RowingRelated

Gold Brothers: The latest feature from Herows.com  The website Herows.com (a growing resource for elite-level rowing videos) has recently released another feature (below), this one on Martin and Valent Sinkovic's training camp experience in Pisa, Italy. In addition to a host of on-the-water training footage, the video also includes an interview with the reigning world champions, who explain how they got into the double together, and what motivates them in their new boat class.

UC Irvine launches for the final (Photo courtesy of A.J. Brooks) The UC Irvine men and Stanford women continued their recent run of success at WIRAs over the weekend, with the Anteaters taking first place in the men's varsity eight (just as they did in 2013), while the Cardinal swept all three eights events they entered. For both programs, however, it has also been a year of adjustments, as newly appointed head coach Derek Byrnes took the reins in Palo Alto last October, and UCI's  A.J. Brooks is in his first year as head coach. But you wouldn't know it from the margin of victory, in either case.

RR junior rowing rankings Here at RowingRelated, we're all about knowledge. And, what better way to put a little of it to use than to make some brash picks and predictions? So, for the first time, we're putting together the official RR rankings for junior men's and women's rowing programs, based—for the most part—on sweep rowing results in the big boats, following the college model. This will naturally change and adapt in the future—it's not a perfect system. But it's a start. Here are our picks for Spring 2015. Attention, go.

This week's video is a one-on-one, in-depth interview with Washington Husky men's coach Mike Callahan  thanks to Kevin Shoop, and discusses the culture that Callahan and staff have created within the confines of the Conibear Shellhouse. More than that, it provides a context for what has been the most successful men's rowing program in the U.S. for the last decade, and sheds some light on Callahan's own background and reasons for choosing Washington.

London, looking east from Waterloo Bridge (Photo: B. Kitch) The London Marathon took place last Saturday, and there were more than a few rowers involved. The most notable result for an ex-GB oarsman was the very impressive 2:50 posted by James Cracknell , but a tip of the cap also goes to 2008 Olympic champion Zac Purchase , who raced as a member of U.K. SportsAid's team .

This week's 'Throwback Thursday' post is from this year's Torpids, following the successful campaign of Hertford College's top men's eight. Torpids , held in late February/early March, is traditionally the first of two 'Bumps' racing series held at Oxford, pitting college crews against one another along a stretch of the River Thames known as the Isis (which gives its name to OUBC's reserve crew for the Boat Races). The second series of bumps racing is Summer Eights , or simply Eights, which is similar in structure, and is held at the end of May.

In a heavyweight showdown of powerhouse Ivy programs over the weekend, the Princeton Tigers showed just how far their program has come over the past several seasons under head coach Greg Hughes , sweeping the Crimson and setting the stage for what could be a revolution at Sprints. With an open-water victory in the men's varsity eight, the Tigers sealed the sweep and claimed the Compton Cup for the first time in almost a decade . Given the early-season speed at the top end, as well as the program's depth, the Tigers could be the team to beat in the East come May.

Nick D'Antoni (top left) coaching at a USRowing junior ID camp, 2015 (Photo: B. Kitch) USRowing junior national team coach Nick D'Antoni is no stranger to success. Here, he shares some insight into how to build technique and style for the long haul.

With only a few hours left to go before the 2015 Oxford and Cambridge Boat Races take over the Tideway for the renewal of the age-old rivalry between two of the world's oldest universities, it's a time for reflection. So we're flashing back this Friday to 2003—a race that, after 4 miles and 374 yards, came down to 1 foot.

The buildup to this year's Oxford and Cambridge Boat Races has seen the bookmakers heavily favor  Oxford for both the men's and women's events, and, given the results from the Tideway Fixtures and the indirect comparisons to be made, that seems a logical conclusion. On both counts, Oxford has had arguably stronger results, and a side-by-side comparison of the athletes seems to show that the Dark Blues have the experience and talent edge in 2015. Finishing touches. A photo posted by Rowing Photography (@rowingphotography) on Apr 9, 2015 at 12:01pm PDT However, all of that is out the window as soon as the flag drops and the races begin on Saturday, and Cambridge will be keen to prove the doubters wrong.

This past weekend marked the renewal of the Henley Boat Races rivalry between Oxford and Cambridge, and while the bookmakers have 'tabbed' Oxford as the favorites in the men's and women's Boat Races on the Tideway, Cambridge scored not one but two victories over the Dark Blues just a few miles up the Thames.

Conlin McCabe (right) and the #TrueNorthFour in San Diego (Photo: B. Kitch)  Wednesdays are coaching days here on RR, and today we thought we would shift gears a little bit from our Best Rowing Drills series, and take a look at preparation for that most important of tests, the 2k. We asked former Crash-B Sprints champion and Canadian Olympic silver medalist Conlin McCabe how he goes about getting ready for a test, from the night before to the warmup.  Here's what Conlin had to say. RR: Do you have a routine that you go through the night before a 2k test? If so, what is it (and what do you recommend)? Conlin McCabe: The night before I test I try to eat a feast — I know in the morning I will be nervous, and I'll have a hard time eating when it gets too close to the race. Thinking about the erg test is inevitable the night before, so I set a chunk of time aside in the evening (10-15 minutes) and make sure I have a solid race plan . Once I have a plan I am confident in...

This week's video comes to us from Kent School Boat Club, and documents their recent Florida training camp, which evidently featured some changeable weather, plenty of hard strokes, and a solid dose of off-the-water banter.

This weekend saw the Washington Huskies fly across the country to take on rival Brown University, with a distinctively Northwestern trophy on the line (see below).

The 2015 rowing season is really heating up, and this weekend has been full of dual and championship racing, from Henley-on-Thames to the coast of California. Here, we take a look at some of the action on Carnegie Lake in New Jersey, where the Princeton Tigers faced off against Columbia and Navy on Saturday.

Texas launching for the final on Mission Bay (Photo: B. Kitch) This year's San Diego Crew Classic may have been a little undersubscribed in the varsity-level events, but there was no shortage of excitement in the women's Division I field. The junior events also saw some fireworks, with Marin's varsity eight edging Bay Area rival Oakland in the final by just 0.1 of a second on Sunday, while the men's Cal Cup featured a sterling sprint from UCSB that moved the Gauchos into first in the final 500 meters. Here are a few more of our highlights from the weekend on Mission Bay.

The above video documents a little of the University of Victoria's winter training, in preparation for the Brown Cup and the spring racing season in 2015. Below, we offer you an official press release from the University of British Columbia , in preparation for this weekend's competition (including preliminary rosters for the UBC men and women), renewing the rivalry with UVic for the 24th time. The UBC and UVic women raced to a very close finish at Crew Classic last weekend, placing third and fifth, respectively, but separated by only 1.6 seconds. What will this weekend hold?

#rowerswakeupearly Instagram contest Thanks to everyone who submitted photos to our Instagram contest! We were blown away by the quality of the submissions from all over the world, and we struggled to narrow them down to a final 20, with our overall winner to become the RR Facebook cover photo for the month of April. Selection criteria included overall composition and image quality (resolution). And so, without further ado, the finalists are...

The above video, published by OBUBC coxswain Harry Brightmore, offers an inside look at last weekend's Head of the River Race from the stern of  Oxford Brookes II . Brightmore, who raced with the GB national team at U23 worlds last summer in the coxed four, and crew set up a nice rhythm out of an aggressive start, and that rhythm would eventually carry them to a fourth-place finish (just behind Oxford Brookes I) and a University pennant on the Tideway in less-than-ideal (read: standard) conditions.

The UCSB men on the Crew Classic podium, 2013 (Photo: B. Kitch) Without a doubt, the top-end speed in men's club rowing has been improving over the past few years, not least because of the development of the ACRA league. What will 2015 hold? Here are our picks for the long haul.

While men's club rowing has become increasingly competitive over the past decade, there's no question that the Michigan Wolverines are still the top dogs. In recent years, the Wolverines have seen rivals emerge in Virginia as well as Grand Valley State University, but despite best efforts, Michigan has had a vise-grip on the men's points trophy since the inception of the American Collegiate Rowing Association. Going back to pre-ACRA days, Michigan crews often made inroads against varsity competition at the IRA Regatta—in fact, Gregg Hartsuff's frosh crew from 2002 won a silver medal, just over two seconds back of Washington. Here, Hartsuff shares three of his favorite drills for refining technique on the water. 1. Front-End Progression "This drill made lightbulbs come on in sophomores' heads," Hartsuff says, in speaking with him during a recent Georgia training camp with the Wolverines. "You start by taking a narrow, inside grip—you move the out...