Concept2 Forum

Are water rowers always better than indoor rowers? (athletes)

I'm seeing that a rower that rows on the water will always beat indoor rowers and that they dominate the indoor rowing scene. Is this the case?

It's possibly similar to the weightlifter and powerlifter comparison I'd imagine.

If you have any articles on this I'd be interested in that.

Thanks

Folks of above average height, muscle mass, and aerobic capacity (heart/ lungs/capillaries) dominate in OTW and OTE.

The skill set required OTW can be dispensed with on the erg because measuring a level of effort (erg) is not the same as measuring effective transmission of effort (boat). There are lot of ‘fast’ dudes muscling the erg to world class indoor times who are not trained to move a boat efficiently.

Further into this painfully black&white question I am not equipped to venture!

sarequads wrote: ↑

July 6th, 2019, 6:19 pm

Are water rowers always better than indoor rowers? (athletes)
I'm seeing that a rower that rows on the water will always beat indoor rowers and that they dominate the indoor rowing scene. Is this the case?
Thanks

I'll have a go at this and say NO!
As jack has said tho it is way too black and white question to give an easy answer - not all OTW peeps are natural ergers and there is a deeply technical part to the OTW that doesn't suit everyone. The physiology and training is similar but there are differences too - the most successful OTE are bigger and heavier than the OTW types.
It is true that at the very top of the tree (Men HWT 2k sub 5:45 and LWT sub 6:00 and women sub 6:30 say) the space is occupied by Olympic and WChamps OTW rowers probably exclusively. But … not all elite OTW are equally good OTE - not completely interchangeable.
Famously Graham Benton was world champ OTE before he sat in a boat.
TJ Oesterling who is inarguably the most dominant OTE athlete of all never sat in a boat - his background was in the NFL and he took up the erg when he retired to Hawaii.
If you have a look at the 40+ age groups there are many right at the top who have no background in OTW but are rewriting record books. This maybe due in part to old rowers not being terribly erg friendly but there is a self selection in all athletic endeavours

Oarsmen and women are more likely to get good coaching. Good examples can be seen at Henley today in the finals. There's a very fast Chinese quad, coached by an Australian, the whole program run by Steve Redgrave ,(5 golds in 5 Olympics). They'll probably win easily.

The crews that win usually have visibly better style.

Oarsmen concentrate on style and endurance. So too can the erger; lack of style can mean the MTUs are not being used to best effect.

I find it very difficult to learn anything, alone. If we have teachers, that maybe is one reason why. Another could be that they know what to avoid.

Jamesg writes:

Oarsmen concentrate on style and endurance. So too can the erger; lack of style can mean the MTUs are not being used to best effect.

MTU=maximum transmission unit? Referencing the max byteage packet of internet transmission? Way to say big packets can’t always hack it erg or boat coz the journeyman experience they lack it, watermen do it without getting wet, and so on?

sarequads wrote: ↑

July 6th, 2019, 6:19 pm

Are water rowers always better than indoor rowers? (athletes)

I'm seeing that a rower that rows on the water will always beat indoor rowers and that they dominate the indoor rowing scene. Is this the case?

It's possibly similar to the weightlifter and powerlifter comparison I'd imagine.

If you have any articles on this I'd be interested in that.

Thanks

Not perse, but the very best are almost always water rowers. Main reason is time, olympic rowers are full time athletes, ergers are parttime trainees. Otw people simply train a lot more.

jamesg wrote: ↑

July 7th, 2019, 1:17 am

Oarsmen and women are more likely to get good coaching. Good examples can be seen at Henley today in the finals. There's a very fast Chinese quad, coached by an Australian, the whole program run by Steve Redgrave ,(5 golds in 5 Olympics). They'll probably win easily.

The crews that win usually have visibly better style.

Oarsmen concentrate on style and endurance. So too can the erger; lack of style can mean the MTUs are not being used to best effect.

I find it very difficult to learn anything, alone. If we have teachers, that maybe is one reason why. Another could be that they know what to avoid.

Mtu?