Splits

Question
Hi... I'm new to crew this semester (first semester of graduate school). I'm 5'9 and approximately 200 lbs. I'm 25 years old. My first 2k split time (from about three-four weeks into erging for the first time ever) was 2:03.2. I have since pulled it down to 1:58.9. My question is, what is a good time to aim for? I've been losing weight (which was bound to happen) and I'm built for strength. I don't have many benchmarks to compare my times against right now and the majority of the females on my team are lightweights and shorter than me and pull an average of 10-20 seconds slower than me on any given split. I'd like to have something to work towards, but I don't know what's reasonable.

Thanks.

Answer
Hi Magdalene: The average time for women your weight and age is around 8:02.  But a lot of those women are also competitive and experienced rowers.  So you are progressing quite nicely.

A time of 7:45 or better is a good goal, which I think you can achieve once your condiditioning is improved.

Good Luck/AP