Next up In The Driver's Seat--where we hear from the folks who keep the shells straight and the crews on target—-is coxswain Charlie Hirschman.
Charlie coxes at Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville, Tennessee, where he is a sophomore and the top varsity coxswain. He has been coxing since he was in seventh grade, and it turns out Charlie is an avid reader of this column. We are glad we could get his insights on what he's learned in the Driver's Seat so far.
Let's hop In The Driver's Seat with Charlie:
row2k - Give us your top three essentials for being ready on Race Day:
Charlie Hirschman - Mindset, my gear, and race knowledge are my three essentials on race day.
Mindset: As soon as I wake up on race day, I am trying to develop a mindset of ego. I need to enter the race believing that my boat is the fastest one on the water and that I am the best coxswain at the regatta. My ego gives the confidence to push my rowers as hard as possible. Confidence goes a long way, and even fake confidence can help clear my mind of thoughts of failure.
Gear: Gear is fairly subjective, but I think everyone should have a certain kit prepared for their race. Of course, I have my CoxBox and other racing gear, but, for me, I put a lot of attention on the clothes I am wearing. By far, my favorite piece of gear is my Oakleys; I always cox with my Oakleys and a hat. The rest of my gear is weather dependent, but unless it's really warm out, I’ll wear a jersey with either a windbreaker or a rain jacket on the outside. The certain gear you wear doesn’t matter, but I just like the ritual of laying out my gear for the morning of race day and having a set kit.
Race Knowledge: Yes, it is important that I have a race plan, but I go broader than that with race knowledge. I make race plans, but I also need to know who the competition is and their lane assignments, what the course is like (especially for head racing), the wind’s strength and direction, the warm-up zone, and my warm-up plan. Being over prepared allows me to focus on the actual race call.
row2k - What is your favorite drill to run with your crews? Any tips on how to do the drill well, for maximum effectiveness?
Charlie Hirschman - I would say that the "rock and feather" drill is my favorite. We do a lot of different drills in practice, but on the way to the start line when I am picking the drills, I default to the rock and feather drill.
The "rock and feather" consists of pausing at the feather, and then when I call rock, the rowers rock their bodies out of bow together and come to the body over position and then take a stroke on my call. We do that for 20 strokes, then pause only at the feather, and then only at the rock/body over position. It’s simple, but it also helps the boat find swing out of the bow. For maximum effectiveness, it's helpful to emphasize watching the shoulders in front of you and trying to roll the pelvis out of the bow on the rock.
During practice, the coaches call the drills, but I think that the drills you call on the way to the start line are the most important because, 1: You are the one picking the drills, not the coaches, and 2: You need to prepare your rowers for the race.
row2k - What's some of the best coaching advice you've received about your coxing?
Charlie Hirschman - The best advice I’ve been given comes from my brother who coxed the Princeton 2V for the heavies. He told me that, when asking for something such as a rate shift, sprint, or a move, you need to give a "how." For example, when shifting down into race pace after the start, I try to emphasize how I want them to bring the rate down; I may say longer slides, more lean-back at the backend, or more time on hands away. You want to make sure everyone is on the same page and doing the same thing when making a change. I probably still need to focus on my "how," but I think it is one of the many traits that separates a good coxswain from a great coxswain.
row2k - What is a mid-race call or move that you've made that you'll remember for the rest of your life?
Charlie Hirschman - My favorite call comes from last spring at the Head of the Cuyahoga, a regatta in Cleveland that's very windy with a lot of turns, similar to the Charles. Head races are usually pretty boring/uneventful, but the turns at this regatta make it very engaging. I was in the Light 4+, but it was our first time racing the lineup and we weren’t sure if we were a fast boat or not.
We had started 2nd in the launch order and, around 2k in, I noticed that the Central Ohio boat ahead of us was taking the outside of the turn. I called that we were a length out and that we were taking the inside line from them, and I then called "We’ve got the fish on the hook boys, now it's time to reel em' them in!" After this call, we started taking seats from them as I yelled "Walking!" every stroke. They were seeded 1st in the race, and after we got by them, I told my crew that we were the new one seed. I have had greater moves in other races, including many sprint races, but I loved the feeling of my crew and the Central Ohio boat coming around the turn together as we battled to pass them; it felt like a Formula One race.
An honorable mention would be my sprint call during SRAA semi-finals my Freshman spring. That was also in the Light 4+, but with a different lineup. We were in 4th and around a length from the 3rd place boat; a 3rd place finish or better would have landed us in the final. Our boat found 7th gear and started flying through the 3rd place boat, but this sprint call is not my favorite call because we never caught the 3rd place boat. We lost by less than a seat.
row2k - -Can you tell us anything about what you've learned about how to call a good start?
Charlie Hirschman - Start sequences are always a favorite of mine, and I love the feeling of going fast from a stand still. My start call improved a lot last year during my Freshman spring.
First, during every single start sequence, I call "SQUEEEEEEEZEEEEE" as soon as the start is called, as we are taking the first stroke. I learned this call from my brother. I think consistency is important, and I like my rowers to say, 'Oh yeah, he always calls squeeze. That’s his thing." I call this because on the very first stroke, I want my rowers short, especially around the back end instead of swinging and being loose.
On the next few strokes, I don’t call specific slide lengths. After the first pass through the water, I’ll have my boat take three strokes to wind up to speed. I have a couple words I like to stick to on those three wind-up strokes: "Quick, direct, and sit up." The "sit up" is my favorite, and that’s been the key to bring up the rate quickly but with control. If my boat is rowing really short, I’ll try a 5 stroke start, and on the last few strokes I’ll emphasize really reaching out and compression at the front end.
For the next 10 or 20 strokes, I try to get my crew to drive the split as low as they can get it. All the boats I’ve found success in have had really good starts, and I think it's important to not be afraid to go crazy at the start when you’re working with anaerobic energy.
row2k - Tell us about the best race/practice you've ever had?
Charlie Hirschman - The race that I will always remember is from the Midwest Scholastic Rowing Championship, in the Novice 4x+. We set a goal coming into the regatta: to win the Sculling Points Trophy. During the semifinals, we absolutely dominated the race, coming in first by thirty seconds. Going into the final, we knew we had the race won if we didn’t mess up. Our coach told us to not sprint if we didn’t have to. The next day during finals, we were very confident. We crushed the first 1000 and went into the last 500 with a very cushy lead. We won by over 15 seconds without sprinting. Sadly, the recording app on my phone didn’t work for this one race, so I never got to go back and listen to the race. Pulling up to the winners dock and getting our giant medals was a surreal experience. My crew then threw me into the water which led to the best picture of my coxing career. I never got to cox them at SRAAs because the event wasn’t coxed at nationals.
row2k - How about the worst race/practice you've ever had?
Charlie Hirschman - My most heartbreaking race was the Light 4+ at SRAA Nationals. The boat got into SRAAs via petition, so we knew that it would take everything to get our boat to Finals. We had a killer start during the Semifinals, and by the 300 meter mark we had a length on everyone. Our plan was to get out really strong in the first half, then hold off the other boats. By the 500, we had fallen to second but we were still ahead of the pack. By the 1000, we had fallen to 4th. I reminded them that we had a killer sprint and could work back to 3rd. As I mentioned above, we had an amazing sprint and managed to get overlap with the 3rd place boat. Coming through the line, it looked like we managed to get ahead of them, but we weren’t sure. We found out that we had placed 4th when we got to the dock. Even though I never made it to Finals, going to Philadelphia and experiencing Nationals is still my favorite crew trip.
Thanks for riding along with Charlie...and, remember, this column is open to all "drivers" out there, so if you are an experienced coxswain at any level--from juniors to masters--and would be willing to invite row2k to join you in your ride, just contact us here. We’d love to hear from you about what you see from the Driver's Seat.
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