# Coxswain, who are they? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** racing-auto-boat\ **Created:** [January 29, 2024, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coxswain-who-are-they/996791 "2024-01-29T05:01:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coxswain-who-are-they/996791/1 "2024-01-29T05:01:39Z")
Sitting here in Melbourne, Australia, sipping a beer and watching rowing fours and eights practice on the river. I’m wondering who becomes a coxswain? Someone into rowing but who doesn’t want to row. I understand the role a cox plays but I’m curious what prompts someone to become a cox. Did they tend to start out as rowers but didn’t develop physically, got injured, or were otherwise not competitive, or are the more likely to get into the sport with the intention to be a coxswain from the start? Something else? Can anyone here provide insight? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coxswain-who-are-they/996791/2 "2024-01-29T05:13:08Z")
I’m going out on a limb and say. Someone who has a Daddy(alumni) who paid for the privilege for his kid ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coxswain-who-are-they/996791/3 "2024-01-29T05:19:08Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > I’m wondering who becomes a coxswain? Someone into rowing but who doesn’t want to row. - The coxswain is significantly smaller than the rowers. He steers the shell and acts as a motivator, keeps the rhythm and sees to the safety of the crew. [Coxswain - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coxswain) ETA:no Onebox? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coxswain-who-are-they/996791/4 "2024-01-29T05:24:30Z")
I had a friend in college who was a cox. She wasn’t nearly big enough to be a rower. I think she was just friends with rowers. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coxswain-who-are-they/996791/5 "2024-01-29T05:43:36Z")
Ok. That was mean of me . Ignore ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coxswain-who-are-they/996791/6 "2024-01-29T05:46:47Z")
Yes I get that, but what prompts someone to become a coxswain? Do they think to themselves, “I’d really like to be a coxswain”, or do they think “I’d really like to be a rower, but can’t, so I’ll settle for coxswain”? To me rowing is a physical sport so it wouldn’t even enter my mind if I wasn’t interested in the physicality of it. But other people might have different motivations. ---
**Author:** ![UDS1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47774/32.png) [@UDS1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS1)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coxswain-who-are-they/996791/7 "2024-01-29T06:00:08Z")
They enjoy being part of a team? They value being able to make an essential contribution that others on the team can’t make as effectively? ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coxswain-who-are-they/996791/8 "2024-01-29T06:16:38Z")
The value they find in the position doesn’t necessarily reflect the path they took to get there. I’m looking for the latter. I was hoping for some personal experience along the lines of @puzzlegal’s. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coxswain-who-are-they/996791/9 "2024-01-29T06:17:52Z")
The youngest male Olympic gold medalist was _[Klaus Zerta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaus_Zerta)_ who was a 13 year old coxswain in 1960. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coxswain-who-are-they/996791/10 "2024-01-29T06:38:33Z")
I read this a couple of weeks ago after watching _The Boys in the Boat_. There are a couple of explanations in there. [O Coxswain! My Coxswain!](https://washingtonrowing.com/o-coxswain-coxswain/#:~:text=The%20first%E2%80%94and%20most%20famous,glory%20at%20the%201936%20Olympics.) > This is Stuart Sim, (BA 2017), coxswain of UW varsity men’s eight. He is a master of this position that is unique in sport. The brain behind the brawn of the oarsmen. Navigator, strategist, analyst, communicator, motivator, coach and commander. All together. All the time. > > “A lot of people undervalue coxswains,” says men’s head Michael Callahan. “I almost do the opposite. They have to articulate strategy and tactics, and get people to execute them. They have to analyze and adjust on the fly. But most of all, they have to unify the crew, get everyone moving together. That’s what (Washington’s legendary master boat-builder) George Pocock called swing. It’s the story of rowing.” Stuart Sim, an Aussie, has been a cox since high school in Melbourne. ---
**Author:** ![UDS1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47774/32.png) [@UDS1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS1)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coxswain-who-are-they/996791/11 "2024-01-29T08:45:52Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > The value they find in the position doesn’t necessarily reflect the path they took to get there. I’m looking for the latter. I was hoping for some personal experience along the lines of @puzzlegal’s. Well, no personal experience, but I what puzzlegal says sounds as though it might be common. You have friends who row; they need someone of the right build to be a cox; they look at you and thing “hmm, why not”; they ask you; you give it a go; you find it rewarding; you stick with it. Or, the rowing coach approaches and ask you at an age where you are easily persuaded by authority figures. But I suspect a lot of coxes would never have got into it unless somebody had invited them. (The other possiblity, of course, in a high school context is that being the cox gets you out of, or avoids pressure to participate in, other sports that do not appeal to you. In an environment where sporting involvement is either required or highly socially approbated, a person of slight stature who can’t run very fast or catch or hit a ball might find being cox a very attractive position.) ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coxswain-who-are-they/996791/12 "2024-01-29T08:49:22Z")
I sort of equate it to when I became a goalkeeper in (field) hockey. I wanted to join the hockey team, and it turned out I was just really good at saving goals. It’s a distinctive part of the team which can greatly influence the result, and you have a special role. I’ve known cox’s at university. My university had a heavy focus on the rowing club, and being a cox gave people who would otherwise never make the teams to take an active, and important, part. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coxswain-who-are-they/996791/13 "2024-01-29T11:25:51Z")
Let’s not forget the tale of the [Yeshiva University crew team](https://www.row2k.com/features/12/a-rowing-joke/). ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coxswain-who-are-they/996791/14 "2024-01-29T11:41:49Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > Did they tend to start out as rowers but didn’t develop physically, got injured, or were otherwise not competitive, or are the more likely to get into the sport with the intention to be a coxswain from the start? The only cox I know personally is also a rower - she coxes on one oct and does solo rowing. So it’s not like she isn’t sporty or fit. She is by far the _smartest_ person on her team. But _also_ by far the smallest. ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coxswain-who-are-they/996791/15 "2024-01-29T11:56:54Z")
When I very briefly thought about joining men’s rowing at my university I was given the impression that the coxswains were typically recruited by their rower boyfriends. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coxswain-who-are-they/996791/16 "2024-01-29T12:03:33Z")
That would _definitely_ not be the case for my acquaintance. Her girlfriend isn’t a rower. I _think_ she just volunteered to be the cox because she was friends with half the team from school or socially. I know none of the team rowed in school (unlike a few of the boy’s school here) but I think what happened is a few schoolmates signed up for rowing in Orientation Week and they just worked out who did what from there. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coxswain-who-are-they/996791/17 "2024-01-29T12:46:30Z")
While it’s a little different, we had a [drummer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_boat#:~:text=The%20crew%20of%20a%20standard,the%20rear%20of%20the%20boat.) in our dragon boat races. > [@](#): > > The pulsation of the [drum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drum) beats produced by the **drummer** may be considered the “[heartbeat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse)” of the dragon boat. The drummer leads the paddlers throughout a race using the rhythmic drum beat to indicate the frequency and synchronization of all the paddlers’ strokes (that is, the cadence, picking up or accelerating the pace, slowing the rate, etc.). The drummer may issue commands to the crew through a combination of hand signals and voice calls, and also generally exhorts the crew to perform at their peak. The drummer also would snatch the flag as we cross the finish line, so the ldeal drummer was tall and skinny, rather than just be very light as in the case of coxswains. While I never asked the drummers why they participated, they seemed to very much enjoy being be a part of the team, even if they couldn’t be paddlers. It does look like coxswains play and even more important role than drummers, so I assume they would get that much more satisfaction. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coxswain-who-are-they/996791/18 "2024-01-29T12:47:13Z")
The only cox knew I used to run with. In HS and college when he coxed he was also a wrestler - so VERY fit. And he used to describe the workouts he did as part of the rowing team. So it isn’t exactly, _“Hey shrimp, put down your book, take a hit on your inhaler and get in the boat!”_ Don’t recall ever asking how he got into coxing. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coxswain-who-are-they/996791/19 "2024-01-29T12:54:37Z")
One of my college roomies was a rower, not a cox. He wasn’t especially large as men go, but very well-muscled and super fit. The training was insane. I met the team once and the cox wasn’t a “little person”, but was real small as men go. As @SanVito said, I’d suggest coxing is similar to the goalie position in many sports, catcher in baseball, and perhaps kicker in gridiron football. It’s the most unique role within the team and requires different athletic abilities and a different attitude to the game. And in the case of cox, different overall size/shape. Somehow you develop an interest in the sport, give it a try, discover the mainstream role(s) are not for you, but you fit the mold of that oddball position. And you’ve found your home. For sure in those situations, such as college, where the rowers are male and the coxswains are female there’s the extra spice of boy+girl at that hormone-driven age. Some female athletes would really enjoy being ringleader of their own pack of very fit men. Not that they’d necessarily be having sex with any of them, just that being surrounded by them, and in charge, would be a fun role to occupy. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coxswain-who-are-they/996791/20 "2024-01-29T13:10:52Z")
My friend was straight, but was cox for a women’s team. I had no idea that the men’s teams could have women as cox. I can certainly see a girlfriend being recruited. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coxswain-who-are-they/996791.md?page=2)