In defense of the
discipline required to be a lightweight rower, I'd like to "
stumbit" my experiences. I'm a lightweight rower, six feet and one inch tall. My natural
weight is somewhere between 165 and 170 pounds, well above the freshman cap of 155 which I had to be last year. Making weight was tough for me. No doubt about it. My caloric intake was severely reduced, to an amount some would consider unhealthy. But I felt completely healthy, I kept up my grades in school, and I plan to row
lightweight for this upcoming year as well.
Given my body type, I could be either a great lightweight or an average heavyweight. I could go on a hardcore lifting schedule, and beef up to 175 pounds if I liked. My erg scores are definitely good enough. But I choose not to. Why? Being tall and lanky, I have the perfect body type for a lightweight rower. I must hold myself under my natural body weight, but so do a lot of comparable athletes from the schools in my league. With a weight cap of 160 pounds (varsity level), you have to make every ounce count. I will not back down and change my weight class when there are guys even bigger than I am rowing alongside me. That's my decision.
Here's a basic idea of what it took for me to maintain my weight during the racing season. We would weigh in every Friday for our races. During the week until Friday, my caloric consumption decreased. I ate a usual 2,000 calorie diet on the weekends, and subtracted calories every day until Friday. That meant just a bagel and a PowerBar on Thursday, and nothing on Friday. And I usually had to do some extra running in order to squeak past that 155-pound barrier. My body didn't like me very much towards the end of the week. Towards the end of the season, my body had begun to resist its weight, and I had to cut my diet further. There are also more details regarding my diet that I won't go into. Despite this, though, my performance didn't suffer at all. As a matter of fact, I had to be smart with my calories, which led to a healthier diet. I expected my progress as a rower to stagnate as a result of having to cut weight, but I found just the opposite to be true. There was not an ounce of fat on my body. I was in the best shape of my life. Before I ate anything, I asked myself, "Is this going to make me a better rower?" If the answer was no, no matter how hungry I was, it got thrown away. This took a lot of discipline.
There exists a great tension between lightweight and heavyweight coaches about which rowers should row in which program. As a result, many coaches from both teams will pressure their athletes to stay with (or join) their program. This is very unfortunate, and thankfully my coaching staff has been very respectful to all rowers with that regard. If someone is uncomfortable rowing in a certain program, their performance will suffer and all parties are worse off. However, because of the nature of the sport, rowers recognize the fact that sacrifice is required of them. I have yet to meet a committed rower who is a member of a heavyweight program simply because he is too lazy to cut back his diet.
The establishment of a lightweight crew program has been a blessing to many people who would otherwise not know the joys of the sport, and something I would not give up for the world.