High school sophomore 2k times

Question
I am a 6' 1" sophomore (16 years old) who has rowed 2 seasons and just pulled a 6:34 2k, but really want to make selection camp, so I want to drop that down to a 6:20 by the end of spring season.  If that is possible, how should I go about training during the winter for CRASH B's, where I want to pull sub 6:25?  Also, is this a good speed in comparison to other high school heavyweight sophomores?

Thanks!

Answer
Hi Nigel: Per the Concept II online database, here is the distribution of 2K erg tmes for 15-17 year old heavyweights:

Average Time: 7:04.5

PERCENTILES
90th   75th   50th   25th
6:33.5 6:46.8 7:00.7 7:19.6

So you are in the Top-10%, which is outstanding.

Of course, you will be seeing world class competition at the CRASH-Bs.  Your time would have placed you 26th out of 185 competitors in the 2010 CRASH-Bs.  Your target time of 6:25 would place you in the Top-10 (Last Year's Junior Heavy winner pulled a 5:52!!!)

With respect to workouts, I would just recommend following your coach's training regimen.  It seems like it is working for you.  I would be out of line to advise you to do something outside of what your coach is recommending.

If you have limited coaching, to shave 10 seconds off your time by CRASH-Bs, you might need to augment your erg workouts with non-rowing routines to increase both your cardiovascular and strength base.  This is accomplished through weights (heavy weights and low reps of your major muscle groups) and CV routines such as running stairs or wind sprints.  Maybe do the weights/running in the morning and the rowing in the afternoon.

While I don't necessarily advocate the following workouts, some champion ergers suggest the following:

-- 10 X 500m with 2 minutes rest between each piece.

-- Do a piece holding a 1:33 split until it slips for three continous strokes then the piece is done with.  You get five minutes rest and repeat. Repeat this 8 times or until you cannot get the monitor to show a 1:33 for one stroke, whichever comes first.

-- 6 X 2:30 @ 34-38 with 5 minutes rest in between (should cover 800 meters per peice).

Good Luck/AP