rowing

Question
hi I am a freshman in high school and a novice rower. I started rowing this past summer and I recently did my second 2k and got a 2:06 average split. I have great grades and the boats I rowed in this fall season and my boats both 8+ and 4+ did well. I usually row 6 seat but sometimes stroke seat or seven seat. I know I'm just a freshman but I really want to row in collage and I'm wondering what I need to do to get a schloarship.

Answer
The three things that are going to determine how heavily you are recruited are grades, racing accomplishments, and erg times.  For this reason, it is very good that you say that you have great grades and that the your boats had a lot of success last season.  The last piece of the equation then is your erg times.

What erg time you need is going to be dependent on what type of rowing you are aiming to do, either lightweight or open weight.  Obviously, if you are trying to break into the college ranks as an open weight rower, you are going to need a much faster time.  A 2:06 is a very fast erg time for a freshman in high school, especially one that just started rowing this summer.  It is my suggestion, though, that in order to get recruited by a decent college you will need to be at least in the top 25% of erg times for your age group and weight class.  For lightweight high school girls last year that number was a 7:58.  For heavyweight girls, that number was a 7:41.  With three more years of high school left for you to gain experience and for your body to develop, you are in a nice position to eventually hit either of those numbers if you are willing to put in the work.