On Water Rowing Course Lesson 13 - Racing Starts

Start Methods
Athlete Perspective of a Start
Coach Perspective of the first 4 Strokes
The start of a race is particularly important and once the crew are able to row effectively at race pace (this will be a different rate for each crew) they should practice the start of the race.  The goal of the racing start is to get the boat up to just above race pace as quickly as possible. 

There are a number of different racing starts but all are very similar with a few short strokes then lengthening the stroke until full speed is reached over about 10 strokes.  We suggest commence with the first stroke being a 3/4 stroke then another 1/2 stroke then a 3/4 stroke then full strokes for the race.

The key items to practice are:
  • Ensure that the boat is correctly lined up and the crew ready
  • Have the athletes be ready to row at the catch position at half slide with the blades sitting naturally in the water
  • When the starter starts the race, complete the first (3/4) stroke holding the blade in the water and not lifting off the seat.
  • The next 1/2 stroke should be done very quickly after the first and this time make sure that the blades are very buried in the water.
  • The third stroke is a little larger (3/4's of the slide) and again make sure that the blades are very buried in the water.
  • The next 7 strokes are at full slide and again deeply buried.  At the end of these 7 the boat should be up to speed and the crew should try to gradually settle down to race pace.
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You will find that it will take a fair amount of practice to execute the start well and we suggest that you commence doing the above sequence at a low rating to begin and then as competence improves increase the rating of the start.  The most effective starts are at a rating about 1.4 times the crews normal race rating. (for example if race pace is 30spm then the best start will be at about 42spm)  However, it will take time to achieve a well executed start that rate.  Again, it is better to row well at a low rate than poorly at a high rate. 

In the video above we demonstrate how to undertake the start of a race with the pdf to the right containing more detail on how to effectively execute the start of a race. We suggest that you print this and take it with you to follow as needed during the session.
​For Members:
Extra videos with further information on starting a race:  
For Members:
​For when the athletes cannot achieve the correct body positions  we have extra videos with further information,  click here:
On Water Rowing Course Lessons: ​