I'm 63 and recently had a proper VO2 max test on a Concept2 rower. Result was 47.6 ml/kg/min, which is pretty solid for my age and roughly where I expected to be.

I became an on-call firefighter in April this year, so I've been through the required fitness tests and have also had a much more practical test of my fitness. Some wildfire jobs this summer involved long shifts in heat and PPE, hauling and dragging hose over steep, rough ground. By the time I did the VO2 test, I already had a pretty good idea that I was reasonably fit.

The interesting comparison for me is my previous lab VO2 test in 2023. I got 26.5, classified as poor for my age, despite thinking I was reasonably fit then as well. I was about 240 lb versus 209 lb now, and I'm clearly fitter today, so there's been a real improvement.

But it isn't a clean comparison. The 2023 test was on a bike. I'm not a cyclist and I remember my thighs being the limiting factor. This one was on a rower, which I know well. I'm certainly not an elite rower, but I row regularly and had three top-100 Concept2 results in my 60–65 age group last year. I've also done enough horrible 2Ks to have a pretty good idea of how hard I can actually push myself on one.

My training is pretty straightforward: Apple Fitness+ rowing with Josh Crosby about three times a week, strength twice a week and lots of walking. More recently I've added a weekly Norwegian 4x4, walking/jogging on a treadmill because that's closer to what I actually do as a firefighter — moving under load and stress.

One takeaway for me is to do a VO2 max test on equipment you know, if you have the choice. When you're being asked to go all the way to your limit, knowing the movement and knowing what you can tolerate makes a difference.

The rowing protocol also had an aspect I hadn't appreciated. As each stage gets harder, you have to produce the extra power yourself. Nobody turns up the machine and forces the increased workload on you. Just when you really want to back off, you have to consciously row harder and hit the next target. It's an interesting mental challenge on top of the physical one.

The other surprise was the difference between the fitness estimates and the lab result. Apple Health currently has my Cardio Fitness at 34.7, although that comes from outdoor walk/run/hike data rather than this rowing test or my Fitness+ rowing.

I also recorded the actual test on my Apple Watch with Athlytic, with the watch and the lab using the same Polar H10 chest strap for heart rate. Athlytic estimated my VO2 max at 58.6 for that workout. The lab, measuring my respiratory gases at the same time, got 47.6.

So Apple currently shows me at 34.7, the lab measured 47.6, and Athlytic estimated 58.6 during the test. I expected consumer estimates to differ from a lab measurement, but I was surprised by just how wide the spread was.

Those were the bits I found most interesting from finally doing a VO2 max test on a rower.

Rowed in 3 races at the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta. The Eight and the Double photos on Row2k are pretty good - ordered those. But holy cow the two pictures of me in the single are terrible and it must been a bad moment to snap pictures because there is no way I made it down the river as fast as I did looking like such a poor technique sculler! 5 years ago there were two good pictures of me in the 1x, and nothing good the next 4 years.

Hi everyone!

We're a group of college students conducting customer research for our entrepreneurship course, and we're interested in learning how rowing teams manage communication between coxswains, rowers, and coaches during on-water practices, especially in regards to communication equipment. We have a couple of brief questions, and would greatly appreciate it if you have the time to leave a response!

1. What does communication during practices usually look like for your team?
2. Have you experienced any communication issues during practices (equipment related or otherwise)? If so, how do these issues usually affect your practices?
3. If a communication problem occurs, how does your team usually handle them? 
4. Where do you find the most breakdowns in communication occur during on-water practices (equipment related or otherwise)?
5. What communication equipment does your team currently use during on-water practices, and have you found any major limitations with it?

Thank you for taking the time to share any of your real experiences and challenges you’ve faced, as well as any additional feedback! 

Thanks in advance!

Is Georgetown lightweight men doable with a 94 gpa and a 6:50 2k at 135 lbs?

Novice parent here. I built a free app so our families can find their kids' results on race day

My kid started rowing this year. At the first regatta I spent most of the day scrolling CrewTimer looking for our boats, and I still couldn't work out what "EXH" meant or when the next race was. So I built CrewDash, a small web app that shows a club only its own boats and results.

It pulls CrewTimer's public results for your club. On race day it lists your crews in start order with a countdown, and phones can get a push alert when results come in. There's also a Rowing 101 page for new families like mine. Everything sits behind a club password, since most of the rowers are minors.

It's free and open source, and it runs on Netlify's free tier. A volunteer can set it up in an evening.

**Demo** (made-up club): https://crewdash-demo.netlify.app (the password is on the login page)
**Code:** https://github.com/mattohara42/CrewDash

I'd love feedback, especially from coaches and other new parents.

What teams from the NCAA/IRA might be going to Henley next summer? NCAA crews are no longer bound to every four years but some teams may continue to follow that guideline anyways due to budget constraints...

Rumored to be going next summer (ongoing): Radcliffe OW, Syracuse W, Northeastern W...

Teams that went in 2023 (4 years ago): Penn W, Texas W, Northeastern W, Stanford W, Georgetown W, Radcliffe LW & OW, Washington M, Syracuse M, Cornell M, Harvard LM & HM, Princeton LM & HM, Colgate M,

Upper and Lower Boats: Lower boat events for juniors and collegiate rowers may be held depending upon the number of entries. No upper boat rower may participate in the lower boat event. To enter the lower boat event, the team must row at least 50% of its fastest boats in the upper event (i.e. if a club has six 8+ entries, at least three must be in the upper boat event; if a team has an odd number of boats, the greater number of entries must be in the upper event.). A club or school’s fastest boats must be entered in the upper boat event.

wtf is this rule?