RowingRelated

It's an old one, but still so watchable. In August, 2000, the BBC aired a three-part documentary series named Gold Fever on primetime TV in the UK. The episodes followed the British coxless four crew of Steve Redgrave (who had at that point won four consecutive Olympic gold medals), Mathew Pinsent , Tim Foster , and James Cracknell through the highs and lows of four years training in the run-up to the Sydney Olympics, and what would be Redgrave’s fifth and final Olympic Games. The series, comprising mainly intimate video diaries recorded by the four athletes, shows everything from Redgrave’s diabetes diagnosis to the birth of his daughter between training camps, erg testing, and tough selection decisions. "In fact, I truly believe that it was the catalyst that sparked my head-first jump into complete rowing obsession." The real life drama of it—not only a must watch for anyone who has experienced life as a rower—would be interesting to anyone. The series hol...

JDS in his element (Photo © Tristan Shipsides) Before he decided to pursue a world record off the water, Australian Josh Dunkley-Smith had already earned two Olympic silver medals in one of the slickest crews to grace the rowing course, the Australian men's four—really, an institution in our sport. It's not as though he didn't know he had an engine, but, as he says below, it wasn't until recently that the pursuit of his own physical limits made the idea of a new 2k world record seem within reach. And recently, that potential came to fruition. 1. With two Olympic medals already to your name, it would be easy to say that you had nothing to prove—what was it that drove you to want to break this record? JDS: "The fact that it was held by a Kiwi. [Laughs] Nah, I think mainly just the self improvement aspect really—challenging yourself and seeing how far you can really push things. You follow that all the way through, and I was lucky enough that I sort of found...

The RowingRelated Top 30 (Photo: Al Ubrickson, courtesy of the Ulbrickson Family Collection) It's time for the second part of our 3-part series on the best of the best in the rowing coaching ranks. Selecting and ranking these outstanding examples of leadership in the launch is no small task, and, as we said last week, it's not a perfect system—yet. But 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 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. 20. Al Ulbrickson The man, the myth, the legend, who guided The Boys in the Boat to Olympic glory in Berlin at the 1936 Games. Ulbrickson was a special kind of talent, in that he understood—and us...

This week's featured video comes to us from Northeastern grad and noted rowing 'vlogger' Cameron Buchan , who takes us along on a cold Caversham morning for a look inside the British Rowing training 'centre' on 2k prep workout day. The video features a lot of prepping for prep, with the athletes taking some hard strokes in the midst of their warmup for the pieces—certainly more than we're accustomed to seeing from inside the mothership, but precious little in terms of erg score insight (no surprise there—though there is a decent bit of post-ergo banter to finish it off). You can check out Buchan's take on the Eights Head here . BREAKING: Josh Dunkley-Smith just posted the fastest 2k ever. Seriously. 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/th3cDjuA8c — RowingRelated (@rowingrelated) March 10, 2018 ON THE HORIZON: Speaking of ergs, stay tuned for an interview with Aussie legend Josh Dunkley-Smith , sometimes known simply by the hashtag #JDS, following his record-br...

The RowingRelated Top 30 (Photo: 1899 Cornell Rowing Team) ROWING is a sport heavily steeped in history. It can boast some of the longest running traditions in contemporary sport, from the Doggett’s Coat & Badge , to Henley Royal Regatta , to the Boat Races of both the Oxford and Cambridge variety as well as that between Harvard and Yale. Learning from the best has always been one of our top priorities here on RR, and so here we look back at our picks for the Top 30 Rowing Coaches of All Time , in hopes of both appreciating those that have gone before as well as the excellence of our contemporaries. As with all ranking systems, it's not perfect, but it's a start—and the hope is that it will generate discussion not only about the past, but also about the future of our sport as we move further into the 21st century. Also note: There are regrettably few women in this list, but that is a reflection of a general, historical and present underrepresentation of women in...

It's nearly time for the Boat Race , and both Oxford and Cambridge will be in the midst of intense training cycles before tapering down to the big day. Still, Oxford Brookes is in top form (preparing for the Head of the River in their own right), and when all was said and done, it was nothing short of a historic week for Brookes on the Tideway. "This is the first time a Brookes crew has beaten both Oxford and Cambridge in the same year, and it is testament to the strength in depth of the squad that the 2nd VIII also beat both Goldie and Isis." —BROOKES|Rowing The first of the two fixtures was against Oxford. As you'd expect, both pieces are extremely hard fought, with Brookes only taking a real advantage in the first piece in the final minute (an advantage that they push out to roughly 3/4 of a length by the end). The second fixture, held just last weekend, came against Cambridge. Rather amazingly, the two pieces look almost identical to those against...

Princeton heavyweights on training camp (Photo: Princeton Rowing/Facebook ) This week's featured video post comes to us thanks to former Princeton lightweight head coach, and current Tiger heavyweight head coach Greg Hughes . It's a short but illustrative clip of the Italian lightweight men's eight from the 1980s—a formidable crew that won every world championship title from 1985-1991. "I watched that video hundreds and hundreds of times. I still share it with my team." The length, control, and run per stroke are remarkable with this crew. "This was the first rowing video I ever watched back in the late '80s when I was learning to row and I somehow got a VHS copy of this," Hughes says. "I watched that video hundreds and hundreds of times. I still share it with my team." And, speaking of the Princeton lightweights, they've just released a new winter training video that's pretty strong—or, as the kids say these days, ...