This is all good straight talk except for OP is a “rising Junior,” so I’m assuming Class of ‘26. If that is the case, the timing is right and early fall is correct for testing.
Having said that, I think it’s unlikely that a boy who is ~170 at 16 will be 160 at 19.
Additionally, I agree with the poster who commented on the English form. If these posts are a reflection of OPs fluency it will be difficult to score high enough in the SAT score or even the TOFEL.
Finally, a “bubble athlete” is typically expected to make up for ability in academic strength to bring the teams AI up and give the coach wiggle room to recruit impact athletes. OPs GPA and predicted test scores are not high enough IMO.
OP, if you really want to row at an US university you should broaden your search considerably and look at D3 schools and slower programs. You need to contact coaches with actual results, not “I believe I can” times.
This is all true - but for collegiate lightweight rowing most of the races are in the Spring and occur over a 8 week period - so 7-9 races in that short of a time. Very hard to keep cutting for weigh in and stay healthy plus be a student.
The majority of coaches are looking for the young men and women that can stay at the weight without excessive cutting. It has been an issue in the past and coaches plus the overseeing organizations are trying to keep this division (many debate if it should even exist) and continue to monitor and make changes for the health of the athlete.
It would be very sad if lightweight went away - as that would make the sport unattainable for these athletes that could never reach the heavyweight/open weight class. You are starting to see more diversity across US rowers and much of that is due to the lightweight classification and introduction to the sport by several community nonprofits.
Lightweight rowing continues to evaluate how to make this a safe sport for the athletes that naturally have a smaller build. It is not about making your body fit the classification - or it should not be.
Very few colleges offer lightweight rowing - it is highly competitive and you don’t see a broad range of difference across the programs. Harvard men took the championship this year, Yale last year and Columbia the year before - most races it could be anyone’s to win - the teams are that close … because weight is equal.
Many light weight build HS rowers that are going to grow out of that classification are very successful at D3 - with D3 teams attending Nationals too - so getting that big regatta joy.
Again, I’m not familiar with competitive college rowing, so I appreciate you filling in the vast gaps of my competitive rowing knowledge.
Totally agree, the OP for those 8 weeks should not be cutting to make weight each and every week for 8 weeks. That’s going to be difficult both mentally and physically. OP would need to be at or close to his or her “fighting weight” for those 8 weeks.
Last night I wrote something similar, but I deleted it.
18% would seem to be high for a competitive D1 college rower. If and when the OP does increase their lean body mass, then that should translate to better erg times.
Slightly off topic but why isn’t there a mid weight category? This would alleviate the problems with lightweight rowing and expand the sport. There are many 170 5’11 talented rowers out there who are basically in no men’s land.
OP, think about a D3 school, or a club rowing school instead. My son (HS class of 22) was 5’11", 155 pounds, and a 6:38 2k at the end of his junior year. He had other positive recruiting factors that would make him a good student for the school (perfect GPA that included many AP courses, a 1530 SAT, and an Eagle Scout) but those didn’t make up for his less than huge height and not as fast times for some of the better D3 schools for him to row (we were not interested in paying full freight at an Ivy and wouldn’t qualify for aid, so didn’t look at lightweight rowing as those were mostly at schools that don’t give merit aid). Example, he was told his 2k was too slow and he was too short for Tufts to take a chance on him improving. But there are other schools out there if you want to row. The schools with lightweight boats tend to be among the most competitive academically, and they might be hard for you to be a competitive candidate, but expand your search and you may have more luck.
I’ve been fascinated by this thread even though I don’t know anything about lightweight rowing recruitment. But I did find this very detailed description of the academic and athletic standards and requirements on Harvard’s website. It’s not Penn but I’ll bet they are similar. Good luck!
They mean business and clearly don’t want to waste their time with athletes that don’t meet their standard. Most sports/programs would benefit from a straight forward and detailed page like this.
The Harvard write up is excellent - thanks for linking.
I’ll just add on for those that are interested - for Lightweight rowing (and other classifications too) even if the majority of the races are in the Spring, you may have a few in the Fall. It is a full school year program - meaning 2x a day practice 6 days a week, a winter training trip (not all schools) = 10 days at home for this holiday period and the rest at training camp, a spring break travel trip = no Spring break and you must find a flexible employer/internship, as your summer start date will vary depending on your results from Eastern Sprints to know whether you qualify for Henley and Nationals. Very limited study abroad = only summer and you still have to be able to train. I do understand this is the case for most D1 sports - but somehow people think crew is easier!
It is hard when I see kids think they can work, make a lot of internship $ or have more flexibility than the commitment of this sport allows at the D1 level. Limited Olympics for lightweight with the exception of doubles - the athletes are doing this because they love the sport and know that for 95% of them being on a college team is the end of their competitive time in this sport. It takes a certain young adult to make this work and why recruiting is very competitive - all the top teams are looking at the same kids.
Switch it to D3 and a lot of strong teams and coaches plus much more opens up for life outside of academics and the sport. The D3 teams will have different priorities as mentioned above - Tufts wanted speed And Height - others will be flexible on height. Reviewing rosters and understanding the make up of each team takes work and it is not as easy as saying I have these numbers and I want to go to X school.
I believe the Varsity Blues scandal did a huge disservice to this sport (among other things) and most people think it is “easy” to be recruited to get them into their “dream” school. Off my soap box now…and yes, my age is showing
Sheesh. I thought I checked this - maybe I read it wrong or maybe OP edited? Probably me. So it would be much too early for a Men’s LW rower to be expecting to talk with coaches. LW Men’s coaches will still be focused on 2025s through the Fall. The key message is that you have to get the predictive things to reality, because your competition is doing the same.
I would generally agree here, except that OP is clearly an international applicant wanting to use rowing as a hook into an elite US school: very few (if any?) elite D3s recruit internationally, and obviously club teams don’t recruit.
Also second everything @coffeeat3 says, as always.
