Indiana University Athletics
What is a Coxswain?
1/20/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
Jan. 20, 2006
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - In football, the leader on the field is the quarterback, and in basketball, it is the point guard. For rowing, the leader is the coxswain. The coxswains on the IU women's team have a major responsibility in helping their crew win. Although they are not rowing, they are the leaders in the rear of the boat trying to push their teammates to the finish.
The team spends much of the year training, working, and putting together a race plan to get from start to finish as fast as possible. According to Indiana head coach Steve Peterson that race plan is rarely used and that is where the coxswain position comes into play.
"Weather conditions change or crews respond differently," Peterson said. "The coxswain is the person in the shell who has to read the situation and make decisions based upon what they are seeing and what their experiences are. Hopefully, they make the right decisions to go as fast as possible down the course."
In many cases, the coxswain is considered the coach on the boat. "There are a lot of things they see and feel in the shell that we coaches do not, and their job is to get the most out of the student-athlete as possible," Peterson said.
The coxswains help motivate and direct their team to make the entire crew better, and a good coxswain can definitely make a huge difference in whether the team wins or loses based on their decision making. Coaches think they know their student-athletes and how to motivate them, but Peterson believes there is something to say about having a peer guide a crew in a race.
The coxswain, being a peer to her teammates, can have a much better grasp on what to expect from her crew physically and emotionally, sometimes even better than a coach. The coxswains and the coaches sit down throughout the year and discuss the different student-athletes and technical issues, and it is the coxswain's job to implement what the coaches want changed to make the team better.
Certain types of criteria go into coxswains that are recruited or are walk-ons.
"Probably the most critical thing in a good coxswain is having a smart, quick thinking, confident person," Peterson said.
They also must be dependable to take responsibility for the equipment. They should have quick decision making skills and be confident with those decisions without second guessing.
Experience is another big issue when deciding on whom the varsity coxswain will be.
"You can't really coach experiences in races and practice," Peterson said. "So experience is a big thing."
The last area of criteria is size. A coxswain must be small in order to race. Coxswains are weighed in and must be 110 pounds, if they are lighter than that, the boat is sandbagged in order to meet the weight requirement. With all the work and criteria that goes into being a coxswain, it seems as though it is a pressure-packed position. Two IU coxswains sat down with IUHOOSIERS.com to give their take on the pressures that go into being the coach on the water.
Junior coxswain Betsy Hibbard of the varsity squad has a different take after her first few years of experience.
"There's a lot of pressure," Hibbard said. "But I feel kind of comfortable with it after doing so well that most of the pressure is what I put on myself."
A matter of trust has to be built as well between the rowers and their leader in the coxswain position.
"You don't know how the competition is going to react," Hibbard said. "The rowers have to learn through practices, through how you react, because they see everything that you do, to trust you to get you to the final sprint."
Freshman coxswain Madison Spruell says there is pressure in her first year on the team as part of the Novice squad.
"I think there is pressure," Spruell said. "You are the go-to, and if something happens, the coaches want to know what happened."
Both Hibbard and Spruell are both competitive people. They feel that in their position, their competitiveness with each other is a way to make each of them better coxswains. Although they are alone on board during races, their work together in practice is a way to gain more knowledge and experience to become better and help their team excel.
Hibbard feels that there is nothing like coxing during a race.
"You really don't know what is going to happen," Hibbard said. "You know how other schools have done, and you know how you stand up against them. It is nerve wracking, but it is exciting. That rush you get at the starting line through the finish, you don't even know what you are saying because it is just coming out and it is natural and it is what you have been practicing. That is definitely the best part of it."
Spruell, as a freshman, has only had one race experience, but she is enjoying where she is right now with the novice squad.
"I'm enjoying the training right now," Spruell said. "Seeing how we are getting so much better and to just see how we are going to compare in the spring to other teams is what I enjoy."
Although the coxswains on the women's rowing team are not making the boat move, they have a job and responsibility that makes their position vital in the team's success.
Players Mentioned
