Putting Fastest Rowers in 2V and 3V to win Medals

No, ergs don't yet float, but some of us do, and here's where you get to discuss that other form of rowing.
Post Reply
alison2ks
Paddler
Posts: 12
Joined: November 28th, 2023, 10:27 pm

Putting Fastest Rowers in 2V and 3V to win Medals

Post by alison2ks » October 24th, 2024, 4:03 pm

Is there any regulation preventing the purposefully incorrect placement of rowers in racing boats?

This idea was brought up by a teammate, and it very clearly seems to be a form of cheating to me, so there must be some form of official rule at regattas to prohibit this, right?

For example, instead of putting the top 8 rowers in the 1V8, putting them in the 2V8 to heighten the chance at a high placement. I’ve been digging on this and can’t seem to find anything, but I’m very curious!
20F | 5'8" 160lbs
2k - 7:38.2 df115
6k - 25:10.9 df115

jamesg
Half Marathon Poster
Posts: 4179
Joined: March 18th, 2006, 3:44 am
Location: Trentino Italy

Re: Putting Fastest Rowers in 2V and 3V to win Medals

Post by jamesg » October 25th, 2024, 6:11 am

World Rowing has a rule book and there's an article on competition manipulation, noting that:

Breaches of the Appendix S12 and the Olympic Movement Code can result in severe damage to your reputation and your sport, and moreover lead to disciplinary sanctions and criminal sanctions.
08-1940, 183cm, 83kg.
2024: stroke 5.5W-min@20-21. ½k 190W, 1k 145W, 2k 120W. Using Wods 4-5days/week. Fading fast.

Tsnor
10k Poster
Posts: 1218
Joined: November 18th, 2020, 1:21 pm

Re: Putting Fastest Rowers in 2V and 3V to win Medals

Post by Tsnor » October 25th, 2024, 11:23 am

alison2ks wrote:
October 24th, 2024, 4:03 pm
For example, instead of putting the top 8 rowers in the 1V8, putting them in the 2V8 to heighten the chance at a high placement.
terminology: "In collegiate men's rowing, the First Varsity 8 (1V8) is the fastest boat, while the Second Varsity 8 (2V8) is usually made up of oarsmen who weren't selected for the 1V8".

Being moved from an A boat to a B boat is demoralizing. Rowers need to explain to Mom and their high school friends why they are in the second boat. Generally a race boat will row together, so this would be a long term move, so moving one or two rowers or all 8 to the 2V8 boat for a race has risk. Rowing is 100% mental (just look at impact of coxswain's calls). Making moves to optimize points might backfire.

Also, coaches are juggling a million things for boat/seat selection. Especially high school and college coaches where they need to look 2 or 3 years ahead and build leadership skills and foster skills development unlike Olympic coaches who just need to worry about putting together a fast boat.

I don't know of any rules constraining who a coach puts in any seat in any boat other than the individual rowers eligibility. So coaches can optimize any way they'd like. But it would surprise me if a coach changed 1v8 and 2v8 seats to optimize results in a single regatta.

Aside: How often does a baseball coach put their number 4 starter vs the other teams ace in the first game of the world series? They could have their #1 vs other teams #2, then their #2 vs other teams #3... On paper you could optimize this way. No sure how you explain to Gerrit Cole that you don't trust him vs their #1, so you're giving up a game to put him against their #2.

Post Reply