Concept2 Rowing Score Analysis: Potential Performance Gains

Question
Hi there,
I am a young female rower, 17 years of age, I have been rowing about a year and a half.
My best 2k score is 8:07
I weighed 63 kilos at the time. I'm aware that this doesn't qualify for lightweight, but if i were to lose the few kilos it would take to put me in the lightweight division, how would my 2k score measure up?

Answer
G'Day Nicole: Per the Concept II Database, here are the times for women ages 16-18 (light and heavyweights):

Average Time: 8:12.4

PERCENTILES
90th   75th   50th   25th
7:34.5 7:49.4 8:09.4 8:31.4

Now here are the lightweight-only times:

Average Time: 8:29.3

PERCENTILES
90th   75th   50th   25th
7:49.4 8:05.0 8:25.4 8:50.8

So your time is above average for any weight and near the Top-25% for lightweights.

I am not a certified personal trainer, so I never recommend losing weight to anyone.  You would have to lose at least 3 kilos which is not a trivial amount of weight to lose.  You could lose muscle and actually worsen your time.  Finally, on-water crew weight restrictions would force you to even lose more weight than the 135 lbs limit in ergometer racing.  

If I were you, I would just maintain proper diet and exercise and let your body dictate what your optimal competitive weight should be.

Good Luck/AP