collegiate rowing

Question
I rowed for 4 years on a D1 women's open-weight team, and i was wondering if i could use my 5th year of NCAA eligibility (which is only permissible if you play a different sport) for lightweight rowing, or would lightweight and open-weight rowing would be considered the same sport under NCAA rules?

Answer
Hi Emma: Nice try, but it's definitely the same sport and you are technically ineligible.  Besides, you would lose muscle and not be as effective as you were as an open weight.  

But this is not the end of your rowing career.  Only the beginning.  Some grad schools like Wharton and Harvard Business School field crews for non-NCAA sanctioned races like the Head of the Charles.  Once, as a college graduate, I rowed a race for Jacksonville University, as they entered the crew as a club entry in an open regatta.  But most realistic is the multitude of private rowing clubs throughout the country.  You can row for these clubs into your 90s. As a Master's rower, I competed against (and barely beat) an Octogeneran in a single sculls race.

Good Luck/AP