Let’s all stroke together like the Princeton crew

If the Bulls and Jazz had decided to settle the NBA finals with a crew race in some parallel universe, however, let’s just say Pippen would have been too short of breath to even think about uttering these now-infamous words to Malone.

“The physical demands of racing include six to seven minutes of aerobic and muscular endurance, leaving little room for talking,” said senior Caroline English, the captain of the women’s lightweight crew.

The short burst of aerobic stamina necessary to succeed in crew is just one of the aspects necessary for a boat to find success on the water. A crew race is a combination of overall physical fitness, in-race strategy and mental desire, all spurred on by the vocal encouragement of the coxswain, the smallest person on the boat.

“During the race, the coxswain does all the talking. The coaches watch from motorboats, but the rules restrict them from yelling while out on the water,” English said. “Hence the value of the coxswain, who motivates the crew and provides them with information, all while steering a straight course.”

Though exempt from the grueling physical strain endured by his or her teammates, the coxswain has an extremely detailed and important role in a race.

“Before the race, the coxswain directs the warmup and uses her voice to keep the rowers calm and relaxed,” English said. “During the race, our five-foot, 1.5 inch coxswain becomes an aggressive motivator. She simultaneously yells out the race plan, rowing technique calls, time splits and phrases that fire up the rowers to pull harder.”

The words the coxswain yells while in the race would be unintelligible to the average English speaker. To wit, if the coxswain yells “up two seats,” it means that the crew is up by about half a second. A call of “bow ball” signifies that the team is almost a boat length ahead of the opposition.

As if remembering all of these terms was not difficult enough, a crew must also execute an incredibly precise strategy to succeed in a race.

“The basic strategy for any boat is to have a fast start, which consists of the first 25 strokes or so,” English said. “After the start, you are ideally either ahead or alongside the other boat. From here, each team uses her base speed to pull ahead of the other crew. This speed is measured in strokes per minute and can range from 34 at the beginning of the season to 37 at the end.”

To improve its position while on the water, each boat also executes a series of planned “moves” during a race. These moves generally consist of 10-15 especially hard strokes with the goal being to “break” the opposing crew. For those who don’t even know what a scull looks like: Simply put, the moves are designed to move ahead of the other boats.

After all this, each team finishes the race with a “sprint” to the finish line. During this sprint, every athlete rows as hard as he or she can to help the team finish first. Needless to say, this is much easier said than done.

“The sport is near impossible. From the shore, a good crew appears to race down the course with flow and poise,” English said. “In the boat, however, you can hear the grunting and heavy breathing required to haul nine people down the lake.”

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Occasionally, a crew requires a little extra motivation to effectively bring together the many components of a successful race. When this is the case, teams need to look no further than Scottie Pippen as an exemplar of how to gain that extra mental edge that can make the difference between winning and losing in any sport.

“My freshman coxswain once encouraged us to ‘embarrass [the other team] in front of their parents,’ ” English said. “[It] was certainly inappropriate, but also effective.”