I knocked this up for newcomers to the Development Squad, and thought it might be useful for others to read. It's not official, just my view on things. Obviously the performance Seniors and Juniors would want to do more :), and the young'uns and recreationals do less.
We have two seasons in rowing:
Head Season from October to April roughly. In this season we build our fitness for the Regatta Season. We normally start in October at our lowest level of fitness in the year, and so build up fitness, by doing long sessions on the ergo or on the water. Typically 5k, and occasionally 10k. We start very slowly at what we call UT2 and UT1 aerobic levels. Makes you sweat, great for fat burning, but does not kill you. Here’s a guide to the various rowing intensities:
Don’t worry about the ridiculous suggested times, that’s for the top athletes. We very rarely do more than 40 mins in one session, and mostly 20 mins or so.
By December, we move to AT Training – Typically hard 5ks.
During the Head season, we test ourselves at Head races – usually one a month. These are processional races, where they set us off every 15 seconds or so, and time us to the end of the course. They are typically 2.5k – 5k long, and fit in with the training schedule. You win prizes at these things, but they are just building blocks for the main Regatta season.
By April, the Head season is winding down, and you should be, aerobically, very fit. April is a transitional month, when it gets light and we get into boats and practice sprints, racing starts and regatta length pieces (typically 500m to 1.5k).
You do not get many 2k races on the local regatta circuit, but it is the de facto distance for Seniors at national and international levels.
Regatta Season
The season lasts from May through to August. All the while concentrating on in-boat crew rowing, getting the all important starts right, and building the capability to row at anaerobic levels for 1k or so. The races are head to head, and on a knock out basis. So if there are 8 boats in a category and you keep winning, you will have 3 races over the day.
If you win, you win a "pot" (typically a pewter tankard). If you are a Senior, you get a point added to your status, and slowly ascend from lowly Novice to supreme Elite (think black belt). You only row against crews of your status, so it never gets easy... just harder and harder ;).
If you are a Junior, you race other kids of your own age: J12, J13, J14, J16 and J18, where you have to be under the age in that group, so if you are 13, you will be racing at J14.
If you are a Master (above 27). You row in categories based on the average age of the crew (denoted by a letter of the alphabet, where A is youngest and I is the oldest). It's all very complicated, but can be figured out here:
Masters and Juniors probably go to an average of 1 regatta a month, Seniors may do more.
September is commonly regarded as the month off! That’s when rowers without families go on holiday, or the insane do the Boston (Lincolnshire) marathon – 31 miles of agony. Once was enough for me.
Because we haven’t been doing as much aerobic training in the summer, our fitness actually tails off over the season, while our anaerobic capabilities build up. So by October, we have to get properly fit again.
So the cycle continues.
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