A Coxswain's Role

"So what is it you do exactly?  You just say "Row" right?"

Well although that may be the role of the hamster coxswain in this adorable little commercial, coxswains sure do a hell of a lot more than just say "row."

This week I was asked by a coach to write a job description for a coxswain.  Kind of took me off guard to actually put into words what I do.  And what I personally do is so much more because of my captain duties so I had to leave out a few things.  First I gave her one of the bullets I have in my resume: “Steer a 55’ boat through the Schuylkill River while executing practice and motivating rowers.”  Then I decided to check what the internet had as a definition.  Wikipedia defines a coxswain to be “the person in charge of a boat, particularly its navigation and steering.”  After thinking about it a while and elaborating on the concept a bit I sent her: "A coxswain is the person in charge of a rowing shell.  Duties include, but are not limited to... steering, executing drills, adjusting technique, motivating, developing and executing race plans, critical & quick thinking and effectively communicating information between coaches and rowers."

But a coxswain really has so many jobs and things they are supposed to be doing pretty much simultaneously.  I am sure everyone has had that piece where afterwards your coach asked for your stroke rate/split/time and you simply forgot to look during that piece...probably because you were so focused on literally everything else you have to do during each and every piece which can include avoiding/not hitting an object, maintaining your rate, telling the rowers their splits, comparing your speed to the boats you are racing, general motivation, fixing the rush, making sure all of the rower’s blades are even/not skying/not dipping at the catch/getting down and away at the finish and so many more things. 

So fellow coxswains, know that you are extremely important.  Know that your rowers and coaches will never fully understand everything that you do and they will probably only come to appreciate you when they find themselves in a boat without a coxswain...or a subpar/novice coxswain.