RowingRelated

The first of today's videos comes to us from the Netherlands, where the Heineken Roeivierkamp 2014 took place recently in the heart of Amsterdam . The video features some slick editing, nice shots of rowing, and a few interviews for those of you in the audience who can speak Dutch. It's also another window into how European regatta organizers take advantage of urban settings, and combine different distances and events to keep things fresh an interesting. At the Heineken Roeivierkamp, more than 400 crews (eights and quads) raced over four distances (5k, 2.5k, 750m, and 250m). You can read more about it on the official website of the Heineken Roeivierkamp here. Meanwhile, in Derby, Connecticut...

This week's video comes to us from Portland, and is a very nicely put together general introduction to the sport of rowing, as well as to Rose City Rowing Club . A mixture of on-the-water training footage and interviews with athletes and coaches, it paints an accurate picture not just of the experience of rowing in Portland, but also the reasons why all of us get up early in the morning, and row until our hands bleed. Among those interviewed is Stanford frosh phenom Ruth Narode , who finished second after an epic sprint in the junior women's open event at Crash-Bs in 2012 , and who is coming off a gold-medal performance at U23 worlds with the U.S. women's eight last summer in Austria. Narode was awarded our prestigious RoRy for Female Athlete of the Year at the junior level in 2012. Thanks very much to Chris for sending along the video! Have a submission for 'Video Of The Week?' Shoot us an email at rowingrelated [at] gmail [dot] com, send us your suggestions v...

Yesterday, we took a look at our preseason top 20 Division I NCAA teams. Today, it's time to turn our attention to the top IRA and ACRA programs so far in the 2013-2014 campaign. And so, without further ado, here's out take on varsity, lightweight, and club crews to watch this season. (And, for the most part, we're sticking to our guns from our fall 2013 predictions— read them here .) IRA Programs Heavyweight Men 1. California The Golden Bears have six of the eight oarsmen on this year's team returning from the 2011 IRA winning frosh eight, which was the last crew to defeat Washington in any event at the IRA. They will be led by talented Serbians Luka Dordevic , Igor Lucic , Ivan Ostojic and Jovan Jovanovic . British athletes Stephen Tuck , James Scott , Edward Williams and Morgan Hellen , Aussies Louis Snelson , Michael Bernerius and Aaron Wright , Americans Richard Walter and U23 silver medalist and USC transfer Carter Crowe , and seniors Christian Reyno...

It's that time of year again! Yes, the ice is melting, and crews are back on the water in anticipation of what will undoubtedly be another great season of racing. In fact, we're just three weeks away from kicking things off in earnest on the west coast at the 41st San Diego Crew Classic ! But who will be the crews to watch when we're all lined up on the stake boats? Here are our thoughts on the matter. 1. Virginia  As usual, the Hoos will have some very impressive depth with former junior national team athletes likely to be sitting on the sidelines when the team competes at the NCAA Championships in late May. They will be led by British U23 silver medalist Fiona Schlesinger , German U23 bronze medalist Constanze Duell , former U.S. junior national teamers Elle Murray , Hemingway Benton , Chandler Lally , Lizzy Youngling and Brandy Herald . We also expect their freshmen and transfers to have a major impact on the team this spring, led by Kiwi U23 national team veteran,...

Double Olympic gold medalist Pete Reed gives us an inside look at a day in the life of a British national team oarsman in the above video, shot on training camp in Avis, Portugal. The video offers a number of banter-laden interviews with teammates, including Will Satch and Nathaniel Reilly-O'Donnell , as well as a little on the water footage. There are also hints at the other kinds of testing that the athletes go through on a regular basis (nothing like waking up to a urine sample every day). Clearly, these are the days to log miles and build the muscle fibers and endurance that make the difference come spring—not long now until racing season begins! Now, time to destroy that last erg test... ... And here's to a whole new kind of crushed erg test. pic.twitter.com/xPbtQ6zPJ8 — Dartmouth Rowing (@DartmouthRowing) March 10, 2014 -RR

This week's video comes to us from Redwood Shores, California, where the Stanford men's rowing squad has been busy building 'saw wood city' this winter. The video follows head coach Craig Amerkahnian through a training session, and the results are a series of gems—just be sure to credit Craig if you're going to use any of the above. Stanford is coming off an early season romp at the Davis Invitational Regatta in the Port of Sacramento, where they swept all events against UC Davis and Santa Clara. The Cardinal men's varsity eight is certainly not short of power, with Austin Hack back for his senior season, freshman phenom Ryan O'Rourke (who holds the American junior record for 500m at 1:17, and who won the men's junior event at the 2013 Crash-B Sprints with a 6:02.4), and 2013 U23 bronze medalist Kaess Smit , among others. Have a submission for 'Video Of The Week?' Shoot us an email at rowingrelated [at] gmail [dot] com, send us your sugges...