Rowing Interviews

Expert advice for rowers and coaches of lightweight athletes.

Questions and timestamps

How do I know I"m a Lightweight rower? 04.00 minutes
How to coach the individual 06.00
Things to do differently with lightweights 11.00
Link to Harry Mahon's Daily Diary
Harry Mahon's Rowing Technique DVDsHow to acquire coachability 14.00
Efficient weight training for lightweights 18:00
How to cut weight after winter without losing strength 21:00
What to work on the erg as a lightweight 22:00
Drag factor on the erg 23:00
Doing weight adjusted ergs - measure watts per kilo of body mass 28:00
Weight management within training 31:00
Weigh ins and recovery before racing 35:00
How to select target weights 37:00
What's your ideal lightweight 41:00
How to get selected 44:00
Link to Get fast fast, lighweight ebook Tips for masters lightweights 47:00
How to teach the approach to the catch 49:00
What % max weights do lightweights lift 52:00
How to watch out for injury and prevent it 53:00
Ways to get more people into rowing 56:00


RowingChat: Bill Manning, Lightweight coach at Princeton, April 2016

UM Rowing coach Jim Dietz talks Coxswains

Timestamps
01:00 CTL is a preventative service for athlete retirement
08:00 The genesis of CTL - addiction post sport to dopamine and seeking subsitutes
06:00 Do clubs see coach education as their responsibility?
11:00 The stigma of asking for help - a grief process of retirement when it's not your choice (injury or deselection)
14:00 CTL has articles and resources on transition - Headspace (mental), Careers (passion and purpose), Tools for Life (skills to repurpose)
20:00 Federations have a responsibility for athlete development
22:00 Everyone can benefit - start working with junior teams to learn the skills young
26:00 Conferences on mental health, career development with Greg Louganis (diver), Ben Johnson (sprinter), Kim Brennan (rower)
28:00 Greg's story - he was HIV Positive at Olympics and diving was a refuge for depression as well as battling his sexuality
32:00 How to handle depression - Mental Health First Aid Course
34:00 Symptoms of depression - withdrawing, distant from the group, performance declines.  Solutions depend on acuteness.
40:00 Drugs in rowing - we'd be naive to think rowing is immune
42:00 Ben Johnson's story - taking drugs at the Olympics.
46:00 Athletes make the choice to dope Joerg Jaksche ASADA video. What is good decision making?  
50:00 Whistleblowing on doping - sign the WADA code.  Reporting is an obligation.  Protect your right to a fair race.
52:00 Should doping bans be for life?
56:00 CTL Webinars and Drop-ins - monthly live chats.

RowingChat: Athlete Retirement Gearoid Towey

Rowing New Zealand athletes join us for RowingChat - Robbie Manson is World Record holder in Single Scull 1x, Michael Brake and Tom Murray have been in the 8 and Pair. 

They talk about training, mental strength, the numbers they look at in the boat, what happens when you're injured and their coach, Noel Donaldson.

RowingChat: Robbie Manson, Tom Murray, Michael Brake NZ Rowing

Full interview on https://www.rowperfect.co.uk/eira-parry-parenting-athletes-on-rowingchat/

Timestamps
01:00 HPP is for any parent of a child who rows
05:00 Top dos and don'ts for parenting sporting children.  Open communication with athlete and coach, Embrace making mistakes.  It's their game not yours.
07:00 Effective dialogue - protocols for communication
09:00 New group induction topics - use parents as allies in the support network
15:00 Sport / life balance - don't give up things because rowing has a high training load.  Periods of under-recovery are normal.  Morning monitoring.
19:00 The sporting journey should be fun for parents too.  Find out likely race outcomes and prepare your own emotions.
22:00 Nutrition for athletes - protein eaten regularly in meal and snacks - recovery snacks of carb + protein
26:00 What causes conflict in sport.  Selection decisions are hart to do transparently in rowing.  Empathise with your child, accept their disappointment.  Encourage then to ask the coach for feedback.
32:00 Can young people understand and learn from disappointments?  Are you going to be in sport for the long term?
37:00 Learn sporting heroes' journey stories
38:00 How can a coach make fair selections?  Have a policy readily available. Key events, how the event crews will be selected.  The coach has final say.
40:00 What is the difference between sport and an unfair situation?
44:00 Dispute resolution - allow both parties to be heard.  Redress or not?
48:00 Peer group friendships and racing up an agegroup
51:00 Workshops for parents, nutrition, sport life balance, psychology, how to talk to your child about sport, recovery snacks, supporting your child.

Eira Parry High Performance Parenting: RowingChat

Timestamps to the interview with Eric Murray - half of the Kiwi Pair

1:00 Introduction and background in rowing
2:00 The 2004 Olympics when I made the final.  Beijing 2008 we dead heated in the semi-final.  We didn’t know how to replicate our 2007 success.
07:00 How Hamish and I decided to do the pair.  I would have loved to see what we could have done against George Bridgwater and Nathan Twaddle
09:00 Hamish ad I are buddies - you have to have trust
11:00 I am optimistic, Hamish is pessimistic and perfectionist.
16:00 Have you ever lost it completely in a boat?
18:00 Who is your most influential coach?  Chris Nilsson has a sense of boat feel, Noel Donaldson - we’ve had a great collaboration with him
21:00 Dan Plews physiologist worked with us. A rowing programme is a one-year experiment.
27:00 Being the new boy in the group.  Respect your elders.  There’s an element of fear
31:00 “Last man standing” 500m on and 250m off
34:00 How Dick Tonks will go in Canada
39:00 Strong leg drive - hanging under your armpits
40:00 Mental preparation - normal training will suck, so get used to it.  Get rid of your superstitions.  Be flexible.
42:00 How to get a better erg time - do more ergs.  If you can train at 80% of your race speed consistently, you only have to increase it by 15-20% to hit race pace.
44:00 I didn’t keep a training diary but I have got a list of my 2k times over the years
45:00 You cna spend too much time on an erg.  90 minutes and your output reduces to survive.
46:00 Our average daily distance is 36-40 km
48:00 Do you do weight lifting?  In 2010 we stopped.  Before that we did lots.  We did band work, plyometrics.  Dick Tonks said we will go faster by being fitter rather than being stronger.  We still did core work.
51:00 I’ve been lucky not to get badly injured
53:00 Why didn’t you go round in circles?  Hamish pushed 350 watts in mid race, his power was more than I could product - but I could pull him round at the start and finish.  So I had the steering and used it a bit.  We were slightly out of tine in our power application.  The stern fishtailed a bit.
57:00 How to get to the Olympics - ergs - be quick.
58:00 What do you do in a 2k when you think you’re dying?  Breathe.  Start on your target number and use rating to hit the number.  Listen to the machine, am I rowing coherently?
61:00 Synek does short intensive workouts.  What works for different people is different.
63:00 Transitioning out of sport.  I worked before I rowed professionally.  I now do sales for the Laszlo Boats team.

Eric Murray, Kiwi Pair om RowingChat

Julien Bahain is a former international who is vehemently anti Drugs in Sport, and in favour of allowing athletes more say in lane draws at WorldRowing regattas.
Timestamps to the show
1:00 Introduction and background in rowing
2:00 Falling in Love with Rowing
05:00 Comparing rowing with horse riding
08:00 The double scull is a complex boat comparing it to the quad
15:00 The only race we didn't perform well in 2012 was the Olympic regatta
17:00 If you only live for rowing it's a trap.  
21:00 Retirement was brutal.  Who am I now?
35:00 Comparing the French [dispersed] and the Canadian [centralised] rowing systems.
40:00 Our Rio performance was stolen.  I've never been so fit before.
43:00 My favourite boat manufacturer
47:00 Doping in sport. Rowing has values as well as results. I'm an advocate for jail and life bans.
54:00 The FISA Athletes Commission and the Lane Selection programme change we are lobbying for now.
RowingChat is sponsored by www.Healthiq.com/rowing intelligent life insurance for athletes - get a quote and support us.

We are doing a listener survey www.bit.ly/rowingchatsurvey

Julien Bahain: RowingChat

RowingChat: Jurgen Grobler biography authors, Hugh Matheson and Chris Dodd interviewed by Rebecca Caroe. 
Timestamps to the show
01:00 Introduction and background in rowing
3:00 What attracted you to writing this book without Jurgen's collaboration?
07:00 Jurgen's one defining quality as a coach is thoroughness - how this shows and how Bob Janousek enabled its establishment in UK rowing.
13:00 Moving from East Germany to UK rowing system was difficult for Jurgen - why?
17:00 How Jurgen builds a squad of athletes over an Olympic cycle.
21:00 Building a squad where the athletes have the ambition to get into Jurgen's podium crews.  Train hard or drop out.
30:00 What other British coaches have learned form Jurgen Grobler's methods
49:00 Hugh Matheson - how do you feel about losing a possible Olympic Gold Medal in 1976 to a doping East German crew?
42:00 Leander club had fallen out with British Rowing and didn't ask the question about East German drug use
50:00 What trade offs is Jurgen willing to make that other coaches don't?
54:00 What are the flaws in the British Rowing system?

Jurgen Grobler biography authors

Timestamps to the show
01:00 Introduction and background in rowing
3:00 What it is like stroking the US womens eight and being coached by Tom Terhar
07:00 Funding is a blessing and a curse, it keeps the sport pure and there's little incentive to take drugs.
09:00 Tom is our enigma. He cares a lot and wants the best for his athletes; is sparing in his praise.  I learned to stop questioning.
15:00 The moment I became a great stroke, I realised that is doesn't matter what I do.  It's what I enable the team to do.
19:00 The team connection is "glue" the coaching and culture we created our own bonding.
21:00 Handling stress "Billie Jean King said pressure is a privilege"
24:00 Rehabilitation from injury and the psychology of recovery - don't make yourself miserable.
33:00 Her retirement - a legal career has a lack of goals and metrics to measure performance.
50:00 What trade offs is Jurgen willing to make that other coaches don't?
42:00 The differences between rowing at Harvard and Oxford
44:00 Drills for junior rowers - learn to row feet out on an erg or boat at a stroke rate of 24 or less.

RowingChat with Olympian Caryn Davies

Ryan Demaine, Head coach of Headington School is my guest. 
01:00 Introduction and background in rowing
02:00 The state of school rowing in the UK.
04:00 The structure of our school rowing programme by age - 140+ girls in the club
08:00 Number of sessions per week for different age groups.
13:00 No injuries in the group by starting slowly with weight lifting.  The speed of the bar is important.
14:00 Prioritise participation over performance  Many schools don’t create an athlete-oriented environment.
21:00 The athlete scholar - coined by Christine Wilson.  You must be on top of your work or rowing suffers.
24:00 Drop off between school and university
27:00 Physiology Testing - Charlie Simpson uses 5 or 6 ergs lasting 10 minutes with 10 minutes rest between.  30 minutes is when the aerobic zone is for blood lactate and watts is the training band. 
31:00 Take watts from the gym into the boat - rate of perceived exertion on 1-10 scale plus Heart Rate plus lactate or watts.
35:00 My coaching philosophy of how to move a boat.  Relaxation, Rhythm, Efficiency
42:00 Quad - confidence on how the boat feels
48:00 Match racing skills.  I care about the performance more than the boat speed.
50:00 We should move the school exams to December and finish the rowing year in October.
Read the full blog post https://www.rowperfect.co.uk/ryan-demaine-headington-school-on-rowingchat/

Ryan Demaine Headington School: RowingChat

Full podcast details 
Timestamps to the show
01:00 Introduction and background in rowing
03:00 Fastest erg time 5:42.5 nearly beating Matthew Pinsent
04:00 Getting recruited to Tideway Scullers under Bill Barry as a coach
10:00 World Class Start talent ID programme under Peter Shakespeare
15:00 Henley final losing by 3 feet.  Graham has been in 3 HRR finals losing by a total of 10 feet.
18:00 I love rowing and winning.  When you're good at something it's hard to walk away.  A poison chalice.
19:00 Eddie Fletcher is my indoor rowing scientist coach.  He makes me confident in what I do.  It's about layering speed on speed.  Giving me the proof points that I can do it.
21:00 Training as an older athlete - less is more.  In a race, the cox can talk over the demons in your head.
28:00 I'm working on now is using the rate more.  My big scores were high 20s / low 30s.  Now for 10k I work on 34-36 stroke rate.
31:00 The display I choose is the average meters to first / second place in a race [C2 race format].  I row a flat race profile, as simple as possible
34:00 My sprint technique on the C2
39:00 You may be surprised but I stop during a lot of training sessions, never in a race.  I try to assess the value of what I've done.
44:00 Rowing with Bradley Wiggins
50:00 How to improve your erg score.

Graham Benton on RowingChat

Greg Spooner is a physiotherapist with deep expertise in rowing and movement analysis.  Our chat covers how to deal with injury as a coach and as an athlete.

Timestamps to the show
1.00 Introduction and background in rowing
2.00 Rowing the atlantic and why you should bring more food.  
Rowing into the Sun (book) by Jordan Hanssen https://www.amazon.com/Rowing-into-Son-Crossing-Atlantic/dp/1594856354
04:00 My approach to injury rehabilitation
08:00 Recurring injuries and why your spine is like a balloon filled with toothpaste
12:00 Foundation of good mobility - 2 exercises to loosen your back
15:00 Advice to coaches - stress communication about aches and pains.  
19:00 Sleep is a performance-enhancing drug for sport
23:00 Advice for masters rowers without a coach.  Use the internet to research ways to gain speed and comfort.  Download the free Injury Prevention Starter on https://rowphysio.com/about/
25:00 How to self-treat back pain - Read Will Ruth's collection of research studies https://rowingstronger.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/LBP-RSI-in-Rowers.pdf
30:00 Sleep - to be effective you need an honest assessment of your current habits
Sleep Study references:
https://journals.lww.com/pedorthopaedics/Fulltext/2014/03000/Chronic_Lack_of_Sleep_is_Associated_With_Increased.1.aspx
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21731144
https://www.nature.com/articles/40775
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352721818301190?via%3Dihub
37:00 Gear you can use to stay in good shape.  Morph Collapsible Foam Roller https://rowphysioshop.com/
The more you can understand your injury the better you can visualise and manage recovery.
Key question to ask a doctor or therapist "Can you explain that another way?"
Warm up link for rowing - 8 minute video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llp7ovdUWhc 
41:00 Remote consultations are available with Greg via www.rowphysio.com

Greg Spooner RowPhysio on RowingChat

Timestamps to the show
0:00 Introductions and background in rowing
2:00 The semi final at the World Championships 2018
5:00 I come from a family of rowers going back to my grandfather
9:00 My transition to rowing - I took a month off and realised I needed to do sport
12:00 My father is my coach “I hate it when I fail in something”
18:00 My first World Cup race in 2018
23:00 Was my early success just luck?
27:00 The world cup final - stroke by stroke
31:00 My strongest asset is my motivation - when something isn’t working
33:00 My favourite drills - I really enjoy doing high intensity 2ks
35:00  Ambition is to be the German Champion
42:00 Watching races on video

Oliver Zeidler on RowingChat

I visit Team GB Olympic rower Matt Wells's rowing club in Hexham ahead of the men's quadruple sculls final.

ROWING HEXHAM

Douglas Lumsden is the founder and owner of Space Saver Rowing Systems - experts in boathouse storage and space optimisation.  Known for their world-famous oar hanging racks. www.ssrs.net.au

Timestamps
0:00 About you and your background in rowing
03:00 What gave you the idea for Space Saver Rowing? Why is boathouse storage such a key issue today?
05:00 Your first product you developed was the oar rack  What was challenging / easy / why was this product needed?
12:00 Space Saver has affiliates around the world including RowAmerica
15:00 The latest product is a telescopic frame for single scull racking
18:00 Boat racking storage with a variable mount to allow adjustments and variations to be made after installation
22:00 The Design Process
24:00 Storing rowing electronics in a box for Youth and Student Rowing Clubs 
29:00 Dragon Boating clubs are multi-sport and need electric hoists for boat racking - can also be used for coaching boats
35:00 Boating Docks and Pontoons
40:00 What's on the horizon next? The Harvard and Weld Boathouse redevelopment using Space Saver Racking.

Space Saver Rowing on RowingChat

Should rowing be banned? draft by Marcus Rossi

Rowing Chat is the podcast network dedicated to rowing.  We have many shows hosted from around the world on specialist topics from Strength Training to USA news, from interviews to data analysis. Produced by Rebecca Caroe, it brings rowing news, coaching advice and interviews to you.  
Go to https://rowing.chat/ for links to the latest episodes & subscribe in your favourite podcast software.