Some time next week, my club’s coxswains are getting together over beer and pizza to go over their Gold Rush experiences. Our coxswain meetings have been a blast, and I am looking forward to hearing from the other coxies. Before that happens, I want to do some self-eval. I am using the same questions that I have been using for the last few regattas. Let me know what you do for post-regatta coxswain evaluations. I am ready for some new stuff!

Before I get into my questions, I have to share an embarrassing story. I knew there was an updated heat sheet going around at the coxswain’s meeting but forgot to check the lane assignment of my last race. Of course that was the one race that my bow number changed, so I had the wrong bow number and didn’t know it until the official called me out. I had to stay calm for my rowers (but apologize profusely on my way over to lane 1 from lane 5). Ended up winning that race and it’s probably the mistake I will never ever make again.

Did you execute the race plan effectively and if you had to deviate from it, did you do so in a way that was easily understood by the crew?

Our race plan was pretty solid. We got to practice it a bunch of times, and my calls were short but my rowers still knew what I meant. Words like “fluid” and “linear hands” were used at every event because rowers needed them and knew exactly why I was using them.

Some rowers emailed me back with suggestions and feedback when I asked for them, and I was able to make individual calls for everyone that asked for them. I didn’t memorize them but had sticky notes taped to my boat.

Did you work towards and/or achieve your personal goals for that day?

I wanted to be better at sharing our positions, and I worked with my coach during practices to know what to say in each scenario. What do you do when you try to make a move and it doesn’t work? What do you do if you can’t see any of the other boats in a bowloader because you’re leading? How often do you look around then?

When my 4+ was leading, I would say something like, “I can’t even see the other crews, but you can see them. Keep pushing them away. DeFENNDD!” Rowers said it worked pretty well.

Did you make technical corrections that contributed to an increase in boat speed?

The wind was impactful, and my technical corrections were usually related to that. It wasn’t crazy, but I definitely had to take it into consideration at the starting line as well. Check out this video, https://youtu.be/3PVJ6ZuxHnE. She made this video in response to my question on Instagram, and in addition to being hella excited because my question was picked, this video was absolutely beneficial, and her tips were easy to apply.