Teams have the urge to erg
Away from the racing, rowers have to do erg trainings, jogs and walks to warm up.
Apart from the racing itself, jogging, ergs, and stretches are a big part of Maadi team routines.
Marlborough Girls’ College coach, Mark James, says his school uses ergs (rowing machines) in their training 30% of the time.
But during Maadi their two ergs at the tent are for the warm-ups.
“The girls are expected to jump on there [ergs] and replicate what they do on the water,” Mark said.
Practising on the ergs is not as satisfying as rowing on the water, he added.
“Rowing on water is a continuous movement, but the ergs aren’t moving you anywhere.”
St Margaret’s coach Kaye Surgenor agrees. St Margaret’s has the same erg training percentage.
Because the college didn’t bring their ergs to the regatta, the girls run instead.
“We don’t have ergs, so we send the girls for a jog before they go on the water. If it’s the first race of the day it’ll be 20 minutes,” Surgenor said.
“It warms them up, gets them going and gets their heart beat up a little bit.”
The girls from Hamilton Sacred Heart warm up on the ergs for 10 minutes and warm down after the race for two minutes.
Sacred Heart have four ergs at their day-base.
“It’s kind of like stretching, but more intense. Even if you are not pulling as much, you are still stretching the muscles,” said quad rower Hannah Smith, 15.
