Coxes

What is a cox?

"Cox" is the shorter and commonly used alternative word for "coxswain" - the person in charge of a boat and its crew. Read on to learn lots more about this VIP!

What does a cox do?

Put simply, the cox is key to the crew's success. Coxes don’t just steer the boat! Coxes have to motivate their crews, and encourage them to work together. They have to develop a rapport with their crew (often by land training with them), know when to use humour and when to wear their sensible hats – they are in charge of the crew's safety on and off the water.

It’s the cox’s job to see the race plan through – or change it if they think circumstances demand it. Coxes are the ‘coach in the boat’ and their input should never be undervalued. Remember the ho-ha over the 2004 Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race when the Oxford cox was deemed to have steered too aggressively? The Cambridge cox kept his line, despite blade clashes, and secured an unexpected victory for his crew.

The cox is the crew's Team Leader and every member of the crew follows the cox's instructions at all times; right from lifting the boat off its rack, putting it into the water and actually paddling it along.

There are several reasons why people become a cox, including:

  • An interest in learning about the sport of rowing and being in a crew, but not actually rowing!
  • If you can't beat them, join them! If your friends, partner, or parents are always on the water, you might find you get to see more of them if you join in!
  • Ex-rowers who fancy a change
  • Sharing the thrill of racing with a crew (rowing is the ultimate team sport by the way!)
  • Sharing the spoils of victory - coxes get pots and gongs too

The Coxes!Urban myths

Coxes are small people with big mouths! Well, yes, some are, but not all!

Coxes are all blokes! Err, emphatically NO! We have men, boys, women and girls coxing our crews and loving it.

I must have a massive ego to be a cox. WRONG! Sensible, willing and assertive at the right times is what we need.

As long as you are willing to turn up and put the time into learning how to be a good cox, you'll find crews fighting over you. Most of the EERC rowers have taken turns at coxing for other crews - including some men well over 6 foot! - and as such appreciate anyone who is willing to offer their services as a cox.

Who to contact

We will be delighted to train any new coxes and are equally pleased to welcome anyone with experience. Contact our Membership Secretary in the first instance, and they will arrange to put you in touch with someone to provide you with more details, or to speak to a cox and find out more.

Useful website links

See Oxford University Rowing Clubs' Coxing Guide, a useful jargon page can be found at Trinity BC's Guide to Coxing

Coxing on the Tideway

A 'Coxing the Tideway' video is available to clubs. Understanding the course you should take will gain you a valuable advantage over less prepared competitors. There are special navigation rules for the Tideway and again for the race. They apply to you when racing and when practicing so please study and understand them before boating.

The Tideway is different from river and lake rowing. It's where the Oxford v Cambridge University Boat Race is held every year. The current is much stronger and the obstacles (bridges, piers, buoys etc.) much bigger. Give them a wide berth and remember that the current will draw you towards them. Never turn immediately upstream of any fixed obstacle; the tidal current will carry you on to it. More here.

Know your crew

If you don't know how your crew likes to be motivated, you won't do it as well as you can. Find out what your crew likes to here, and use those catch phrases your stroke, bow, or whoever invented at the pre-race meetings… Make your coxing personal, tailor it to each crew, and each rower, as much as you can.

Have your own style

You need to be original. If you are going to make your crew work, the worst thing is to be boring. Calling generic "power tens" is boring… As the season goes on, you'll get to have things that everyone knows and loves, and that will set your crew ticking. Also, use practice to test your style, so your crew knows what to expect, but then pull out all of the stops on race day. Use new tones of voice (especially the ones that sound excited, but in control), pull out that one special move that makes your crew fly!

Humour, and when not to use it

Here are a few golden rules of handling a crew:

  • Keep your crew in-line
  • Keep your crew focused
  • Keep your crew quiet while rowing (a quiet crew is a focused, under control crew)
  • Sound calm and in control
  • Avoid swearing (in regattas, it can get you disqualified)
  • But beyond that, it's OK for your crew to know that you can be funny at times.

Earn respect

If your crew doesn't respect you, they will mistrust, and maybe even disobey your decisions. And, if you've done something to earn that, they may not be all wrong… When you are on the water, be in command... If you can, work out with your team as much as possible. Try and get a chance to learn how to row. Rowers-turned-coxswains get a lot of respect and have a great ability because they know what it's like to be on both sides. The more a coxswain can do this, they better.