The Wageningen Coastal Boys training for the World Championships. Photo Marieke van den Oever (W.S.R. Argo) Rowing association Argo’s Coastal Boys have qualified for the World Championships coastal rowing in Barletta, Italy, this weekend. Two of the Coastal Boys discuss how they prepare on the eve of the championships.
‘To train under sea-like circumstances, we went to Muiden every week. If the wind is right, it gets quite choppy there. And they have the right boats’, says Jorik van Veen. ‘Additionally, we trained our endurance and general rowing techniques in Wageningen during the week. We train seven times a week on average.’
‘Some people consider the water in the Rhine choppy, but that is nothing compared to circumstances at sea’, his teammate Stan Jansen clarifies. ‘Waves are a lot less predictable than wind and current like you have in the Rhine. Waves make each rowing movement different. Sometimes you can make only half a swing, or you may have to shift the positioning of your hands to insert the blade (the flat part of the oar, ed.) into the water.’
Tactics
Coastal rowing competitions can best be compared to sailing competitions. The teams wait near the start, and once the signal sounds, they may pass the starting line. Janssen: ‘Wind and the current prevent you from lying still. A false start gets you a one-minute penalty, which is really a lot. Making up for that in rowing speed is almost impossible.’ The helmsman’s job is to have the boat positioned just right for the start at the correct moment/ ‘Our helmsman is an experienced sailor. His insight really is an advantage.’
The buoys must be passed on the correct side on the way to the finish. ‘Holding back a little can sometimes be the smart thing to do so that you can pass behind a team’, Janssen says. ‘Collisions are allowed, but they cause you to slow down.’ The Coastal Boys have developed their own tactics to get a boat around a turning buoy. Van Veen: ‘The great thing about coastal rowing is that it focuses more on racing than in rowing properly, which is what the more traditional rowing disciplines focus on. In coastal rowing, the trick is to remain cool.’
World Championships
Rowers Jorik van Veen, Stan Jansen, Igor de Koning, Thomas Janssen and helmsman Iede Adrichem travel to the World Championships in Barletta on Wednesday. There, they have a few days to acclimatise and practice before the preliminary rounds on Saturday. Jansen: ‘There are 27 teams competing in our category. Their level ranges from rowers who competed in the Olympics last year to driven amateurs like us.’ The 20 teams that perform best on Saturday will enter the finals on Sunday.
