Massive Decrease in 2k Time

Question
Recently I was contacted by the lightweight crew coaches of Harvard, Princeton, and Yale Universities as a good candidate for going to their school (a recruitment email). I am 16 years old and 143 pounds and have been rowing for 3 years and have won 2 state championships and placed in the finals of both Canadian and US National Championships, along with 4th in the Canadian Henley in the Senior Lightweight-8 Category. I have a 6:54 2k time and by the time the CRASH-B ergathon rolls around in February i wish to have a 2k time in the low 6:40s to impress the collages.

A Senior on my team this year that I am close friends with (I'm a Junior) was also recruited to Harvard and Princeton on a rowing scholarship. He had a 6:43 2k time in his junior year, and I wish to do the same. My question is on what is the best way to be successful at such a massive goal. I realize that dropping 10-12 seconds in 2 1/2 months is ridiculous but if there is a possible way to do it I was wondering if you would know.  

Answer
Hi John: Your rowing resume at such a young age is impressive.  Your erg scores are also well above average for men your age and weight; you are in the 75th percentile.  If you stay on track, you are going to be a very formidable lightweight rower for many years to come.

Rowing in the 6:40s would get you into the 90th percentile.  As you well know, you got to come off the start smoking and row a portion of the piece at a 1:40 or below split.  

Since I'm not a coach or anything (and I couldn't touch your times in the prime of my rowing days), I'm just able to give you some very general advice.  The first recommendation is that you should add between 5-10 pounds of muscle through a weight training program.  The extra weight will help lower your time based on the physics of the rowing ergometer itself.  The added muscle will give you power to help you cut those seconds off at the start and final sprint.  You may have to adjust you diet to add the poundage.  But if you feel that the weight is slowing you down, you can back off that.   

The other thing you can try is to read this article about "The Wolverine Plan." It's a program developed by the U. of Michigan and you may want to incorporate some or all of it into your routine:

http://www.concept2.com/forums/wolverine_plan.htm

But to be honest with you, there's an old saying I used to hear when I was in the Navy: "Don't fix something that isn't broke." In other words, what you are doing is working if you have Ivy League coaches banging your door down.  In the end, it's what you do on the water, not on some contraption sitting on a gym floor, that will determine how good of a rower you are.

Good Luck/AP