131lb high school male 2k times

Question
I'm 5'7" tall and weigh 131  lbs. I am a 16 year old male (Grade 11) and this is my second year rowing (Sr. Mens 72.5KG [158lb) Pair)I can break 7:10 on a 2000M COncept2 erg race. My question: At my size, do i ever have the chance of rowing at the college level? Are my erg times good for my size? And what should I set for my 2000M erg goal and how could i achieve that?
Thanks.

Answer
Hi Jordan: Based on your age, erg scores and the fact that you are rowing in Senior Pairs (which is a skill-intensive boat to row compared to rowing in an eight), you have excellent potential to succeed at college-level rowing.

Your height may be an issue if you want to make the varsity heavyweight eight of a top-echelon crew like Harvard or Yale; but for most competent crew teams, you can row bow or 2-seat. You are also rowing lightweight, which typically crews shorter oarsmen than heavyweight boats.  Of course, if you have a good partner, you can stay in pairs through college, and win against bigger competitors.

I attached the results of the Junior Lightweight mens results of the 2008 CRASH-B Sprints below.  You are in the middle of the pack, but you are competing against a lot of 18-year olds.  Your times will go down as you get older and stronger.  Your initital goal should be to crack 7:00, which would put you in the 60th percentile (better than 60% of the rowers competing in your group).  

To improve your erg scores, supplement you rowing routine with a good weight training program and a running program that emphasizes running up hills and step climbing.  The Concept II web site has some good ergometer workouts you can try.

Also consider a good summer program like St. Catherines rowing club.

Good Luck/AP


http://www.crash-b.org/cb2008/results/event05-lwt.html