The Future of Lightweight Rowing: A Letter from Jack Carlson and the U.S. Lightweight Men's Eight

Carlson and the USA LM8+ on the podium in Aiguebelette, France (Photo: © USRowing)

We received the following letter, originally submitted to the editor of ROWING Magazine, from 2015 world bronze medalist coxswain Jack Carlson and the U.S. lightweight men's eight. A version of the letter was published in the March 2016 issue of the magazine.

From Jack:

Dear Editor,

We write in response to the editor's note in the most recent edition of ROWING Magazine and hope to correct a few of your well-intentioned points.

The elimination of the lightweight eight from the World Championships program has not been met with the universal indifference you suggest. The German federation, for their part, stated within days of the FISA announcement that they would ask FISA to retain the event in 2016, treating this as a transitional year, and will introduce a motion to reinstate the event at the 2017 extraordinary FISA Congress. It is our sincere hope that USRowing will act in its own interests and support Germany's efforts on this front.

For the lightweight eight—in spite of your claim that it is "no longer viewed as a credible development tool for the Olympic boat classes"—is actually a crucial Olympic development tool for the United States (and indeed a development tool that costs USRowing nothing). The proof is in the pudding: at the 2012 Olympics, three out of four US lightweight athletes came through the lightweight men's eight; in 2008, it was four out of four. In 2004, three out four in the LM4- and one in the LM2x came through the eight. And in the current U.S. lightweight men's four—the crew that qualified the boat for the United States at the 2015 World Championships, that is—three out of the four athletes cut their teeth in the lightweight eight.

You're absolutely right to bemoan the small number of crews in the event in recent years. But may we point out that the number of entries is not necessarily a reflection of the calibre of these entries. Indeed, if there were ever a year to demonstrate the high standard of racing in the lightweight men's eight—and its important role in bridging the vast chasm between the standards of racing at the U23 level and the senior Olympic classes—it is 2015: for let us not forget that the 2015 Italian lightweight eight, which included all four of the current-year gold medalists in the U23 lightweight four (plus another four senior world champions, including an Olympic medalist), missed the medal podium entirely.

The winning time in the lightweight eight as a percentage of world best time was on par with the other non-Olympic events at the 2015 World Championships (all of which had their finals on the same day within a window of an hour and forty-five minutes): 97.43%. The 2015 winning times in other non-Olympic events were all between 95.61% and 98.35%. The U.S. lightweight eight went 97% of world best time in 2015; while the U.S. entries in the women's four and lightweight women's single had slightly higher percentages (97.18%, 97.77%), the other U.S. non-Olympic entries had lower percentages (between 91.1% and 96.39%).

We might also point out that out of all the non-Olympic events in 2015, the lightweight eight actually had the highest number of athletes participating (more even than the LM1x, where the "E" Final featured a Moroccan entry over a minute slower than the event winner). Given the number of athletes and the high calibre of racing in the lightweight eight, we hope that FISA may even re-consider the criteria on which it eliminates events from the World Championships program—particularly in the "big boat" classes—where basing such a grave decision upon "number of crews" alone seems rather myopic and arbitrary.

The elimination of the lightweight eight from the World Championships, should it become permanent, would be sad news for a sport that should be growing, not shrinking; and sad news for the many lightweight athletes across the country and around the world earnestly training with the hope of one day representing their nations at the Olympics, who will have had an important intermediary step removed beneath them.

Yours faithfully,

The 2015 United States Lightweight Eight

Jack Carlson (Chula Vista, California)
Matthew Lenhart (Oakland, California)
David O. Smith (Seattle, Washington)
Alex Twist (Seattle, Washington)
Phil Henson (San Francisco, California)
Peter Schmidt (Sarasota, Florida)
Chris Lambert (Fort Lauderdale, Florida)
Jack Devlin (Washington, D.C.)
Tobin McGee (Cambridge, Massachusetts)

--

-RR

Trending posts this month

"I Row Crew" — Rowing in 'The Social Network'

Image
Like many of the rowing faithful, I've been keeping up with the saga penned by Dan Boyne about the filming of the rowing scenes in David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin's The Social Network , and I must say I had high hopes going into the film. The first problem I encountered: the phrase, "I row crew." It was uttered so many times before anyone "rowed crew" on the water that I had trouble buying any of it later. It's understandable that the character of Mark Zuckerberg makes that mistake, since he has no idea about the sport. But when the Winklevoss twins themselves utter the phrase several times, one begins to wonder where Boyne was when these lines were not being chopped or changed. Seriously, who says that? As far as the actual rowing goes, the first scene, which has the twins out training in a pair along with the rest of the Harvard squad, is not all bad — it just ends that way. The line, "Those guys are freakin' fast" is certainly every b...
Read more

The 30 Best Rowing Coaches of All Time, Part 3: The Top 10

Image
The top 10 best rowing coaches, including guess who (Photo © Iain Weir / Rowing Photography ) It's time for the third and final part of our 3-part series on the best of the best in the rowing coaching ranks. These coaches not only command respect based on performance, but have also shown the ability to adapt to new circumstances, build dynasties, and ultimately help shape the trajectory of rowing as a sport. Honestly, it would be easy to extend this series into 10 more posts... But we wouldn't do that to you. As we've said before, the hope is that the following may serve to educate and spark discussion, as both an appreciation of history and of the coaching craft. Also note: As we stated in Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, there are few women in this list, but that is a reflection of a general underrepresentation of women in the head coaching ranks in our sport—and indeed (as has been well documented ) a growing number of NCAA sports in the United States. ...
Read more

Will It Make the Boat Go Faster? At Marin Rowing Association, Culture is Key

Image
Hands in after training  My alarm goes off—it’s 4:22am.  It’s been a while since I did this. Immediately, I think back to a college dorm room, rolling out of bed and running down the steps to carpool caravan to Marina Del Rey.  Not this time, though. It’s a Tuesday in late September, and I’m heading across the Golden Gate Bridge to Greenbrae, California, where I’ll meet with the Marin Rowing Men’s Masters squad. Fortunately, it’s an unusually warm morning—and when I roll in, the boathouse is already buzzing with activity.  Launch time: 5:10. Heading out into the Bay before dawn The Marin Rowing Association program has both men’s and women’s masters boats competing to win at every event they attend. In the fall, that can only mean one thing: The Head Of The Charles .  The boat that Coach Rodrigo Rodrigues and I spend most of our time with is the Grand Masters eight—average age 60+. But that’s just one of five crews that launched with us that morning. Everyone’s ...
Read more

So, are Naked Rowing Calendars a Thing Now?

Image
Warwick rowers are all in again this year (Photo courtesy of Warwick Boat Club)  The phenomenon started four years ago with the Warwick Rowing men's squad. Then, the following year, the Warwick women's team joined the fray. Now, Newcastle University's men and women are back on the naked calendar train. So, the question is, have rowing and naked calendars become a thing? The above video features the 2014-2015 Warwick women's squad—the third edition of the calendar , and, from the looks of it, the raciest. However, perhaps not so racy as that of the 2014-2015 Warwick men (see below). But raciness aside, all four of these teams have chosen worthy charities and have gone "the full monty" to make sure that those causes have received considerable contributions. The Warwick women contribute to Macmillan Cancer Support —a cause for which Warwick reports it has donated some £5,000. The Warwick men? Sport Allies —a charity that combats homophobia in spor...
Read more

Winter Workouts: Why Do Rowers Fear the Erg?

Image
Op-Ed from the RowingRelated Editorial Staff Friend. Not foe. (Illustration: B. Kitch) I am really frustrated by our sport when it comes to the erg being viewed as a torture device rather than a helpful tool that people can enjoy. This negative mindset, which is extremely contagious, plagues the sport, preventing athletes from training to their potential and possibly serving as one of the reasons that careers in rowing, at every level, are often so short. When compared to other endurance sports, I have not encountered an equal level of disdain for such fundamental mental and physical endurance training. My main problem is that everywhere I turn in the rowing community, whether it's high school rowers, college athletes, or even national team hopefuls, I hear of people dreading the erg. I've never heard about a cross country runner 'dreading' a track workout. True, basketball and football players may dread running wind sprints or other such conditioning acti...
Read more