Coxwains

“To be a coxswain is a special trust; all that power poised to explode on your word. I know that to rowers, the boat feels at the start as if it takes forever to get up to speed, but to us in the coxswain's seat, it is like riding a missile. On that first three-quarter stroke, when the starter says "Go," the oars explode in a blast of white water, and the back of that coxswain's seat kicks us in the butt, it is the most exhilarating feeling in the world. It is the coxswains' job to earn that trust. "We must," in Shakespeare's words "study deserving" to be our best for our rowers, to learn our craft with the same intensity as they learn theirs, to contribute to the boat in every way, and to become that invisible extra oar. We coxswains may joke about "coming second after God," but we know it is the rowers who give us everything.”
Rob Colburn

As a novice coxswain, you aren’t expected to know everything from the first day you get onto the water. What is expected, however, is that you do your best to learn. Most integral to your role as a cox is that your rowers respect you. This isn’t necessarily going to come from your skill, not when you’re first learning how to steer and make calls. So how do you build respect with a group of people you barely know? Caring for them and watching their backs, whether it’s by making sure everyone’s water bottle is with them by the time they get to the water, ensuring that the shell is safe at all times, or making sure that practice is starting on time to maximize everyone’s water time.

Your rowers want to go fast, and they want a coxswain who they think will make them go faster, not weigh down their boat. If you want this same goal as much as they do, they’ll see it and respect it. They’re not expecting you to be perfect (at least not yet), but they are expecting that you are indeed striving to call perfect races, just as they strive to row the perfect stroke. Learn what drives your crew because they’ll tell you in a number of ways what it is that they need.

A key part of your role is as an intermediary for your coach. A few things to remember during practice include making sure that all the boats that are out for practice with this particular coach are close enough on the water that all can be easily coached. That said, make sure you’re far enough away from shore, bridges, other boats, and other obstacles in the water so as not to hit them with your shell. The fiberglass that constructs our shells is highly delicate and can easily be gashed open.

You’ll get plenty of instructions from coaches and race officials – make sure you give them visible confirmation that you’ve heard them by raising the hand closest to them. Don’t leave them wondering if you’ve heard them, and telling you to do the same thing more than once, unless necessary.

You may have heard that a coxswain is an “on board” coach, and although this may be true, be very wary of commandeering coaching duties. The only calls you should be making when the coach’s launch is near your shell are technical ones, keeping your shell on course. Just as you don’t want your coach to have to repeat instructions to you more than once, you really don’t want your rowers to have coaching repeated to them because they were so distracted by your chatting.

As Rob Colburn says, “The coxswains who tend to be most highly valued by their coaches are the ones whom the coaches do not have to think about much, or at all. To be invisibly reliable is to be loved.”

Don’t be afraid to ask questions, especially of experienced coxswains and rowers. Most of them will recognize that you’re still learning, and will try to help you in whatever capacity they can. That said, be effective and efficient in all that you do, whether this is steering, making calls, or making sure your crew is safe.

Like the rowers, you too have your set of things you need to have at each practice. Show you care, and take a load off your crew’s mind by having the following items with you. If they know they can rely on you for at least these things, it’s one less thing they need to think about, instead of rowing the best piece possible:

Even if you are not rowing, it is important that you are always there to support your crew, especially during the long winter training season. Spend this time honing your calls. You have a unique opportunity to do so without the burden of steering, and . Help your rowers set and go after goals that will aid them during race season.

You’re not just waking up at 4am to “yell at people” – coxing a perfect race can be one of the most exhilarating experiences of your life, and quite frankly, getting thrown in after winning is a point of pride.