Here's why rowing teams have one significantly smaller member sit nearly motionless in the back of the boat
Matthias Hangst/Getty
This is a cockswain, and though their job may look meaningless, they actually serve an important purpose.
Pronounced "cox-en", they are significantly smaller and lighter than the rowers because they're not powering the boat - they're steering it and directing team members all the while.
As the New York Times' Juliet Macur wrote in 2012, a coxswain "is like a coach in the boat, steering, executing race strategy, keeping a crew synchronized and motivating rowers to pull harder on their oars.
Macur added that it is a role "virtually unique in sports because that person does not contribute physically to the competition."
If it seems like an easy task, it's not that simple. As Katelin Snyder, the cockswain of the US women's eight rowing team told The Hamilton Spectator from Rio, she's not just telling the rowers to go faster.
"'Go faster' could mean pull harder with my arms or it could mean swing more with my body or step quicker with my legs. So when I want them to go faster I have to specify where and how we're going to do that together."
Of course, as directors and the "brains" of the boat, cox often try to contribute as little weight as possible. Take Sam Ojserkis of the US men's eight team. According to the US rowing team's official page, Ojserkis is listed at 5-foot-8, 122 pounds. The next smallest member of the team is Michael DiSanto, who is listed at 6-foot-1, 195 pounds.
Viewing the cox next to the massive rowers can often be a source of comedy. Here's Ojserkis next to 6-foot-8 Austin Hack:
Paul Gilham/Getty
Or 5-foot-7 Phelan Hill of Great Britain's men's eight:
Matthias Hangst/Getty
Snyder is just 5-foot-4, 110 pounds.
Matthias Hangst/Getty
From a distance, they look like specks next to their massive team members:
Via NBC
Rowing teams value the cockswain. Traditionally, after a win, the cox gets thrown in the water. Here's Snyder being tossed after a win in 2013 at the World Rowing Championships:
Chung Sung-Jun/Getty
We'll see if any rowing team is cruel enough to throw their cox into the Rio water in these Olympics.
- Colon cancer rates are rising in young people. If you have two symptoms you should get a colonoscopy, a GI oncologist says.
- I spent $2,000 for 7 nights in a 179-square-foot room on one of the world's largest cruise ships. Take a look inside my cabin.
- An Ambani disruption in OTT: At just ₹1 per day, you can now enjoy ad-free content on JioCinema
- In second consecutive week of decline, forex kitty drops $2.28 bn to $640.33 bn
- SBI Life Q4 profit rises 4% to ₹811 crore
- IMD predicts severe heatwave conditions over East, South Peninsular India for next five days
- COVID lockdown-related school disruptions will continue to worsen students’ exam results into the 2030s: study
- India legend Yuvraj Singh named ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 ambassador
- JNK India IPO allotment date
- JioCinema New Plans
- Realme Narzo 70 Launched
- Apple Let Loose event
- Elon Musk Apology
- RIL cash flows
- Charlie Munger
- Feedbank IPO allotment
- Tata IPO allotment
- Most generous retirement plans
- Broadcom lays off
- Cibil Score vs Cibil Report
- Birla and Bajaj in top Richest
- Nestle Sept 2023 report
- India Equity Market