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Welcome parents!! This is intended to be a page to share
observations, hints, and some of the camaraderie that we gain from our parental
participation in the sport of crew. Please feel free to share any
thoughts, crew links (including those that might be useful to new crew parents),
and any suitable tips to keep parents on track...please
contact the webmaster (Contact Hylton Webmaster) with your suggestions.
Ever wonder if it is all
worth it? Well, here is some feedback from the Hylton Crew Alumni - judge
for yourself! (Click
Here)
New Crew Dad
Like some of you may be, I was wondering
what kind of happy, "Alice in the Looking Glass" scenario I had stumbled into
when my high school freshman decided to sign up for crew. When she decided
to start winter training, I was not all that concerned....she was gainfully
engaged after school. Come to think of it, she was a lot easier to deal
with after the winter crew training sessions - she kept mumbling about "pieces"
and "ergs" as she wondered off to bed after dinner; Hey, who was I to
complain? She was actually bearable to live with!!
Vocabulary
As your student gets involved in crew, you will find he or she is speaking
what seems to be a whole new language. To help you landlubbers, here are a few
of the terms you may hear:
|
Shell |
The long, skinny boats used in crew; each rower controls one oar;
the rowers face backwards while the cox sits in the stern facing forwards. |
|
Senior eight |
A varsity boat with 8 rowers and a cox. |
|
Junior eight |
A junior varsity boat with 8 rowers and a cox. |
|
Third eight |
The next boat below the junior eight. |
|
Lightweight |
A boat in which none of the rowers exceed a certain weight
limit. |
|
Cox |
The coxswain; the non-rowing crew member steers the boat and gives
directions to the rowers from the stern; the only one in the boat looking
forward. |
|
Cox box |
The cox’s microphone |
|
Stroke |
The rower just in front of the cox whose lead the others follow
(eight seat). |
|
Bow |
The rower in the front of the boat, farthest from the cox (one
seat). |
|
Foot-stretchers |
The shoe-like devices into which the rowers put their
feet while rowing. |
|
Catch a crab |
What happens when an oar "catches" the water the wrong way,
sending the oar, with force, into some part of the rower’s anatomy. |
|
Hills |
Something rowers will run a lot of, from the boathouse to the gate at the entrance of the park. |
|
Erg |
The rowing machine on which students train and time themselves. |
|
NOVAs |
The big regional championship regatta in mid-May in which about 30
area schools participate. |
|
On the water |
What they announce at regattas when a race has begun, as in
"the senior men’s eight is on the water". |
|
Scull |
Boats in which each rower has two oars. |
|
Walk |
To overtake, as in "Hylton is walking Woodbridge." (something we
love to say). |
|
Chase or Launch |
The motor boat used by the coaches. |
|
Oxford House |
The boathouse at Lake Ridge Park that we share with
Woodbridge, Gar-Field and Potomac High Schools. |
|
Sandy Run |
The boathouse on the Fairfax side, which the Spring regattas
are run from. Fairfax schools and GMU store boats there. |
|
Hatchets |
The most advanced style of oars. The old ones are generally
called spoons. |
|
Stroke Rate |
The number of strokes per minute. |
|
Skeg, riggers, oar locks collars, slides |
Various parts of the shells and
oars. |
|
Power Ten |
Ten strokes for which the rowers give everything they have. |
|
Silent Ten |
A power ten signaled by a code word so competitors are
unaware. |
|
Butt-ups, Hoppies, Wall Sits |
Traditional crew exercises (used by the
coaches to torture the rowers). |
|
Heads Up |
Watch out, someone is about to hit you with a boat. |
|
On the paddle |
Rowing with minimum power. |
|
Weigh Enough |
The cox’s instruction to stop rowing or stop walking (when
carrying a shell). |
|
Sprint |
The final 250 meters of a race, when both stroke rate and power
increase to the max. |
|
White Flag |
A signal to a boat that it is veering out of its line or for
another infraction. |
|
Red Flag |
You’re disqualified. |
|
Head Race |
Three mile race with a staggered start. (Take place on the
Occoquan in the fall.) |
|
Stake Boat Holder |
a person who lies on his/her stomach on a board over
the water and holds on to the stern of a shell until the start is signaled. |
|
Oh Dad (Mom) |
Something a rower says when faced with parental
non-comprehension after the use of any of the above terms (usually accompanied
by an eye-roll or painful sigh) |
|
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