Harriton Crew
HOW REGATTAS WORK
Regattas mostly take place on Sundays, however some events are spread over the weekend and races are scheduled on both Saturdays and Sundays. We use Teamsnap to keep you informed about event times, but you can find the Fall race schedule here, and the Spring race schedule here
Rowers are expected to report to the coach at least two hours before their race starts.
Transportation
During Spring season, all team members must ride the bus to and from out-of-state regattas. In case of in-state regattas (mostly on the Schuylkill) parents drop their rowers off in the morning.
During Fall season no buses are available for transportation.
Categories
Regatta events are divided by men/women, experience level categories, weights, and disciplines. There are two disciplines; sweep rowing and sculling.
Sweep Rowing: Athletes row with one oar
8+ eight rowers plus one coxswain
4+ four rowers plus one coxswain
4- four rowers without coxswain
2+ pair plus coxswain
2- pair without coxswain
Sculling: Athletes row with two oars one in each hand
8x octuple eight rowers plus one coxswain, very rare
4x quad four rowers with or without a coxswain
2x double two rowers, no coxswain
1x single one rower
Line up and coaching
The coaching staff decides upon the make up of the rowers in each boat. Boat line-ups depend on various factors such as technique, hard work, erg scores or strength tests, and how the individual rower influences the make up of the other rowers. Line-ups are also dependent on available equipment, and the number of coxswains. This is always determined based on the discretion of the coaching staff.
More information about parent-coach protocol can be found on the Harriton High School Website.
Race Course
Depending on the course, races will usually be 1,500 meters.
Buoys mark the start; finish and poles mark landmark meters along the river. (eg. 1000, 750, 500, ext)
Each boat is given a number; it is called a bow marker it is used to identify the boat and the lane.
On our river, the Schuylkill, lane number 1 is closest to the shore. Seat positions in each boat are numbered from bow to stern. The bow seat is always #1 and the last seat in the boat is called the stroke seat, depending on the boat; it can be #4 or #8.
Race officials follow each race in a motorized launch to monitor safety and fairness.
Racing Schedules
Racing schedules are typically available one or two days before the race and can be downloaded from the PSRA website, or, if the race is not on the Schuylkill on the website of the organisation responsible for that particulare regatta.
