Valuable discussions are ongoing in the media about the importance of proper fuelling for rowers. And rightly so. Rowers need to fuel to perform, recover and prevent injury. The logic behind this is not hard to wrap one’s head around. These discussions demonstrate a momentous shift in attitudes which we completely support.
The topic of food and weight is very sensitive, especially in the realm of coxing. We therefore felt it was time to blow the lid off this taboo subject and discuss the vital importance of fuelling for coxing performance.
When we first founded WOX, we made a conscious decision not to discuss weight loss; a decision we intend to stick by, and this article is going to outline why.
We believe it is time that attitudes changed. We want to encourage the rowing world to move away from prioritising ‘making coxing weight’. The hope being that we can put an end to the horror stories we hear of young people carrying out damaging and unhealthy practices. We have seen countless fantastic coxes incapable of performing due to pressure to lose weight, in circumstances that were unnecessary.
There is a lack of research into the impact that weight of a coxswain weight makes to boat speed. However, the information we did find provides scientific justification to change some common misconceptions in the rowing community.
Research by Anu Dudhia has found that 10kg of extra weight would cost a crew less than one second in a perfectly efficient boat (1). We found no other data that disputed this.
This article is a call out to all coaches who work with coxes. Can you guarantee your boat is running perfectly efficiently? Without confidence in this metric we advise it is not necessary for the weight of the coxswain to come into play. Instead, consider why the weight of your coxswain is taking more priority than technical ability, especially when it comes to coxing selection. From the professional experiences of the WOX mentors, we strongly believe that a great coxswain, with a keen technical eye and a sharp tactical brain, can make up more than 1 second of difference.
Giving your coxswain tangible goals, with specific metrics and timeframes, presents a significant opportunity to build boat speed.
For example, focusing on the fundamentals of steering gives your coxswains the skills to minimise the influence applying the rudder has on boat speed. Oversteering by applying the rudder at an angle greater than 30 degrees significantly slows the boat down (Rowing News, 2017). Similarly, travelling extra distance due to unnecessary extra steering and over-correction, will reduce boat speed. This is something that a coxswain can work on in training and improve with clear communicable skills teaching, coaching and feedback.
Take it from us; a hungry, dehydrated coxswain is never an effective coxswain, and will underperform far below their true capabilities. It is well known that a human brain requires glucose to work effectively. The European Food Information Council’s summary of multiple papers provides insightful explanations into this (3). Decision making, memory, steering, and pretty much every brain function used in coxing, requires energy to power it, giving logical argument that coxswains should never consider depriving their brain of the fuel required to perform those crucial functions relied upon when coxing. Eating and hydrating before training and racing is essential.
It’s not only your brain that needs fuel. Whilst it might look as though a cox is sitting doing nothing, this is far from the case. In a coxed four or an eight, a large amount of force is applied to move the boat, even when just paddling around. In order to minimise disturbance to the boat’s run, the coxswain aims to sit still. This requires strength, especially from the core muscles. Without core strength, a coxswain will be thrown back and forth with every stroke, slowing the boat down as their weight is counteracting the directional movement of the boat. When the boat is moving at race pace the strength required to remain still in the coxing seat increases. You are therefore expending energy at a faster rate than you might anticipate as a coxswain. Fueling this physical effort is essential.
We are determined to change the narrative within our sport. Open discussions around selection criteria, fueling, and body image issues, will go a long way to helping lift the next generation of coxswains to perform and feel their best in the coxing seat.
As WOX we cannot offer nutritional or medical advice. We are not professionals in these specific areas and would not claim to be. We are only able to share our own experiences and learnings from our careers as elite athletes over many combined years in the coxing seat. The best advice we can give all coxswains and coaches concerned about any of the topics raised in this article is to consult a certified professional.
WOX offers a variety of ways to improve performance and become the winning cox, regardless of size. We are focused on supporting a community through which healthier attitudes to competition allow us to strive together.
References
(1) – Dudhia, Physics of Rowing (2024) https://eodg.atm.ox.ac.uk/user/dudhia/rowing/physics/
(2) – Rowing News (2017) https://www.rowingnews.com/on-the-rudder/#:~:text=The%20force%20that%20a%20rudder,that%20slows%20the%20boat%20down.
(3) The European Food Information Council (2013) https://www.eufic.org/en/whats-in-food/article/glucose-and-mental-performance
