastal rowing?
Before Before we delve delve into into what what coasta coastall rowing rowing is it is worthwhi worthwhile le to get an overvie overview w of rowing rowing itself itself.. Those familiar with rowing in general can either skip the following section or muse on some of the basics. Rowing itself: Rowing is a water sport where you principally use your legs, back, and arms to propel a boat on the surface of water. Essentially trying to make it glide by creating air bubbles under the boat. When you row with one oar and hopefully with at least one other person then its called sweeping . While if you row with with two oars one in each hand then this mode of moving the boat is called sculling . You can either go out alone sculling in a single or scull/sweep with one, three, or seven other people in a longer boat. Not to mention that you need a leader sometimes called the coxswain to steer the boat and bring cohesion among rowers. That was a simplified explanation of what rowing is. However, to me what really is gratifying about rowing is the meditative state it puts you into. Imagine putting your blade in the water and taking a stroke and watching the landscape go by without without much sound except that of the air bubbles bubbles trapped trapped under your boat. boat. This is the feeling that drives most people back on their boats.
Coastal Rowing: In coastal rowing you row with the geste that constantly adapts to elements called wind, waves, and currents trying to get from point A to B to C to D and back to A along with other boats trying to do the same in the open sea. Occasionally, you are bumped into by either anot anothe herr boat boat,, a buoy buoy or a dolphin. Extreme adaptivity, a good good sens sense e of orie orient ntat atio ion n and and a heig height hten ened ed stat state e of awareness are the hallmarks of coastal rowing. Peter Berg, a 2014 world champion in coastal rowing simply put it like this, “olympic rowing on flat-water is like road biking while coastal rowing on the sea is like mountain biking”. Waves and winds: In the open sea, winds come from any direction leading to the creation of surface waves. These waves look like sine waves but are trochoidal idal waves. They have a circular actually trocho motion as seen the figure above. If you have ever been scuba diving trochoidal waves give the feeling pushed ed back back and and fort forth h underwater . of bein being g push Rowers must put their blades in the water at the right moment to possibly get on the forward and deep face of a wave. This leads to surfing and the boat boat travel travels s at the speed of the wave which is often faster than other boats that don’t catch the swell at the right moment. Waves can hit a boat transversally often breaking a nice rhythm. Being a little stubborn and getting back in the game to keep the boat moving is the “joy” of coastal rowing. Depending on the height of the wave rowers often adjust their oar their oar locks and locks and bring them high enough to avoid getting the oar stuck in a big wave as seen seen in the figure with the coastal double. Winds on an open sea turn oar blades on the boat to little sails. The blades are often pushed around by the wind leading to many errors in the rowing stroke that only add up on inches inches lost. A rower adorned adorned with with good bladework will try to create least resistance to the wind. A smart rower checks the wind and wave forecast on Wind Guru. Guru. Of course, some prefer to lick the finger and stick it out in the wind, but I keep that as a last option. Waves can put the boat on an uneven water surface hence it is important to have different hand heights on the oars to be good grip of the water. Developing such a rowing style is a key point of difference between flat water and coastal rowing. When I lived in France we often went to St. Malo on the coast of the Atlantic Atlantic ocean. ocean. The atlantic ocean has tidal waves waves that creates swells swells different different from usual wind waves. These waves represent the feelings of a heartbroken lover trying to reach the moon but never makes it there. Rowing on them gives a surge in your own palpitating heart.
Currents in the sea can make a big difference in the speed speed of the boat and its direction. direction. Ideally, Ideally, it is always always a good idea to learn about the currents in the coast from locals. Currents Currents can can be longshore currents, rip currents, gulf currents, upwellings and downwellings to name a few. Given an initial itinerary based on shortest shortest paths between points it is often very useful (and safe) to redraw an itinerary itinerary based on the currents currents in the sea. Sometimes Sometimes a long path may be faster due to the the possibility possibility of using currents currents between between two points points A and B via a third point C. In 2011, Loïc Gérald my Gérald my doubles partner and myself were racing on the basin of Basse-Indre Basse-Indre close to the city of Nantes. Nantes. We placed ourselves ourselves in the middle of the basin basin while the rest rest of the boats were sticking to the coast line. We wondered why everyone was sticking to each other on the coast and increasing their chances of collisions. As soon as the race started it felt like we were rowing in mud instead of water. We were stuck in the middle of a current like duct tape. Those on the coast effortlessly went past us after hundred meters in the race and we couldn’t do much about it except not make the same mistake on the second lap but it was a bit too late. The current is often strongest in the middle and least on the shores. However, without a current it is always advisable to row in deeper waters than in shallow waters. As boat speed increases in shallow water there water there is increased drag. drag. That day onwards I made it point to make friends friends with the locals locals and listen to a captain’s captain’s meeting at a race and rely less less only on my physical physical strength strength to wade through anything. Information begets fairness in coastal rowing. Boats: Coastal Coastal rowing rowing boats boats are designed designed to be resili resilient ent in choppy choppy,, windy, windy, and wavy wavy condit condition ions. s. For instance, “ideally” the front doesn’t dive down into waves, can self-evacuate water because of an incline and open back, and can slice through and surf on waves. Oars are rigged higher than usual when the waves waves get bigger (greater (greater than 1 meter) meter).. Most Most coasta coastall boats boats must must follow follow the regulations set by the international rowing federation FISA before a race. There are a number of boat manufacturers catering to differ different ent price price ranges ranges and with with varyin varying g levels levels of perfor performan mance ce in differ different ent conditio conditions. ns. Here is a list of well-known well-known boat manufacturer manufacturers s: Leo coast coastal al (video video)), Salani (video video)) , Filippi (video video), ), Safr Safran an, and Eurodiffusions. Which boat is the best? This is a hard question to answer as they depend on multiple factors factors such as their suitability suitability to sea conditions conditions and the crew’s experience. experience. I would hold hold myself myself back back from giving my personal opinion on these boats as this would be biased given my limited experience with some boats in this wide spectrum of choices. A good source of information are the results and videos from the French, Italian, Spanish, and World coastal championships upto the last five years. Why coastal rowing?
Norway is my new home away from home (which is India) and has a rich tradition in rowing on the sea for both transport and sport. My initial motivation to write write this article article was to promote promote compet competiti itive ve coastal coastal rowing in Norway which is now a fast growing sport worldwide. worldwide. History History is good place to start start because when when beliefs beliefs are deep-rooted deep-rooted it generates generates emotions that can make mountains mountains move. I started to blow blow the dust off Norwegian history books to get glimpses of what what coul could d stri strike ke a chor chord d in the the hear heartt of every Norwegian about their lifestyle before they found oil in the 1960s. These glimpses are unshakeable stanchions in the potential of the human spirit. spirit. Christopher Christopher Columbus Columbus himsel himselff was preced preceded ed five five hundre hundred d years years ago ago by Leif Eriksson, Eriksson, a Norwegian viking, who crossed the Atlantic rowing with a crew of thirty thirty-fi -five ve men. men. Fra Frank nk Sam Samuel uelson son and Geo George rge Har Harbo bo,, Norwegian-bo Norwegian-born rn Americans, were the first ever to cross the Atlantic rowing in a double. Survival in Norway (before the 1960s) depended on their great resilience and hunting skills in the cold north. Fridtjof Nansen, Nansen, one of the
greatest greatest Norwegian Norwegian explorers, explorers, donated his personal personal inuit kayak with seal fur hull fur hull to the student rowing club in Oslo, Norsk Studenters Roklub Roklub.. He hunted seals seals and walrus walruses es for dinn dinner er.. Henr Henrik ik Ibse Ibsen, n, a Norweg Norwegian ian playwr playwrigh ight, t, once once wrote wrote a now famous famous poem poem about about Terje Vigen. Vigen. Terj Terje e Vige Vigen n live lives s on the south coast of Norway close to Grimstad. During the Napoleonic wars he rows alone in a boat to Denmark to bring back food for his family. On the way back the British find him and makes a hole in the rowing boat therefore sinking it with all the food, resulting in his family’s death. He himself is taken to prison. The poem is a little little sad but it brings to surface surface the grit and resilience resilience of the state of mind of a Norwegian Norwegian at that time. Terje Vigen was a man who rowed all the way to Denmark Denmark to save save his family. family. In the consumption consumption oriented oriented world we live in today, rowing and fishing is done for recreation and not survival that much. Magnus Harju, a swede living in Norway for ten years, grabs his Lowrance SONAR, SONAR, a fishing line with a bait, and sets off on a coasta coastall rowing boat to fish on the Oslofj Oslofjord ord.. Rowing at a pace pace of not more than 10 kmph he drops drops his fishing fishing line to catch mackerels, mackerels, trouts, trouts, and cod in the fjord. fjord. He then then uses the mackere mackerels ls as bait to to catch lobsters for dinner. Life is good but a lot of talent and genetic residue can be canalized towards a new purpose. It is the right moment to revive rowing for speed and “survival” in a modern context. Another anecdote in my life, not directly related to rowing, that I would always cherish was when I travelled to the Amazonas in Manaus, Brazil. The native guide and his assistant could spot a sloth or an iguana hundred meters away in the thick canopy of a tree with their naked eyes. While, we never managed to do so on several occasions even with binoculars. What was it about them that made them so sharp in their natural context? This question resonated in me and was one of the most humbling experiences I have ever had. Work Workin ing g out out in a clos closed ed gym gym give gives s an athl athlet etic ic cont contou our, r, howe howeve ver, r, we will will ceas cease e to deve develo lop p skil skills ls of adaptation, orientation, and survival that one would while embracing natural elements in coastal rowing. Competitive Competitive coastal coastal rowing: rowing: I started talking to people about competitive coastal rowing. I was met with less than expected interest in the country of oceanic explorers. I discovered that Olympic rowing on flatwater and its promotion over the last decades had created a number of myths and presumptions. Another obstacle is that people love training on rowing machines in fitness centers, which have now turned into dating venues. Hence, lets take a look at some of the myths and challenge them to remind Norwegians about their mention that the reasons reasons to take deep relationship to the sea to awaken the explorer within. I must also mention to the sport of coastal rowing are universal and it is open to everybody everybody who would would like to revive revive their inherent evolutionary relationship to the sea. Myth #1, Coastal rowing is for masters rowers. This is on top of list of myths that I have seen circulating and is not quite true anymore. High-p High-perf erform ormanc ance e coasta coastall rowing rowing races races has changed a lot in format from a 12 km course back in 2006 to 8 kms, and now are only 6 kms km s long long.. This This inte interm rmed edia iate te dist distan ance ce has has attracted athletes from a wide range of ages. In recent years, a number of high-performance rowers in Europe have taken to coastal rowing as an extension extension to their flat-water flat-water season. season. The Gountounas twins (who normally row in a pair) from from Greece participated at the World Coastals in 2014. The pictures show Lassi Karonen (a world class single sculler who participated in the world coastals in 2013 at Helsingborg), and world champions Adrien Hardy and Jean-b Jean-bapt aptist iste e Macque Macquett in coastal coastal rowing rowing boats boats to name name a few. few. Coasta Coastall rowing rowing I believ believe e create creates s a level level
playing playing ground for experienced experienced rowers or so-called so-called masters rowers rowers leveraging leveraging experience experience and ability to adapt which are in trade-off with sheer physical strength. All are at the mercy of the elements.
Myth #2, Coastal boats must be heavy and more suitable for beginner. Coastal boats are rowed on saline water with higher buyoancy compared buyoancy compared to fresh water in lakes. This makes coastal lighter than initially perceived. The wetted surface area varies with waves often leading to very lower friction as boats literally fly from wave power. Surfing on a wave can make the boat go really fast, sometimes much faster than a rowing shell. This feeling is exhilarating. Coastal boats are designed to slice through waves and maintain stability in choppy choppy condit condition ions. s. It is not a boat boat for beginner beginners s in rowing rowing and needs needs consid considera erable ble skill in rough rough sea conditions. In the summer of 2014, in rough fjord conditions, Paul Bencze and myself after an initial fight cruised passed an eight person boat in a coastal double. We finished the 15 km race several minutes ahead of the eight, while the eight finished with a lot of water to bail out. The flat water boats are simply not designed to go handle rough conditions of the sea. Myth #3: Coastal rowing develops bad technique. This is true to some extent provided your goal is to row on flat-water flat-water as well. A combination combination of flat-water flat-water rowing in a single scull scull with coastal coastal rowing will will give you an incredible incredible amount of confidence confidence in rough conditions conditions in either setup. setup. I must also emphasize another of my observations: if you have seemingly indiscernible technical flaws on flat-water they are greatly amplified on rough sea conditions. Rowing on the sea is a very good way to visually identify weak points and focus on the details for improvement. After challenging some of the myths I discuss some of the key reasons I believe coastal rowing rocks! Coastal rowing is complete. If you do coastal rowing (and the land training associated with it) then the only other thing you would possibly need to do is Yoga to stay focused and supple. Rowing solicits major muscles and is impact free. The chaos thrown by the sea adds to a heightened state of awareness. Coastal Coastal rowing can be for athletes from different background: background: The learning curve to coastal rowing is not very steep especially for those with a different sporting background. Magnus Harju contributes the real-life story of Lars Gumprecht to illustrate this point. He hopes that the story will inspire endurance athletes from cross-country skiing, running, kayaking, swimming etc. to give competitive coastal rowing a shot. Lars lives with his wife in Torrevieja, Spain and has been windsurfing and kayaking his whole life. Sometimes he windsurfs about a 100 kms in around three hours. He owns five different kayaks to battle the waves off the spanish coast while exploring the coast lines or deep sea fishing for tunas far off the coast. The first time Lars sat on a rowing machine was in 2009. At that point he was using using the rowing rowing machine machine to get fit for the kayaking season. He soon realised that he was actually doing quite well on that machine compar compared ed to the other members members at the Real Club Nautico Nautico of Torrev Torreviej ieja a rowing rowing club. A year year later later the manager of the club talked him into attending the world indoor rowing championships in Boston where he did very well with a time that was sub six minutes for 2000 m (often achieved only by top national team rowers). One more year later Lars tried rowing on the water for the first time. With his vast experience from ocean kayaking, the strength he’d built up on the machine and not the least the determination of taking the gold medal, none of the traditional rowers were able to stop him while he was racing through the water off the swedish coast. He was coastal rowing world champion 2013 in Helsingborg, Sweden. Coastal rowing to unleash creativity in anyone. We take a digression digression from the “competitive” “competitive” aspect of coastal rowing for a moment. People often tell me that rowing is a little strange as you don’t see where you are going. I tell them that this is what helps develop a sixth sense. Rowing into the ocean or the fjord takes
you away from the noise of the city and the radiation from mobile networks. With your hands and legs tied in action all you can hear are passing seagulls, the wind, and the air bubbles under the boat. You are in a meditative state of mind that I will show by example have given people their most creative ideas. Jacques Perrin, the french movie maker known for Z, Cinema Paradiso, the Brotherhood of the Wolf, and the Chorus got his best ideas while rowing on the Seine he tells Gö Göra ran n R Bu Buck ckho horn rn for the blog hear the boat sing . However, I am not sure if his movies would be different if he rowed on the ocean instead. The French author Jules Verne who grew up in Nantes (a city known for its rowing cult cultur ure) e) was was insp inspir ired ed by rowi rowing ng on the the sea sea as key adve advent ntur ure e element in many of his works. Another French author from the same epoc epoch, h, Jule Jules s Lecl Lecler ercq cq wrot wrote e a memo memoir ir on his his trip trip to Norway Norway,, Voyages dans l’Nord sometimes rowing as he narrates in his epic Voyages d’Europe. Rowing not only inspired writers and observing painters like like Van Gogh Gogh and Monet but also also scient scientist ists. s. These These scient scientist ists s probably got their best ideas and revelations while rowing. Rainer Storb, a Nobel Laureate in Medicine for marrow transplants, rows to work work everyd everyday ay to the Hutchins Hutchinson on center center.. Rowing Rowing has been been an important part of the lives of many Nobel Laureates some of whom include George A. Olah, Sir. Charles Sherrington, Jens C. Skou, Stanley B. Prusiner, Lee J. Silverberg, and Willem Einthoven. Coastal rowing is breaking barriers. Coastal Coastal rowing competitions competitions do not follow the traditional olympics olympics format format of pittin pitting g countr countries ies agains againstt each each other other where where every every athlet athlete e needs needs to hold hold a passport passport of their their respective nations and row only with the people with the same passport. Coastal rowing developed as a competition between clubs where athletes can come from any nationality. This situation is ideal for a world with increasingly rich migratory patterns. I myself have lived in four different countries over the last ten years and have have compet competed ed with with people people from from differ different ent lands. lands. Anothe Anotherr intere interesti sting ng outcom outcome e of the situat situation ion are dinners with treats from around the world. I remember having made Indian food (with less spice on request) on several occasions during my years in France. Coastal rowing competitions promote mixed crew races where men and women row in the same boat. Mixed crews represent an interesting dynamic between power and finesse amounting to development of mutual tolerance in many cases. Adaptability and humility, a gift from the oceans. The unpredictable ocean means anything can happen to anyone. Oars can break, boats can overturn, or you may just be lucky with the waves and currents that help you along. Coastal rowing races are like the chariot race in the movie Ben hur and some think of it as a Form Formul ula a 1 race race.. In my opin opinio ion n a lot lot more more fun than rowin rowing g in a stra straig ight ht line in separa separate te lanes. lanes. This This unpredictability creates a sense of adaptability and humility in the coastal rowing community rarely seen in other high-performance sports where the arena fluctuates very little. Environmental Awareness. Rowing on the sea creates awareness about how we treat our oceans. What is often covered up on land is later found in the ocean. We often see floating garbage, oil slicks, and dwindling fish populations that makes us think hard. Promoting coastal rowing on the vast coastlines of the world I believe will generate a profound sensibility for our acts on land. On the Oslofjørd, Janne Hunsbeth once saw a duck that swallowed a plastic tube part of which was seen hanging outside the beak. She could see that the duck would would soon die. She would would have have never seen somethi something ng like that on land. Erik Damman Damman,, a Norwegian author and government scholar, and the person who started the organisation Framtiden i våre hender (The Future in our Hands) is very fond of rowing. He rows on holidays with his wife along the coast in a wooden boat. They think rowing is perfect for environment friendly recreation as opposed to using motor boats.
How to prepare for a coastal rowing competition?
The sport of competitive competitive coastal rowing is based on the FISA FISA race rules and norms. norms. How can an “individual” who is either rowing single or part of team supposed to prepare for a coastal rowing competition? I will not enlist a step by step procedure but give a set of viewpoints and let the reader think about how to bring these elements together to best suit his/her current situation. The Quantified Rower: (a) Being coached coached on the turbulent sea by a person person on a motor boat,lets face it , is for the most part unrealistic. Therefore, we ask, how do you know that your are doing well as coastal rower? A modern coastal rower measures and quantifies him/herself alone and also when in a team boat. In a chaotic environment such as the sea it is very easy to be thrown off rhythm and put into a “false rhythm”. This is the illusion of making effort by going back and forth on the slide but actually contributing little to making the boat move. The best way to determine “effective rowing ” is to measure individual heart rate, speed, and direction of the boat. Every rower in a boat ideally must own a heart rate monitor with a GPS watch. watch. Popula Popularr GPS-en GPS-enabl abled ed watche watches s amongs amongstt rowers rowers are Suun Suunto to and and Garmin. Garmin. Lars Gumpre Gumprect ct,, a self-t self-trai rained ned world world coasta coastall champi champion, on, used used such such a device device extensiv extensively ely in his training training with with practi practical cally ly no coaching. coaching. He got most of his technique technique from videos videos on YouTube while while eating vapor-cooke vapor-cooked d carrots. carrots. Lars uses such a device to set up waypoints in an open sea to create circuits to keep direction and practice turns. Lars likes rowing alone but such a device is also very handy for every member of a team boat. Every member should verify his/her contribution in terms of effort measured in heart rate range and to do his/her best to contribute to boat speed (something everyone is aware of from the GPS). Executing a strategy like taking ten hard strokes becomes very effective when everyone observes a rise in heart and boat speed due to their individual efforts. (b) Another wonderful self-assessment instrument is a video camera. Looking at oneself and accepting one’s faults is the greatest human virtue that most of us try to avoid. avoid. It’s an eternal eternal quest for an individual individual to detach oneself from his/her ego. Rowers with the courage to do so use a waterproof camera such as the Go Pro Hero glued Hero glued to the boat to get a wide-angle view of blades going in and out of water for every rower. The GoPro gives a vivid representation representation of what is going right right and most of the time wrong wrong when it comes to team team cohesion cohesion and geste. It is very useful to “once in a while” look at team videos videos with with a constructi constructive ve outlook outlook to improve rowing geste and team cohesion. A video presents the naked truth that is often in contradiction with what we feel and think. Videos can challenge strong inner beliefs/impressions and sometimes challenge the integrity in a team as members may lose trust in each other. A conversation around it must be constructive and not blatantly blatantly judgmental. judgmental. Sometimes Sometimes a rower may look look great gesturally gesturally as seen seen in the video but his/her his/her effort may not be optimal optimal at all. While, a rower that doesn’t doesn’t look good good on video may be the one who actually actually contributes to boat speed. Hence, fusion of input from multiple sensors: video, speed, and heart rate is the state of the art in truth that is easily accessible today with mass-market technology. However, However, I don’t recommend going out fully equipped with technology on every sortie. The frequency of analysis also must take into consideration the psychological impact on each rower and the time to absorb lessons learnt. Too much feedback can easily make some people neurotic. A LOT of practice in rowing as a team: Set yourself an objective of lets say 2000 km of “effective rowing” a season together with your teammates. Just as a reference olympic athletes often row
between 5000-10000 kms a year together. This is of course not possible for everybody who has a job, or a family, or even both. An agreement may be reached on a number X and then work towards it. In Rennes, one of my coaches Frederic Delaive introduced the concept of 50 km weekends that can be achieved in two, three or four sessions. This was a feasible target on days where most people were available. I must also emphasize emphasize to try and row in a wide range range of conditions. conditions. Not only on calm calm sunny days. The The goal for rowing rowing a LOT together is to feel lighter on the boat and and be able to adapt adapt together together to to changes changes in rate and and external external circumstances such as wind, waves, turns, and other boats to name a few. While I lived in France, we got our best training while touring long distances (a) around spots in the south of Bretagne such as St. Marine, Lorient, Ile de Groix, Les Glenans, Quiberon, Ile d’Arz, Golfe de Morbihan (b) along the pink-granite coast and Ile de Brehat Brehat (c) and while descending descending the Loire valley (while visiting visiting the wine wine caves caves on the way) way) from Tours to Nantes. Racing is training: You are rarely going to be a 100% ready for a race! See racing as training. I have seen some some peop people le trai train n and and race race for for many many year years s befo before re making it to the podium. It is however very rare that someone gets to the top right away. Lars Grumpect is one such example of a quantified rower who managed to become world champion in the first attempt because he knew that he had the levers from measurements he made earlier. A very good idea is to recreate a race course in a training area at home. For instance, Lars Gumprecht recreated a close replica of the race course in Thessaloniki at home in Torrevieja, Spain using his GPS device. Coastal rowing is not always in a straight line and there are crucial moments requiring turning around a buoy. It is vital to practice turning around a buoy as it entails slowing down and anticipation of a turn. Some boats, such as the Safran and Filippi, are very well designed to make quick turns while some some boats boats have have a hard hard time time turnin turning g while while already already moving in a straig straight ht line. Knowing Knowing your boat boat and practicing practicing the turns is an essential essential part of your preparation. preparation. Doing so during a race require requires s a rowing rowing crew to respect priority of boats. The current FISA rule states that an overtaking boat at a buoy must take a larger turn around the boat first at the buoy. The boat first at the buoy must go in a straight line after its turn and not attempt to block the boat right behind. Making an error can lead to penalties in time. I have had my share of penalties either due to starting off ahead, or due to missing a turn at a buoy. Staying calm in the heat of the moment only comes from doing many races. Mental Toughness: Your (and my) preparation must start with the right attitude and state of mind. You must know that you are confident about your preparation and have an unshakeable belief that you will do your best. Every effort in training training or race must involve involve heart, heart, determinati determination, on, and full focus. focus. It is good idea to visualize yourself through a plan for a training session or race while keeping full focus, being energized by the effort, and feeling confident. Almost like a religion many rowers have a simple routine before a race. They either go running or row on a machine to get into the “zone” and find some alone time with their team teamma mate tes s to focu focus. s. When Whenev ever er,, you you race race espe especi cial ally ly in a team team it is impo import rtan antt to trust trust each each other, other, compensate, compensate, and adjust adjust to maintain maintain poise and composure. If you lose trust in your teammates your effort in the race may not be maximal. Get rid of negative “stinking thinking” and take each stroke to gain every possible possible inch of displacement displacement.. Fatigue Fatigue and time automatical automatically ly generates generates thoughts of giving giving up. Circumvent Circumvent these thoughts with thoughts like, “this is a phase in my mind, let me row through it and it will be gone”, “I cannot let others down”, “let me finish what I started”, “let me shift my mental focus to my geste and technique for the next ten strokes”, “I have five hundred meters to go and I have done it a hundreds of
times”. times”. One must focus on the process process of competing well and giving their best and winning will take care of itself.
Planning Planning the year: Like in any other endeavour endeavour planning is essential essential to steady improvement improvement in the coastal coastal rowing program of a club. Planning for an entire year will require require commitments commitments in availabi availability lity from rowers rowers to train together and attend races. Having a calendar of events (eg. French calendar ) before the beginning of the year will allow rowers to build up to the world coastal rowing championships that is an open event in October/Nov October/November ember each year. The calendar calendar will ideally have a good mix of national and internati international onal races and in varying conditions. For instance, rowing on the atlantic ocean is very different from rowing on the mediterranean sea. Some of you may be worried about the costs of travelling and rowing in these varying conditions. If people share car rentals, fuel and cook their own food Europe presents many opportunities for economical rowing along with the added benefit of sightseeing and cultural exchanges. Rowing communities in many parts of Europe and in France in particular from my experience are very warm and welcoming making the expenses for rowers to a minimum in lodging, food, and boat rentals for races. Most clubs do not want commercial gain but cultural exchanges and an opportunity to share the rowing experience. I hope one day Norway welcomes people from other parts of Europe to train in the pristine serenity of its fjørds.
Depending on the country you live in and its climate you will divide time between training on land/indoors and being on water. In Norway and Canada for instance training is often indoors all winter long along with cross-count cross-country ry skiing or swimming as a cross-train cross-training ing activity. A winter long training program should ideally develop general strength, maximum strength, power, strength-endurance and speed. Here is an example program in program in Excel (with supplementary material: general strength, strength, strength-endurance strength-endurance,, maximum strength, strength, power , holiday holiday)) we developed in 2006-2007 that can be used as a template and adapted according to your specific local conditions. Indoor rowing is a major part of a training program and must be done with the correct technique as shown in this video video with with Lubomir Kisiov and his athlete. I often notice the inflexibility in hip flexors and lower back in rowers. In my opinion it may not be a bad idea to get regular sessions in yoga such as Ashtanga or Bikram to develop calmness and much needed flexibility. Nutrition for rowing is an important subject that is beyond the scope of this “short” article. Many rowers see food as fuel and eat a high calorie diet after a workout. Very much like like top-level top-level swimmers like like Michael Phelps. Phelps. The 2013 world world coastal champion Lars Grumpect who is 37 pays special attention to his diet. He resorts to a slow and vapor cooked meal and avoids usage of oil for frying. Closing remarks and acknowledgements This article is my personal account of coastal rowing. I apologize if I have missed some important aspects of the sport. Please send me an email (sagar@simula.no (sagar@simula.no)) and I will update the online article based on your feedback. The article intends to motivate people to see the world through the lens of rowing on the sea. More than 70% of the world is made up of water in the oceans and we need to rediscover our inherent relationship to it. There is a scientific theory that states that life as we know it originated and thrived in the oceans first among other theories such as life came from outer space. The article article intends intends to invite invite athletes, athletes, leaders, boat makers and in general individuals in search for purpose to create communities to explore the vast vast coastl coastline ines s of world. world. For instan instance, ce, my home home countr country, y, India, India, is adorne adorned d with with a penins peninsula ula and long long coastline. There is a need for entrepreneurs to develop our relationship with the sea for both physical health and environmental awareness.
Some people I personally personally know and look up to, without without them realizin realizing g it, helped helped me give life life to this article. article. I cite Lars Grumpect Grumpect as an example example quite a bit in my article article as he developed developed into a world-class world-class coastal coastal rower from scratch and in a data-driven data-driven manner. He is a quantified quantified and autotelic autotelic rower rower who has trained to reach reach a
very high level and I admire him for that. I must mention that he gives a lot of credit to his wife for standing by him in his endeavors. That said I have had the opportunity to meet extraordinary people in the rowing world that inspire inspire me by their wide spectrum spectrum of abilities abilities ranging from just rowing rowing to organizing organizing communities communities around the sport. These people (in no particular order) include Catherine Bruneau, Nicolas Parquic, Fréderic Delaive, Hélene Rémmond, Gwen Savary, Peter Berg, the coastal team from St. Malo, Alberto Extarte, Jean-yves LeCrenn and the Safran team, Renato Alberti, Mike de Petris, Lionel Girard, Lubomir Kisiov, Matt Leo, Brice Kolko (my first rowing coach back in McGill University, Montreal), Paul Bencze, Stein Mørk, the Swiss women’s coastal rowing team, Mr. Howard Crocker the maker of oars from Australia, to name a few. All in all, I hope these notes have nudged you into learning a bit more about the sport of coastal rowing. I eagerly look forward to seeing you on the seas. If you are in Oslo feel free to check out our website (http://www.christiania-roklub.no) or find us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/Teamcoastalrowingnorway https://www.facebook.com/Teamcoastalrowingnorway). ). Finally, I am immensely grateful to Magnus Harju, Nina Nina Johann Johanne e Krogh, Krogh, Katink Katinka a Wolter Wolter,, Janne Janne Hunsbe Hunsbeth, th, Paul Bencze Bencze and Aneel Aneel Nair Nair for their edits, comm commen ents ts,, and and over overal alll enth enthus usia iasm sm in my note notes. s. I simp simply ly woul wouldn dn’t ’t have have the the driv drive e with withou outt thei their r encouragement.
For more information about rowing in general I suggest some of the following links:
Rowing quotes Rowing biomechanics Carlos Dinares Rowing Tips Indoor Rowing Technique The Physics of Rowing Thomas Lange Training Sebastien Vielledent and Adrien Hardy Training Fabrice Moreau Antics Ivanov Vyacheslav Rowing Katrin Rutschow-Stomporowski Rutschow-Stomporowski in 2004 Olympics Max Rigging Books on Rowing (Amazon) Google scholar on Rowing Hear the Boat Sing 150 Years of Scientific Enquiry about Rowing and Rowers Harry Mahon at the 1994 Coach’s conference Glimpses of coastal rowing (youtube) Getting back on a boat World Coastals 2010, Istanbul, Turkey Prince Albert II Challenge 2011, Monaco Cassis Race 2011 World Coastals 2011, Bari, Italy Coupe de France Aviron de Mer 2012 Lars Grumpect training in a C1x Atlantic Games for Juniors 2014 French National Championships 2014, Arcachon
World Coastals 2014, Thessaloniki, Greece
