Capsize drill how masters can get back into a boat

Today we are going to look at several different videos teaching how to get back into a rowing boat after having fallen in.

British Rowing official capsize drill

The first minute shows a capsize using a camera on the boat
Note the athlete is fully submerged and then pulls her feet out of the shoes under water
There’s good advice about ‘simulating’ capsize in a swimming pool – remove backstays
At 1:15 she gets back onto the stern canvas and using her arms only paddles the boat towards shore. A good technique if you aren’t strong enough to get in over the side
The video explains clearly how a coach can teach capsize drills
The “Straddle and Paddle” technique recommended for masters who cannot get back into the boat is at 7 minutes 12 seconds.

This has good instruction from the bank – worth copying

Feather your oars on the surface of the water before trying to get back in
Getting in from both sides – worth practicing
Recommends swimming underneath to get the far oar lined up perpendicular to the boat
Note if you are over 50 years old you have “3 tries” to get back in the boat and then you are likely too tired to succeed

It is instructional because you can see what she does right and wrong

She tips out of the boat easily and the boat stays upright because she was relaxed as she fell and had let go of the oars
When getting back in, she stays lying on her tummy
And then instead of attempting to sit up, she straddles the boat cockpit with her legs dangling in the water – one on each side
From there, she succeeds in sitting up. Note she keeps the oar handles low in the boat while doing this, which doesn’t help stability
Once sitting she moves the handles upwards so each spoon is resting on the water and the boat is level
Then the athlete makes a rookie error and lets go of one of the oars…. and falls in again

This last video shows a large number of beginner adult / masters scullers doing the capsize and recovery drill

Note the widely differing ways of falling in
At 2:25 a lady fails to raise her handles after getting back onto the boat and tips over again
And notice how quickly athletes get tired after being in the water – they rapidly lose strength to lift themselves out of the water

Women – wrap a PFD (personal flotation device) the yellow long strap type around your body under your breasts – having this lower on your torso lifts you out higher above the water so you have less distance to reach upwards to get into the boat
With bow mounted wing riggers, turn the boat the right way up then stand on the rigger to help get yourself into the boat
To get more elevation and vertical acceleration as you kick your legs in the water to get upwards – try filling your lungs with air and dipping below the water surface before kicking hard. The extra air will help to lift your torso upwards.