Coxswain Requirements

The coxswain is the person who sits at the back of a crew boat and tells the rowers what to do. While many people think this person just yells "row" over and over into a megaphone, there really are a lot of duties that the coxswain must do including steering the boat, giving verbal commands, helping rowers work as a team and serving as a coach on the water.

  1. Height and Weight

    • Most crew teams want someone who is small to serve as the coxswain. That is why many men's college teams will have a female coxswain calling out commands. A small person creates less drag on the boat. However, a team can't throw someone with an eating disorder in there either. A coxswain has to weigh at least 110 pounds in most international competitions.

    Guiding the Team

    • Most coxswains will train with their team during the season, but to avoid gaining weight and muscle they often will take on a coaching role for practices. For example, the coxswain may lead the team through dry land drills such as calisthenics and running exercises. The idea is to build a bond with a team early so there will be less mistakes on the water.

    The Cox Box

    • The coxswain will also run the cox box on the boat. This is a small device that looks like an over-sized stopwatch with two speakers connected to it that the coxswain uses to measure stroke rate and speed of the rowers. It also serves as an amplification device so that all of the rowers can hear commands. A typical eight-man boat is more than 30 feet long and often the person sitting farthest away from the coxswain can't hear the commands.

    The Commands

    • Once all of the rowers are in the boat, the coxswain's job is to tell them what to do. Most clubs and teams use different words for commands, but they generally have the same meaning and use in order. For example, the coxswain may tell the rowers to "push off," which means to use their arms and then their oars to leave the dock. The coxswain then may give a command such as "oars away" or "ready," which means to get prepared to start rowing. Once in a race, a cox may yell out commands for specific members based on their position on the boat, which normally are numerical. These commands could be for things such as to row harder, get in time or to pull back on the oars.

    Steering the Boat

    • Most racing shells have a small tiller that the coxswain uses to help guide the boat. These will alter the path, but it is mainly the power of the rowers that is guiding the boat. If one side is rowing stronger than the other, the coxswain will give orders to even out strokes to keep the boat straight.The coxswain needs to talk to a coach or race official beforehand to know about any possible problems on the course such as swift currents and areas of high wind.

    Ending a Race

    • Once a team finishes the crossing line, it is the coxswain's job to get the team back to shore. They will have to watch for cues from the race officials before they turn their boat to head back to the starting spot or whether they can coast to shore somewhere else to get on dry land. The coxswain is the first person to leave the boat once the team gets to shore and then he will give orders for the rest of the team to leave while bringing the boat out of the water.