High Point’s varsity rowing squad continued their final week of preparations on Oak Hollow Lake on Wednesday evening ahead of the NC Youth Rowing State Championships on Saturday.
“It was 90 minutes of technique,” said head coach and club founder Gene Kininmonth. “The crews enjoyed flat water, which is perfect for rowing and we did a lot of low intensity work: pause rowing, cut-the-cake, feet out, K-drill, and that sort of thing to really bring the focus back to just high quality rowing.”
Every session of drills is vital to the squad of scullers, all of whom switched from sweep rowing in 2017. Kininmonth says almost all of the girls in the varsity eight that won the Head of the James in Richmond last Fall have transitioned to sculling this spring.
“Over the winter we looked at where our rowers might achieve their best both collectively and individually and the outcome of that analysis was a shift to sculling for many of our top rowers,” says Kininmonth.
Three hundred youth rowers have entered to race in 80 boats in the inaugural state championships. Racing kicks off at 10am with the Under 17 Women’s quadruple sculls.
