Do you have a split to aim for during workouts? What to do if you don't hit your rowing 500m split and does this matter?
Resource:Â Make winter ergs fun again - 5 tips
3 Value Bombs
01:00 Psychology of chasing 500m splits on the erg and on the water? Is it beneficial for masters rowing training.
03:45 Before rowing electronics the best way to find out your boat speed was to work on a measured marked distance on your river or lake. Repeating the distance and comparing boat speeds helped to work out your improvements.
The advent of splits enabled comparability between workouts and also use on the indoor rowing machine. Concept2 erg splits are comparable to heavyweight men 4- times on water.
05:30 Splits as a comparable tool but your split does NOT equal your training zone.
The physiology of how coaches write programs to achieve key athlete outcomes. Training each physiological system helps you improve. As we age our base fitness is generally more sustained (we don't lose it fast).
Our absolute strength declines with age and our ability to rate high and train our anaerobic system can be more challenging.
Doing testing allows you to set up training zones aligned to your physiology. The same training program can't be applied to men and women of different ages e.g. 40 to 65 years old. They cannot do the same workouts - not physically capable.
Know your own training zones so you can adapt the program to suit you. In a club with diverse members, you may find that the program is too hard or too easy for you. You may find recovery is insufficient. These symptoms are caused by a one-size-fits-all training program for masters rowing.
Come to Faster Masters Rowing and use our program where you can interpret the program and adapt it to suit you.
Re-testing yourself regularly allows you to measure progress and then adjust your training zones to match your new physical fitness.
Use tools mindfully.
It's fun to look at a number and to try to beat it - this is motivating.
But moving into an adjacent training zone as a result of beating the number will negatively impact your future performance.
10:30 You can choose to focus on a split that is attuned to your body or not.
The program you are following was written with a goal in mind. You aren't supporting your coaches' goals if you do not follow the program. Following the wrong split is a good example of not doing the program.
Getting the correct range of boat types and boat weights to suit your club group is important. What to look for, how to assess your fleet and plan for the future.
Resource:Â Rowing Club Management Strategy - how to write one
3 Value Bombs
Review the stock of boats and equipment in your club and how they align with the needs of your athletes. We realised we needed to workout if our boat fleet matched the masters group needs. Assess the weight class of boat to the athlete weights in your group.
03:00 What weight class was your boat designed for?
Look for the manufacturer's plate - often in the bow or the front of the stroke's foot well. It shows the design hull type, year of manufacture and the average weight of athlete it's designed for. Club asset registers list all the boats in the club ownership. We added the information about the boat design weight.
04:30 List all the boats in each boat class that you own (8, 4s, 2s and 1x) and classify them to the athlete weight they are designed for. Broadly we chose 3 categories - light weight boats (under 70kg), mid-weight boats (70-85kg) and heavy weight boats ( over 85kg).
Our list included boat name, age of boat, weight class of boat and whether lightweight, mid-weight or heavyweight. We added in how old the boat was and whether it was due for retirement.
It was then clear where to skew of boats matched our athlete weights.
Have we got one boat in each weight class? Which are the most popular boats which athletes like to row? This shows you where you are short of boats by boat class and boat weight to align with what your group needs, frequency of boat use per week/month, and which boats your masters want to row. This is not static, it changes each year as membership and priorities change. This information was then put into the prioritisation for refurbishing boats, fund raising for new boats and spare parts / minor repairs list (consumables e.g. shoes, slides, gates).
08:00 Set out a 3-4 year programme to get your boat fleet more aligned with your group needs.
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The joy of elite rowing is tough racing, close margins and interesting racing plans. For masters, there are lessons we can take into our own practice.
We welcome guest Grant Craies who writes the programmes for Faster Masters Rowing subscribers.
Do the basics well Watching crews from different countries who may row differently stylistically. Despite this they all row the basics extremely well such as blade parallels are accurate, height off the water is the same, they square up at the same time. They are very consistent with these at low ratings as well as when racing. They always look unhurried with their movements. To achieve this you have to be accurate with movements which creates time in the rowing stroke. These athletes have extreme physical capacities compared to us. But we can bring diligence and practice to doing the basics.
Making the boat go faster with a "move" especially in the last 10% of the race affected the outcome. The positions the crews were in at 1500m weren't the same as at the finish line. Fitness is a component of this they would have practiced making pace changes in training. The crews must know how to effect the change and what the call is to do it.
Within the Faster Masters Rowing training programs is a change of pace during a workout to help train us as masters to be able to do this.
The Romanian womens 2x were doubling up into the 8+. They tend to race from the front. In their semi-final they didn't do this - racing in the pack. After 1500m they sprinted hard to win the semi final using the change of pace in the final stages. In the final they tried to do the same thing and couldn't overtake the New Zealand W2x who won the event. Their opposition would try to counter the change of pace because they had seen it happen before. They created a buffer between the NZ boat and the Romanian boat.
It takes around 2-3 strokes before you get a real response from your boat speed. If you can get 5 strokes on another crew before they realise you have changed your pace it may gain you a bit. The opponents have to both match your change of pace and make up the distance you already gained - going significantly faster than you to win the race. It is easier to be in front than to play catch up. You take a risk by sprinting early.
The mens pair race - the British crew were leading by a few feet over the Croatian pair. They countered the push the Croatian Sinkovic brothers did. Coming up to the line the British crew caught water and this slowed their boat. There were only 2-3 strokes left in the race and that was enough for the Sinkovic to win. You have always got to keep going until you cross the line.
20:00 Van Dorp versus Zeidler The change of pace in the mens 1x came from the unaffiliated Belorussian who overtook the Dutch Van Dorp. This race got delayed to after the eights because a bus from the Olympic Athletes Village had broken down and the Belorussian was on the bus.
22:00 Have a contingency plan Things happen. The starting boot failed in one lane and forced lane changes. Know what you are going to do if something happens. This affected the timing of everyone's warm up and pre-race plans. Adjusting your plans to suit the new situation and then execute your race well. Can you filter out the things which are unexpected and re-focus on the new reality.
25:00 Know what is within your control and what is outside your control. Mental training and practice can help you learn not to react negatively when things change. Stay in the zone and produce a great athletic performance. We saw people doing catch drills, legs only rowing, finish drills in their practices after racing was over. All the crews were very careful on the recovery - they were doing nothing to disturb the boat while rolling up the slide.
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https://soundcloud.com/rowingchat/lessons-from-paris-olympics
London RC won the British Masters Championships Victor Ludorum prize in 2024. We talk to coach and captain James Sexton-Barrow about their approach to training, racing and organising their masters squad.
01:00 The plan to win the trophy began with a tracking spreadsheet.
02:30 The common goal for masters at London Rowing Club - it's a very big club membership with 100-120 rowers. The vision to win the trophy started after the 2023 event. The rowing sub-committee set the goal in January.
05:00 There are many sub-groups within the masters membership with their own objectives. A kick-off meeting brought everyone together. The club's founding was about winning at Henley Royal Regatta. We can all do this and get our photo on the wall next year.
We have a limit to number of boats and trailer space - the logistical challenge was addressed early. Also members expectations were managed as all fours had to also be quads to save trailer space. [The regatta does sweep one day and sculling the next.]
Shared goals meant members had to do well in lots of events across a broad base of individuals. Time was allocated to crew boats and balanced against individual goals for the collective goal.
11:00 The members age from masters A but the youngest category race offered in BMRC is B. Crews had to be averaged out to accommodate younger members. Ages from 28 to early 70s took part.
Everyone was happy to mix-and-match. Most people did 3 races over the weekend.
Most crews were in championship age group racing, a few did intermediate category events.
Henley Masters Regatta and next year the Banyoles World Rowing Masters Championships is a future focus. We would like to retain the trophy in 2025 too.
Learn about what it's like to row in the Netherlands from the Royal Dutch Rowing Federation Chair Seada van den Herik.
Timestamps
01:00 Seada was an international rower prior to Atlanta 1996. She organised the Junior and U23 Championships in the Netherlands before moving into more administration leadership roles.
02:30 There are about 100 masters clubs in the Netherlands. The network is very strong from age 27 upwards including "mid-week" masters groups. There is also erg rowing and coastal masters groups. A solid, enthusiastic, self-organising group of masters.
The Head of the River Amstel and the Heineken Regatta in Amsterdam both in March. There are other long distance races of 5-7km and some marathon rowing events. Recreational tours (20-30) happen each year. There are active mid week rowers who organise to row at each others' clubs too.
07:00 Innovations in masters rowing include collaborations with the German and Belgian federations co-ordinate joint "wander-rudern" touring events. A recent change in masters age categories was made to encourage student rowers to stay on in the sport after they stop studying. It is a pre-masters field from age 20-30. The race rules changed so the Masters A category is an average of 27 - this allows younger rowers to take part. It gives space for ex-students to grow into masters.
There are a lot of rowers joining aged 45 plus - people looking for a new sport join general clubs. They stay in the sport for 30-40 years. The Board now includes a novice master, Eric, to bring diversity to their group so they can understand the driving force for why adults start rowing.
13:00 Camps - the Touring Committee organise tours internationally (local and in UK, Germany and France). Masters want to keep on learning and developing and they see businesses offering clinics and camps for masters.
There are 5 committees for masters - the Masters (international); Mid-Week; Marathon; Recreational; and the Touring committee. The recreational group want to both have fun, be healthy and to progress and be challenged. There will be a focus on how to promote offerings for masters recreational rowers. There will also be a new focus on coastal and erg rowing for masters.
The ambitions are of the clubs and rowers, not the Federation - we stimulate their ambitions and exchange of information within clubs so we are the beating heart of the sport.The self-organisation of the network is great with super organisers and volunteers.
Meet Digger Barnes, he is on the Masters Rowing Commission for British Rowing.
01:00 Masters rowing clubs in UK - they tend to be run by masters rowers around the country. The opportunity for anybody to join and learn to row. Digger started at age 45. That's the really good thing about rowing.
The British Masters Championships in May - has 2 categories - the masters age group or the intermediate event. The Henley Masters Regatta is in July - run in 2 lanes. Head racing in the winter includes the Vesta Veterans Head of the River in eights during March run on the Thames in London.
The connectivity between masters groups is changing since covid. Now the group is pre-planned lineups before going out rowing. All racing is done on points so there is no longer a 'novice' category. There is still age group racing and the points mean they select crews of similar points in separate races when enough enter. In head races the higher point people start at the front of the race.
The British Masters Champs evolves every year. Time handicaps may get updated to become different for men and women in future to ensure fairer racing.
11:00 Adult novices 80% of clubs are volunteer run and his club has a waiting list for over 100 people wanting to learn to row and the majority are masters. Until we find enough volunteers to help them, we can't take on many novices. It's important not to disappoint them through the first 12 months of their membership.
British Rowing does not have a masters strategy or a masters pathway.
We have to do what we can locally, the federation won't be helping masters novices. When Digger learned to row in a 10 week beginners course and he knew he couldn't row well after that. He doesn't want others to have the same experience.
https://soundcloud.com/rowingchat/masters-rowing-in-great-britain
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Gwenda Stevens is the President of the Belgium Federation. We discuss masters rowing in Belgium, the clubs regattas and the new Masters National Championship event.
00:45 Gwenda has been president for 12 years and she's also an umpire and masters rower.
02:30 Masters rowing in Belgium isn't a big sport. There are 28 rowing clubs in the country - only a few have masters. Gent has hosted regattas regularly in April and May for many years. There has been a lack of entries recently. Until 2 years ago when changes happened.
04:45 The Federation added masters rowing to the national championships three years ago. They worked hard to ensure that there were enough entries. IN September 2023 there were a huge growth with 9 eights racing masters. The April regatta will now have a small boats champs (1x and 2-) and in September for big boats (4x, 4- and 8 as well as a mixed 8).
06:40 There is now a Belgian National Title on offer and Gwenda believes this has accelerated the change and growth in competitors. The standard is high. Gwenda thinks the changes weren't big but had a large impact. She hopes to have a separate masters championships.
08:50 New innovations - they are waiting to see how the event evolves and may have a masters only event with international participants as well from local countries.
Georg Gruetzner is the masters representative on the German Rowing Federation.
Resource: Structure of masters rowing slides
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01:00 The Masters Officer in the Federation is responsible for the rules in Germany. There are many local groups who run masters events.
02:30 Masters are in many clubs. There are 55 clubs in Berlin alone - but it's variable from year to year. Some masters come to racing from touring rowing - exemplified by a Hamburg club. Most clubs have fine boat regatta rowing and also touring rowing boats.
05:00 Some touring regattas are very long like 100km down the River Rhine. There are four main events - March ergo and long distance events. Starting in June the Meister Championnnat two day regatta. Then in July the German Master's Championships happens which combines with the German champs and University champs in the same week. They use the block format for regatta organisation to enable boat sharing. There are around 650 masters participating each year. The outcome of the triple championships was well received - youngsters respect the masters and masters like staying in contact with the younger rowers. Euro Masters in Munich at the end of July is very popular internationally. Then the World Rowing Masters Regatta in early September which is in Brandenburg, Germany in 2024.
13:00 There are 85,000 rowers in total in Germany. Stimulating novice participation is important and offering them races means the future masters generations is successful.
Adult Novices and young masters Many novices will race and some events also offer races for under 27 year olds. A little like the AA category in USA. They allow touring boats to be used by novices. The goal is to stay in masters rowing for life. The goal is to remove the break from 21 year old students and 27 year old masters.
Wolfgang Fritsch also runs masters seminars for people who want to improve and come from club beginner/novice courses. Clubs often do beginner courses but fall short when people need to improve their technique. This gap is filled by Wolfgang's camps and seminars.
20:00 The structure of masters rowing in Germany has been examined to find the gaps and opportunities to improve. The German Masters champs are open and so other countries can participate as well. Recent years Netherlands, Austria and Belgian rowers participate.
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What's masters rowing like in the South Island of New Zealand? We meet South Island Rowing chairman, Peter Midgeley.
00:30 South Island of New Zealand has an association who owns and runs the Twizel lake which includes a 2k rowing course. The NZ National Champs and NZ Secondary School champs (Maadi Cup) regatta are held there. The Cup was first raced in Egypt after the Second World War in Maadi, Cairo, Egypt. It was brought home by returning soldiers and is now presented to the fasters secondary school boys eight each year.
One club is only masters, most have a masters section. Many are small (20 rowers) half are recreational and half want to race. There's a year calendar which Peter sets. There are 5 major regattas a year and the masters have set events within those regattas. They use the handicap system which counts down additional seconds so everyone finishes at the same time - making a better spectacle for the crowds watching. Every second year the NZ Masters Championships are in the South Island held in September. And the South Island Masters Champs is in June - starting 22 years ago. Now it's got about 25 cups and has 2-300 participants. It's in the coldest weekend of the year! The format starts with a long distance race the first day, 1k mixed racing with a BBQ in the evening. The 1k regatta is on the second day and has a dinner/dance afterwards. Peter recalls racing in the snow at Twizel once for that regatta.
07:30 Peter explains that this year the organisers are 'testing the waters' about moving the weekend to Anzac Weekend in April - which is a bit warmer. The idea of the regatta is to go to the rivers and lakes where there used to be regattas. The size of the regatta now is limiting this. Peter recounts the story of the New Years Day regatta at Picton when the Interislander Ferry came in with a huge wake disrupting the event. Wise coxswains turned their boats sideways to ride the wave, but one boat got swamped. Joseph Sullivan is from Picton Rowing Club who won gold in M2x at London 2012 Olympics.
Rules can only be changed every 4 years - it gets voted on at the AGM. So change is slow to happen. Masters need to get the clubs on board because in NZ we are very school-oriented. The majority of rowers are under 18. The masters are the backbone of clubs - they are in the sport for longer than parents. They're only there for 3-4 years while their child is rowing. Many clubs are run by masters who have the time, money and knowledge as well as the staying power. The average master stays 10 years in a club. Coastal Rowing is going to give good growth for coastal clubs to bring on masters novices. Peter sees the opportunity to advance them faster as they learn to row without balance. This facilitates moving into fine narrow boats later. It's easy to teach the basics of slide control and blade handling.
How to get masters onto a more equal footing with young people in the club. Peter says most masters are seen as second rate. Get onto the committee and be positive - be the oil on the squeeky wheel - and get things done. South Island Rowing has a website with all the clubs and associations including club contact details if you want to visit. There's a club in every town and city in the South Island which has a river.
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What's masters rowing like in Ireland? Gerry Murphy is Chair of the Masters Representative Committee for Rowing Ireland.
A big increase in member registration has happened and masters are now 18% of total rowing registrations. Clubs see the benefit of having masters groups. There are many other regattas offering masters events - they will put in events entries secretaries are generally willing. Many heads of the river - Galway and Enniskillen - which include masters. Overseas guests are welcome in Ireland.
Most clubs have some form of masters rowing group - including Skibbereen who started a group recently. Gerry's club, Neptune, started an adult learn to row class and most of the graduates are in the rowing leisure group - there are 70 members now. They do tours and exchanges with clubs in France and Portugal. Innovations in masters rowing.
There is a coach education programme.
Most clubs want masters because they see the benefits as they volunteer and grow the club. The 1k Classic (Carrick on Shannon) is a new event which Gerry hopes will become the official Masters Rowing Championships in future.
Future plans - a proper structure for masters programmes development, coaching development, a co-ordinator for masters in every club who can give guidance. It would be nice to get better equipment as well, possibly dedicated masters boats. External guidance to Rowing Ireland may be possible for masters. We love it and we have a smile on our faces - folks are jealous of us. Gerry encourages people to find their level in the sport and enjoying that.
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