What is a coxswain?

If you’ve watched a rowing race, you might have noticed that one person in the boat isn’t rowing. In an eight there are nine people and only eight oars, and that ninth person is the coxswain.

A coxswain steers the boat, calls the race, and directs the crew. They don’t row. They sit facing forward, which makes them the only person in the boat who can see where it’s going. It’s pronounced kaak-sin, and most people just say cox.

It’s the position that makes the least sense from the shore, so we wanted to explain it, because understanding it explains a lot about how the sport works.

Why does a rowing boat need someone who doesn’t row?

Because everyone else is facing the wrong way.

Rowers sit backward. For the whole race, eight athletes have their backs to the course while moving at speed, and they can’t see another crew, a bridge, or anything in the water. Someone has to be watching, and on a working river like the Cuyahoga that matters a lot.

What does a cox actually do?

Four things, more or less at the same time.

1. They steer. The rudder is controlled by thin cables running to toggles the cox holds in each hand. Shells are long and narrow and turn slowly, so steering is about small early corrections instead of big late ones. A large rudder movement actually slows the boat down, so experienced coxes will often steer by telling one side to pull harder rather than touching the rudder at all.

   
   

2. They call the race. The cox decides when the crew pushes and when it holds back, reads where the other boats are, picks the line, and changes the plan mid-race if something changes. A crew can be the faster crew and still lose because someone else made better decisions.

   
   

3. They coach in real time. The cox has the only forward view of eight sets of blades and eight bodies moving together, so they can see things the coach in the launch can’t. We expect our coxes to know good technique well enough to correct it stroke by stroke.

   
   

4. They’re responsible for the boat. Safety sits with the cox. In a collision, maritime convention treats them as the master of the vessel, which is a lot of responsibility to hand a fifteen-year-old, and it’s one of the reasons the job builds so much confidence.

What does a coxswain say?

The one people know is weigh enough, which means stop rowing. You’ll also hear hold water, which means put the blades vertically in the water and stop the boat right now, and power ten, which means ten strokes at maximum effort to make a move on another crew.

Most of what a cox says isn’t commands, though. It’s information. Where the other crews are, how far it is to the next bridge, what the rating is, which rower is rushing. A good cox talks almost constantly and almost none of it is wasted.

Which boats have a coxswain?

Not all of them, and the name of the boat tells you.

A plus sign means the boat carries a coxswain and a minus sign means it doesn’t. An eight is always written 8+, because an eight always has one. A four can be either, so a 4+ has a cox and a 4− is steered by one of the rowers with a cable attached to their shoe.

Smaller boats, so pairs, doubles and singles, never carry a coxswain. In a single, the rower does everything, including looking over their shoulder.

There’s also a bowloader, which is a coxed four where the cox lies down inside the bow instead of sitting in the stern. They steer almost flat on their back with just their head out of the boat. Most coxswains love it.

Why are coxswains usually small?

Because a cox is weight the crew has to move without adding any power to move it.

That creates an obvious temptation, which is why racing bodies set minimum coxswain weights instead of leaving it up to the athletes. A cox who is under the minimum carries sandbags to make up the difference, so there’s nothing to gain from being underweight.

Being small helps a little. Being good at the job matters much more, and a heavier cox who steers a straight line will beat a lighter one who doesn’t.

Is coxing hard?

It’s a completely different skill from rowing, and it suits different people.

A cox needs to stay calm while eight tired teammates are relying on them, make decisions in seconds, and be comfortable telling older and stronger athletes what to do. Some kids find that terrifying and some find it the best thing they’ve ever done.

It’s also one of the very few positions in youth sports where being the smallest person in the room is an advantage instead of something to work around. If you have a kid who’s sharp and organized, doesn’t mind being in charge, and has never been picked first for anything physical, coxing is worth mentioning to them.

How do you become a coxswain?

Almost nobody plans on it. A crew needs a cox, somebody volunteers or gets volunteered, and it turns out they’re good at it.

There’s no prerequisite. No rowing experience, no particular fitness, and no minimum age beyond what the program already requires. What it takes is a clear voice, a level head, and a willingness to be responsible for other people.

Crews are almost always short on coxswains. If your kid is interested, they’ll be welcome right away.

The Cleveland Foundry runs rowing programs on the Cuyahoga for grades 6 through 12, and every crew needs someone in that ninth seat. You can see our programs at clevelandfoundry.org/youth-rowing.