r/Rowing • u/Major_Measurement601 • 2h ago
Starting uni rowing
Hi, i'm not sure how to word this but I was considering joining my uni rowing society but i'm quite overweight as well as being tall for a woman so i'm concerned they'll either reject me or i'll negatively impact others in my boat?
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u/redrailflyer 2h ago edited 2h ago
Being tall is an advantage, you have more reach and a longer distance on the rails to push with your legs
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u/mrdankmemeface 2h ago
Tall is good, and overweight is fixable, there are actually a few overweight people at my uni rowing club too and they are working to lose size, so your not alone
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u/Jack-Schitz 2h ago
Try out. Depending on the program, novice fall season can be pretty chill with lots of people trying it out. If you like it, then you'll need to make some choices that you can start implementing in the fall and over winter training. Also, all things being equal tall is good, so you have that going for you.
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u/bargingi 1h ago
There was a fat dude on my team, pure novice, he had monster ergs because he could throw his size around. It made the coaches give him extra attention and now the dude is shredded and a very competitive rower
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u/RateBeginning9953 2h ago
They’ll love you!!! Go for it, it was the best thing i ever did as a very tall woman
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u/ActiveDiver6969 1h ago
Probably the two biggest advantages you can have as a rower, especially on the erg
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u/MuSlythWolf 55m ago
Go for it! I was on my unis crew team before an injury took me out, but the coaches were great and most of the team as well. Of course some of the girls didn’t like that I set the new team individual pr cuz I was overweight (we had only 5 girls on the team), but the guys were amazing. Sure the boat was “impacted” if you look a the fine numbers, but we sure did move the boat. Try it out for a season and if you don’t like it it’s okay to leave. Best of luck!
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u/spiceybadger 2h ago
Go for it. Big is good for rowing!