Watching Gab and Andrew in the Olympics, I am impressed by your ability to keep the C-2 running smoothly (i.e. not bouncing up and down) while delivering a great amount of power onto the blade. Any tips for how to keep the boat from rocking too much?

Thanks for the great question. Keeping the boat nice and smooth often translates with better boat speed overall. Obviously, first and foremost practice makes perfect, here are some things to think about are:

-in crew boats keep things as synchronized as possible between teammates, and make sure to catch at the start of your stroke together and try and sync the exit as well
-try and use long leg motion... however, driving the front foot towards the water can sometimes lead to a bouncy motion
-make sure in your set-up in the boat that you are comfortable when the boat is moving, often small adjustments to the front or back can help reduce a small bounce in your stroke
-if the water is rough or washy, remember to keep the power and weight on the blade, transferring weight into the boat is very counter-productive


National team coach and Olympic medallist Tamas Buday Sr. also offers these words of wisdom:

-"One should not focus on himself, but focus on the boat as a whole, it is a team effort and you must paddle as a team. Always concentrate on driving the boat forward together."


Hopefully some of these tips will be helpful. A lot of team boat paddling comes down to feeling though, and minor adjustments might be all you need. Best of luck in your next practice, don't try to apply too many things at once, focus on something that is working and go from there.