Coxswains keep charge of Crew's rhythm

They may be small, but coxswains are the engine that drives the Quakers' crews' boats. With all the size and strength of the Penn rowers, many people forget that during the races, the people who dictate and coach the Quakers' boats are less than 5 feet, 4 inches tall and weigh under 125 pounds -- the coxswains. "As a coxswain, you have to be a leader," said junior Debbie Gortler, a coxswain for Penn's men's lightweight crew. "During the races, you're not physically pulling. You are telling [the rowers] what to do? but I'm in the race as much as they are." The role of a coxswain is to keep the rowing technically correct. In addition, as the only member of the boat who talks during the race, the coxswain is analogous to a coach on the water and in the boat. The coxswains are similar to navigators. They keep the boat on a straight course and, if necessary, steer the boat with control of the rudder. "As a coxswain, my role is to execute the race plan," Penn sophomore Alisa Grubbs said. "During a race and practice, I try to make the boat go as fast as I can by helping my crew with technical corrections and motivation." During races, the coxswains help the crews get a feel for the conditions of the wind and water and for the boat's position in comparison to the other crews. The coxswains also have to keep the rowers working together to get the fastest time. "I try to get the rowers to work together and stay in a rhythm that works for all of them," Grubbs said. "Most of all, I try to get inside the heads of the rowers and keep them motivated." The task of coaching and motivating the crew on the water requires that the coxswains have the trust of the coaches and the rowers. They must also have confidence in themselves and their ability to dictate the boat's course and the performance of the crew in the race. "Foremost, you must establish respect for yourself and establish authority without a power trip and to learn to take control of a situation and to implicitly take control and make them confident that you are in control," Gortler said. The coxswains go to all the group practices, and although they don't have to be in the same shape physically as the rowers, they do train with the team sometimes. The coxswains all started for different reasons, ranging from the desire for competition to the only conceivable option for a middle-school sport, but they stay with the sport because of the emotional high that winning, accomplishment and competition provide. Saturday all the Penn coxswains will motivate, steer, and coach the boats in regattas in Syracuse, N.Y., New York City and Princeton, N.J. The women's boats will be racing on Lake Onondaga in upstate New York for the Orange Challenge against Syracuse and Northeastern. The heavyweight men's boats will be competing in New Jersey at Lake Carnegie for the Child's Cup against Princeton and Columbia. The lightweight men's boats will be rowing on the Harlem River for the Dodge Cup against Columbia and Yale.