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This booklet has been compiled by Matthew Hackett, formerly Director of Rowing. If you would like more information or a printed copy of this document then please contact the school. Welcome to rowing at King’s. This page is designed to be an introduction to the rowing club and its activities throughout the year to enable everyone involved to maximise the involvement, participation, enjoyment and hard work satisfaction to be gained from this activity. Getting Started Sculling is a symmetrical action that is much better for developing backs. It allows us to be much more versatile with crew formation on a day to day basis, and therefore gives each individual many more opportunities to progress in the first year. From the Fourth year onwards, there is a regular change between sculling and rowing, for developmental reasons in terms of both healthy growth and performance. The Situation The Equipment The Coaches Kit If the sport appeals, and competition beckons
in the 3rd and 4th years, the crew must all wear the same kit,
which we supply: the green rowing T-shirt (£10 from KSCRC)
and black lycra shorts and waterproof (£40 from KSCRC). We
suggest they bring a woolly hat for the cold months, and (more
for those rare summer months) water bottles as important items
of kit. By the sixth form, one or two individuals may be exerting pressure to buy some of the specialist hardware such as heart-rate monitor, boat and blades. For almost every eventuality, the school can provide the necessary equipment. Owning one’s own is a luxury possibly only deserved by the very best, not a general requirement! Administration The school pays a large proportion of the costs of competition – race entry fees can be as much as £80 for an eight at an event; a large regatta can cost well over £500 for these entry fees in total, before the cost of transport, staffing, maintenance of equipment…... are added. Major events in the
rowing year As soon as enough official dates are published, our Calendar of Events is compiled and published. Although most 3rd years would not normally expect to race until the following Spring, below is an outline of the competition year as it effects most members of the club to give you an idea of how things run.
Parents' Dress Code for The Head Season - dress up warmly if spectating is to be enjoyed and repeated. Spring Term - In early February, we attend
another head race for big boats (fours and eights) at Wycliffe.
We attempt to enter almost everybody involved in this event. It
is the first try-out for many in bigger boats after a winter of
work in the smaller boats, singles, doubles and pairs. The Summer Regatta Season (be
prepared for all weathers/cancellation)
Our final official engagement of the year is at the Great Britain National Championships, from Thursday to Sunday usually around the 18th – 21st July. We usually have a training camp the week before the event. For those with a passion to pull: Great Britain Trials. A select few elite members of the club try for GB selection. We have a good record of success at international level, with some outstanding performances. The selection events run throughout the year. Details are in the calendar, or notified directly via the athlete. WHERE DO YOU JOIN IN The equipment is made very good use of by the athletes! Glossary – so
you know what it is the boys and girls are on about
We do have girls rowing; last year we celebrated our first female crew competing at the National Championships and the National School's regatta in open competition, building on previous individual (international) excellence. Watch this space!!!! The personnel Basically stroke is supposed to set the rhythm
and pull hard. 3 is supposed to pull very hard come what may. 2
should try to be as good as 3. Bow has to do the best that they
can in a difficult seat, and steer too in most coxless boats. Generally,
bows are selected for their reliable technique and cool attitude.
Although not essential, size does help in this sport, especially
in singles and coxed boats. In eights, everyone has to play their
part. The crucial technical positions are 7, Bow and Stroke and
in that order. The positions for hard individuals are 6,7 and Stroke.
Each person can be a weak link, so the successful crews are those
where numbers 2 to 5 are out to show how good they would be in
at the aforementioned positions! Any seat is as tough and rewarding
as you make it! My fad follows a belief that 100,000 years of
evolution cannot easily be turned on its head in 50 years, and
we are not so well served by masses of wheat products from Kelloggs,
or hydrogenated vegetable fats from your local chemical works.
Unfortunately, I take it one step further, and believe that very
active people are generally designed to burn full fat milk and
butter. This may not be so well founded, just my personal failing! Many top rowers are united characteristically by ball sports presenting a bit of a mystery. So as beginners, our recruits may not yet think of themselves as sporty, but they will need a competitive, determined streak niggling away somewhere. Typically, distance running and cycling have appealed already as endurance exercise is found more rewarding than sprinting or ‘reaction’ sports - catching balls etc. is often a great challenge. Slight clumsiness is par for the course. Interestingly, there maybe a significant link between dyslexia and rowing excellence (noticed in international standard training groups. You don’t have to be dyslexic, but it may be a strong recommendation to try rowing! Safety Matters 1) Every rower starting at King’s will have successfully completed the capsize drill run at the start of their first term. This includes proof of swimming confidence and competence. 2) Instruction in how to perform the various training exercises correctly, and in a safe manner should ensure that there is little chance of injury. Weight training is introduced gradually depending upon individual development and ability; advanced weight lifting is directed by a coach qualified by the British Amateur Weight Lifting Association. 3) Collisions. These are infrequent, as navigation is basically “keep to the right”. (The difficulty for rowers is that they are facing the wrong way, and the coxes often have a rower sitting in the way.) 4) If technique, flexibility and core stability (abdominal/postural strength) are all good, no injuries should ever arise. If any ache does persist for more than 48 hours (especially in the back) it must be brought to the attention of a coach. 5) Especially at the start of the Autumn term, the one injury which should appear is blistered hands, and at senior level maybe bruised hands, The skin will quickly harden. Contrary to medical advice, rowing blisters need to be hygienically pierced (using a clean pin) at the edge of the blister, drained, and allowed to dry by being left open, not covered with a plaster or tape. If left full, they pop during the next outing (unhygienic). 6) Weils Disease and blue-green algae need mentioning. They are nasty water borne causes of illness. As a precaution, swimming in the river or throwing in the cox at events is not allowed, and relevant advice is given in a safety briefing early on each year. The greatest day-to-day hazards are hypothermia in winter for those not able to work hard enough to keep warm, and sunburn in summer when around the water for significant periods. The precautions for these are clear. Rowing at King’s … what
does in involve/ expectations The commitment required to prevent the sport becoming a drudge is very high. It is a three term sport for most. Day to day motivation has to come from the individual, rather than being forced by coaches, as the necessary weekly commitment ranges from about 8 hours in the 3rd form up to about 15 hours in the sixth form. Some of this is transport time. There are many members of the club who demonstrate that studies and sculling do go very well together. This does require the life skill of time management to be developed when the advanced levels of training are encountered. Due to the nature of crew rowing, absences from water sessions tend to create crew difficulties, and should be notified with as much notice as possible by written note to assist forward planning. Maybe there should be a WARNING expressed here that rowing is a strangely addictive sport for many who take it up. As a spectator, it is hard to understand. As a successful competitor, the appeal is difficult to put into words. It is something to do with combining powerful co-ordinated effort in a skilful rhythmical sequence through a refined apparatus to move at speed over water, and doing it better than others, or just yourself the last time you tried. We all (coaches and existing athletes and support group) hope this encourages you to support if what you have read appeals to you. A summary of the weeekly timetable:
Appendix Please come and support at the events: enjoy watching the racing, but please leave the crew and coaches to their activities and deliberations in the periods of preparation of equipment, body and soul for racing and for the de-briefing and organisation post-race.
If
for any reason you can't find what you are looking for, have
a look in our alphabetical list,
or contact us on the following e-mail: info@kingschester.co.uk |
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The
first thing that you need to know is that when you start rowing
in the 3rd form, we practice the more technical art of SCULLING,
where each boy has a “scull” for each hand, as opposed
to “sweep-oar” rowing where each person has only
the one larger oar. SWEEP rowing is started in the 4th year.
Initially,
beginners just require standard school games kit – trainers,
gym shorts, school T-shirt, sweatshirt and track suit.
The
racing year is divided in two. From October to March races tend
to be processional time trials, called HEAD RACES. Crews start
at about 15 second intervals, and race over a long course, usually
3km+. Then from April to September, racing tends to be side-by-side
over shorter distances, at REGATTAS. The distance we aim for
is 2000m. This is the standard international distance. Local
or Junior events tend to be shorter still. Henley Royal is an
awful bit longer at 2112m.
Michaelmas
Term – After a short preparation period, most of the
club will enter the local Chester Long Distance Sculls at the
end of September. Two or three other head races will also be
contested; the local events (Dee Autumn Head, Northwich Head,
Liverpool Head of the Float) for the whole club including recreational
seniors, more distant highly competitive events (The Fours Head)
for the very best members in the club. As a bit of fun for those
suitably designed (large, usually) there are the British Indoor
Ergo Championships in November to satisfy the masochistic urges
of the few who enjoy that sort of thing.
Early
in the term, most of the club race at either Avon County (Swindon!)
Regatta (juniors) or Nottingham City Regatta (seniors). On the
first weekend (Friday–Sunday) of half term, the National
Schools’ Regatta on the National Rowing Course at Nottingham
is THE major competition for the school rowing for the fourth year
and above. Hopefully, all competitive members go to this. The 3rd
years’ main regatta is Peterborough Junior Regatta in late
June.
The
rowing club as you see it today is a product of past commitment,
not only by the School but also by the parents of rowers. Much
equipment has been purchased as a joint effort with contributions
from both parties. The main way that you as a parent can help
is to participate in the events that the King’s School
Rowing Club Parents Association (KSRCPA) organise regularly through
the year, better still, join in with the organising committee. 
The
bit of the boat that leads in the direction of travel is called
the bow, and has a bowball on the end to reduce
the dangers of a point, particularly when at racing speed with
a crew maybe weighing the best part of a ton. The blunt end (stern)
of the boat has no such protection, and is actually quite sharp.
(BEWARE when walking about, as one often does not notice them end-on
until contact is made.)Boats are built in a range of sizes to accommodate
the various weights of crew, and come in a range of boat classes; Singles (one
person sculling + lucky mascot), doubles and pairs (two
people sculling/rowing, no mascot needed), quads and fours (four
sculling/rowing, coxed to steer 14 and 15 year olds, thereafter
coxless in sculling and usually coxed if rowing), and finally,
a (coxed) octuple for eight 3rd year sculling
speed freaks, and the senior Blue Riband rowing boat, the eight,
also coxed. The crews compete in various age categories, starting
at J14. This means junior under 14 years old as on the 1st Sept
of that school year. The age categories go J15, J16 and J18 (or
just “J”). There are women’s events for the more
aggressive sex -WJ14 and so on. 
Servicing
requirements. Your developing athlete will need a typical good
varied diet with plenty of fresh fruit and green vegetables – (you
have it in writing). They should be well watered ideally with
fruit juice/water 50/50 mix – at least six large glasses
per day. I am not in favour of extreme “sports” diets
of low fat, bulky pasta / rice dishes. There is some evidence
that they are not the most healthy option, they can be boring,
and a rich variety has to be the best thing for growing athletes.
My fad sports diet: I am in favour of a diet of thirds – one
small third (protein) low fat cuts of meat/fish/egg (whites only
apparently, but I cannot be that fussy), one large third of high
value vegetables and fruits (not potato, but the greens and reds),
and one generous seasoning third of fats –olive oil, avocado,
fish oil, almonds, (all rich in omega-3 fats). 
Essentially,
rowing is a safe sport. Injuries are uncommon, deaths are extremely
rare. There are certain precautions that achieve this end.
The
aim at King’s is to enjoy this sporting challenge. In the
first year or two, this usually means getting to grips with the
technical demands and developing a level of fitness and determination
to succeed at competition standard. For some, taking part at
the local level of competition is the aim. For others, full international
success is the long-term goal at the other extreme. "Serious" recreational
rowing is also welcomed with those who do not have athletic tendencies.