2k erg times

Question
Hello I'm a 16 year old girl and have been rowing for about 5 months, in this time I have done 2 2ks. My first being in a time of 8:18 and second being in a time of 8:23. I haven't done much land training recently as we've been learning starts and buoy turns for the regattas but I really want to improve my 2k as I think I can do a lot better than what I have got in the 2ks I have done so far. I am 5'8 and weigh 164lbs. I know that with dropping some weight my fitness will improve a lot as it's really bad at the moment and I'd like to attempt to get to lightweight within the next year or so if I don't grow in height. What sort of 2k time do you think would be good and what do you think I should be aiming for? I really want to improve and am not at all pleased with my 2ks even though it does put me better than some people in my age group! I want to be the best which obviously means training a lot harder and improving a lot.

Answer
Steph,
According to the Concept 2 Website you are a little worse than average, however being new that is OK. I think a " good" time would be breaking 8, but I think you should shoot for sub 8, which would be fairly solid. While lightweight rowing is very specific case by case, I do not think dropping over 34 pounds would be healthy at all. 5'8 is a little tall for a lightweight anyway. In addition, body weight is actually very helpful on the erg, however it isn't as helpful on the water, but nonetheless, losing weight will not be the most helpful thing to do for that situation. I would practic 1500 meter pieces at 2:02. The light training you are doing now will ensure you are rested for your races, but your 2k is not going to get any better, so I would speak with my coach and ask if doing erg workouts would be OK.
Good luck
Annie