College rowing/2k time

Question
Dear Mr. Pepper,
              I am currently a sophmore in high school, about 5'7 5'8, and about 210-215 lbs. Last year was my first season of crew rowing on my school's varsity as a freshman.My best 2k was a 7:40 last year as a freshman, although i haven't done one in a while.  If I train hard, lose weight, and increase muscle, and get taller how low do you think i could potentially get my 2k to. and also if i have 4 years of varsity rowing on my school team and have moderate success, would i be a desirable recruit for a rowing team?

Answer
Hi Rower: For heavyweight boys, aged 15 and 16, the average 2K time is 7:13.  So you have some room for improvement.  

While you may not have much control over how much taller you get, you definitely have the ability to lose weight, gain muscle mass, increase your cardiovascular endurance, improve your rowing technique and gain race experience.  While your weight would be fine for football, it is a liability for crew.  I think you are carrying too much weight for someone 5'-7".  This added weight is going to slow you down in a sport that demands peak endurance.  At your height, I think you can get down to 190 and maintain your strength, while improving your endurance.   

As for your second question on college potential, it's very hard to assess where you will stack up as a rower in 3 years.  The fact that you are on the school's crew team will help you get selected to a good college, provided that you have good grades.  I am fairly confident that if you stick with the sport through your high school career, you will be fully capable of competing in college.  If you don't know, nearly all college crews accept non-scholarship walk-ons -- even if you never rowed before.  Any college would be happy to have someone with 4 years of rowing experience.  Now if you are wondering if you could get a rowing scholarship, then that is a much more difficult question to answer.  You will need to have competed in boats that have had a degree of success in High School regattas.

Good Luck