Is it possible for a LWT to shave 10 seconds off a 2k in just over a month?

[Kerry1960]

I think MC was probably referring to OTW rowing earlier rather than erging.

For me the 2k is all about playing to your strengths. If you"re an endurance rower it makes sense to do it on a more level pace. If you"re more of a sprinter it makes sense to start off conservatively and finish with a flourish. I'd equate 2k on the erg to a 1500 race in athletics (something I know a lot more about). The guys with the fast finish, perhaps athletes who were previously 800m runners, often lay off the pace considerably until about 600 to go. Then they creep up the field and run a fast last 400. These kind of athlettes would probably prefer to negative split a 2k on the erg.

Having said all that, world records on the athletics track are nearly always broken with a level pace that's why there's pacemakers.

[Mike Caviston]

I think MC was probably referring to OTW rowing earlier rather than erging.

There is abundant evidence indicating the French protocol is an inferior race strategy, based on a couple thousand individual indoor race performances across many years for men and women, light and open, across several age groups; and based on several hundred water races over many years at several elite levels (Olympic/World Championship, U23, Junior, and collegiate). The most effective race strategy is a slight negative split.

[robhely]

For virtually every piece at least up to and including an hour, I go out ahead of target for the first split. I then have to make a conscious effort to slow down to target or target + 1. Then for the final split I use whatever is left in the tank. This means I basically never do a pure negative split, but do tend to achieve a negative split from the second split onwards, if that makes sense. I think rowing that first split ahead of target - while I’m sure technically suboptimal - is a useful way of channeling nervous energy and building up a little “lead” over the target such that slowing down for splits 2 onwards doesn’t hurt as much mentally.

This approach has always worked for me on my PBs for my longer sessions (5k, 30mins, 10k), although I'm still new enough to rowing that every PB attempt has been successful, usually by quite significant margins. The challenge is that although I'm getting fitter and faster every week I train, I have no clue what kind of pace increase I should be aiming for on any particular piece - my logic is literally "faster than last time".

With my recent 5k and the 2k, I was hoping for small gains, but as soon as I started I realised that I was holding splits way faster than I could have imagined. I didn't know if this was just "fly and die" territory, or if I had a real shot at holding these splits for the entire piece. I guess now I know a bit more about what I'm capable of, so could plan better next time and look for better consistency and smaller gains.