If I were to take introduction to rowing for my PE class, how hard would it be to then join the rowing team? Is it common for kids to do that?
It would be like you taking introduction to basketball and then trying to join the basketball team
@Falcon1 – You can’t actually make that comparison for Cornell. The men’s lightweight rowing team members attended the mandatory swim tests and approached freshmen asking that they try out for the team. They looked at swimming ability and size/build in tapping prospects, AFAIK. There were four or five open positions on the lightweight team last year, and the two week tryout (six days/week, two plus hours/day) satisfied the fall PE requirement, even if one did not make the team.
Tryouts included lots of running as well as rowing. Running stadiums at Schoellkopf, running down to the boathouse from North Campus on Saturday morning, as well as time at Teagle.
Best of luck to you @oreoboob. If nothing else, you will learn a new activity and see parts of the campus and surrounding town that many students never see in four years.
^^ My bad. My knowledge of crew only extends to the Ivies I attended and the one my daughter is at and they are all powerhouses. There is no way that someone with no prior experience could just walk on and make the team.
To be fair, I don’t know how many of those four or five open spots were filled with those who had never rowed before. 30+ tried out, and many of them had been HS rowers, but since the team takes the time to recruit at the swim tests, I assume they must think it is worth their effort.
The coaching team (Ltw) at Cornell are great and are always looking for good candidates. Having said that, rowing at the collegiate level is extremely demanding and not for the faint of heart. You really won’t have a social life aside from the one you have made with your teammates…which is usually a strong and enduring bond.
At my D’s recent swim test last week, the rowing coaches were there at the pool and singled out a few girls for rowing after they completed the swim test.
The Ivy League is refreshingly different. I was a two-sport recruited athlete at Cornell (track and football) but there were many student-athletes at Cornell who made those teams who were walk-ons. We won three Ivy League track titles while I was there. The Ivy’s and the military academies are the last bastions of the gentleman athlete.
D1 was approached by a coach after her swim test. She was interested until she found out when they practiced and how often.
My sons were both approached by the rowing team at Cornell during move-in when S1 was a freshman. When S1 indicated he was committed to a different varsity sport, they asked S2, a high school freshman but tall and lean if he’d be interested in joining the team!
One addendum for those who are unaware: the Ivy League and the service academies don’t offer athletic scholarships. If you choose to go out for a team, it’s no different than going out for band or glee club. Unlike athletic scholarship schools, you eat, sleep, and study with non-athletes. There are no special “study halls”. No one will bend the rules for you. Trust me when I say that professors offer you NO SPECIAL DISPENSATION. You do it for the glory, to be a part of history. When I won the Ivy League 400m track championship, I walked into class that Monday, and my french literature professor intoned, “Sir, congratulations on your EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITY this weekend. I trust your celebration will not inhibit you from producing the paper that you have due THIS THURSDAY”. Gulp.