Think Far, not Fast
(but where are the puddles from the previous stroke?)
“If I move fast, the boat will move fast” is a stubborn misconception that must be set aside if scullers and rowers ever want to be able to move a boat efficiently. You can see it at any regatta, particularly in the novice eights rowing at 40 spm and not going anywhere very swiftly. Insofar as it’s true in some sports - you can’t move slowly and run fast - it is understandable that we bring this ill-formed thought to our own sport. Still, when one adds a mechanical system to the equation, as in cycling, and then a fluid medium, as in swimming, how fast the athlete moves must match both the mechanical advantage inherent in the system and contend with the dynamics of working with water. We need to set aside our thoughts of how fast we move, and focus on how far the system moves. Distance per stroke becomes the paramount objective.
“But what about stroke rate, coach?” What, indeed? Before you go out and try to maintain 38+spm for a 1k or 2k race, sit for a bit and do the math: at 25.0 spm and 10.0 meters per stroke, you are cruising at exactly 2:00.0 per 500m. If the sculler next to you is at the same 25.0 rpm rating and going 10.1 meters/stroke, that sculler is slowly walking away from you. If s/he’s at 25.0/9.9, you are walking away from her. The math makes the objective easier to grasp. Two crews at the same stroke rate but different distance per stroke are moving at different speeds. “So why not just raise the stroke rate? And nobody races at 25 spm anyway.” Right you are on the latter point, but woe be to you if you fall into the trap of thinking that lifting the rate alone is the answer. Back to the math: Remember this - distance per stroke at a given stroke rate is the same thing as boat speed. 25 spm and 10 meters/stroke is a 2:00 split and always will be. 30 spm and 10 meters/stroke is a 1:40 split and always will be. Granted that getting 10 meters per stroke at 30 rpm is more difficult than 10 m/stroke at 25, and that no one in any boat class is capable of going 10m/stroke at 40 spm for a full 2k,, we should still always strive to get the most run out of the boat that we can..
An international story is instructive here: at some point not too many years ago, word leaked out of Mirka Knapkova’s camp that she was averaging 14 meters/stroke at 14 spm in training. Knowing that Knapkova was the reigning Olympic Champion, U.S. sculler Gevvie Stone reportedly began adding work to her own training at 14 spm-14.0 m/stroke (and beyond when possible). Whether or not this was responsible for gains in distance per stroke at race pace is a matter of conjecture, but the principle is undeniable - it’s just math, after all, and she did earn a silver medal at the Olympics.
Closer to home, I recently repeated a benchmark workout in the single myself while preparing for head racing season, and even with the commitment to distance per stroke and the math that I’ve done on the topic myself, I was still knocked sideways by the data: the first time I did the workout, which was 5600m at 22 spm, I averaged 10.1 m/stroke. Ten days later I did the same workout in comparatively similar conditions and averaged 10.0 m/stroke at 21.5 spm. You can do the math yourself, or I can just tell you that it took 25:12 for the first piece and 26:01 for the second. The combination of being half a beat lower on the stroke rate and ten centimeters less run per stroke rendered me 49 seconds slower over 5600m. Hold your breath for 49 seconds; it’s a long time - a horizon job. Potentially the difference between finishing first or second and fifteenth or worse.
First, think far. Maximize distance per stroke before you raise the stroke rate. And when you do raise the stroke rate, be sure to bring the commitment to meters per stroke with you.
