I think you mean "erging" , not rowingranger wrote:... it doesn't matter what weight I row at.
Rowing as a heavyweight is no advantage; rowing as a lightweight is no disadvantage.
ranger
From C2
"It is not unusual for a larger, heavier athlete to be capable of producing more power than their smaller teammate. In many cases this results in the larger person scoring better on the erg. This does not tell the whole story, because in the on-water rowing world, there is the effect of greater body weight submerging the boat deeper into the water. This creates drag that must be overcome by the power of the rowers. The heavier the rower, the more drag on the boat, and the more power that rower will have to produce to be equal to their lighter teammate. The erg does not penalize the heavier rower in this way, so a heavier rower may appear to have a higher potential than they really have when it is time to get into the boat.
The Concept2 Indoor Rower is a very useful tool to rowing coaches because it provides a controlled, measurable way to compare their athlete's potential. However, it is important that coaches take into account the body weight of their rowers as well. This is where the Weight-Adjustment Formula comes in. Indeed, many coaches have been using this formula over the years but it required a love of math and a pretty powerful calculator! Now it’s easy with our Online Weight Adjustment Calculator!
Important: Your adjusted score cannot be entered into the Concept2 Online Ranking. Ranking results must be raw times and distances only.
Coaches, take note: The formula used here is not exactly the same as the one you may have used in the past, and you will not be able to compare old adjusted results with adjusted results from this web tool. We have recently fine-tuned the formula so that it better reflects the speed of an eight.
Weight Adjustment FAQ's
Your weight-adjusted score will be a pretty good estimate of your potential speed in an eight. If all eight rowers have the same adjusted score, then that eight should be capable of rowing that speed for a 2k race on the water—given perfect conditions and near perfect rowing effectiveness (nobody rows perfectly).
Why should a coach use this adjustment calculator?
If you are going to use erg scores as one of the criteria for boating selection, it is very important that you compare weight adjusted scores. Otherwise, you will not necessarily be selecting the most effective rowers. This is due to the fact that the erg does not penalize heavier rowers for the effect that their extra weight may have on the boat speed."
I particularly like the "nobody rows perfectly" part