ERG improvement

Question
My daughter, who is almost 5'9", 150lbs and a 16 year old soon to be sophmore, has only done fall rowing on the water (2 seasons).  This past winter at the 2010 Cincinnati Indoor Rowing Championships she scored an 8:46.9.  This was her second time going all out on a erg and she hadn't rowed for probably 4 or 5 months.  She is now thinking of switching to rowing from basketball.  With hard work how much time, realistically, could someone shave of that time? What do D1 and D2 look for?  Thanks.

Answer
Hi Kent: The average time for heavyweight women between ages 15-17, based on the Concept II Database, is 8:12.1.  So your daughter has some room for improvement.  

I think your daughter is at an ideal height and weight to be a good rower.  I also think that if she dedicates herself to rowing and the weight lifting and road work training needed to get into crew shape, she can drop a lot of time off her 2K score.  But it is hard to tell you exactly how much and how quickly.  That's entirely up to your daughter.

While there are many factors that determine what makes someone a recruitable rower (e.g., experience, on-water technique, etc.), a scholarship-worthy time on the 2K is 7:55 or better, with 7:45 for a top-level D1 program.

I wish your daughter luck/AP