A Community for Coxswains 

Welcome to CoxPod, a podcast dedicated to coxing topics. I'm Anne. I'm Breana. We're experienced coxswains who continue to learn a great deal from the broader coxing community and from sharing with each other. Our primary goal is to promote ongoing skills development and we're happy you’re joining us. 

 

BREANA: And as we started to prepare this episode about safety, it really struck us that the coverage that safety gets in the coxing world isn't necessarily commensurate with the importance that we all agree it has. 

 

ANNE: Absolutely, Breana. It's really a shame that safety isn't seen as something that's more glamorous and captivating. My experience has been that if anybody spends time thinking about safety, it's mostly to be gawking at really bad examples. 

 

BREANA: And if you're a coxswain listening, you've probably spent a lot more time learning about topics like racing and the best motivational calls to use when you're behind and how to steer a really tight inside line, but not our purported number one job of safety. And that really struck us as odd. So while we have included safety as an important aspect of all of our other episodes - it's been infused throughout - we thought we would bundle some of the main safety-related concepts together into this episode. 

 

ANNE: I've been really confused about why safety is not more evident in our conversations. As you point out, Breana, I mean, if you go to any regatta and you see two coxswains or more together, the very last thing they're going to be talking about is safety. It's going to be the much more glamorous things … as you point out, steering, calls that you're making. So why is that? I think we really need to think about why is it that safety is something that is not discussed more often because I think we can all agree it is our job number one. And I've come up with three thoughts about maybe why it is that it's not more commonly discussed. First of all is that it comes across as nagging, right? Who wants to be nagged at? It's like, look out! Watch out! Be careful! We shut that down as individuals … as human beings, we shut down nagging right away. It just is not attractive. It is not motivating and so forth. That's the first way I think about people addressing safety - in a nagging way. Second, I believe that it is a topic that can be seen as very boring and passive and also a lot of negative things like ‘Don't do that’, you know. ‘Don't hit the bridge.’ ‘Don't bang the boat.’ ‘Don't let your rowers get hurt.’ That's the absence of a positive and active role. And I think that underpinning all of this, honestly, if we sit down and think to ourselves, why isn't safety much more part of our conversations? It can be because there's this unconscious or subconscious thought process that goes on that says - safety is equated often with being cautious. And if you are cautious, you can be seen as being very careful. And if you are very careful, the next step in your mind might be that you are tentative. And I believe that the very last thing that any coxswain wants to be seen as, is somebody who is tentative, or careful, or cautious. We want to be seen as leaders … as forceful ... as assertive. And I think that unconscious connection of those words and those concepts holds us back from discussing safety actively and overtly. What do you think, Breana? 

 

BREANA: That's really well put, Anne, and it does resonate for me. We encourage coxswains to be aggressive, sometimes almost at the expense of safety, or it's somehow assumed that safety is just a given. And it is a challenge because we do receive those messages that is the right way to behave as a coxswain and that is what is valued - that being assertive … being aggressive. 

 

ANNE: And my point being is that you can be assertive and be safe at the same time. In fact, some of my most assertive moves - some people might call them aggressive - but I'm going to use that word assertive. Some of my most assertive moves have been in the interest of safety. So I'm now going to make a point myself to continue to see safety as an active process that is going on all the time, kind of like an engine that's running underneath, upon which I scaffold all of my other tasks, but it's running all the time. It's an active thing. It's not just something that I turn on and off. And that it is not necessarily seen as something tentative. In fact, it's the opposite of tentative. It’s a very active, controlled process. So I ask all of our fellow coxswains to really give that some thought and see if that resonates for you, too. And if it does, what do you want to do with that new awareness? And part of this is honestly an aspect of our coxing and rowing culture. And so it's not going to be easy. Let's talk about that culture and why that is. 

 

BREANA: I think one feature of that culture is that there are a lot of presumptions made on the part of coaches, on the part of rowers, on our parts as coxswains. And we think that somehow by virtue of being told that okay, you're a coxswain now - you're a leader, and safety is your number one job, then poof - safety is just magically bestowed upon us. And that's not the reality of how that works. Of course, as Anne said, this is a skill that we are actively developing and have to have constantly running in the background. It doesn’t magically appear just because someone said our number one job is to be safe. 

 

ANNE: That culture is very odd because there are lots of presumptions and I love that sort of ‘poof, it's magically bestowed upon you’. That's a fun visual. And with so many other aspects of our lives, you know, learning to drive a car, learning to cook in the kitchen with sharp knives. I mean, whatever task we take on, there's so much more training and thought and conversation about the elements of safety that just don't seem to happen in our coxing and rowing world. So with that being said, rest assured at CoxPod, we do not like to presume. We want to provide some concrete guidance and help all of us build our safety portfolios. We'd like to talk about some everyday scenarios all the way up to potential emergencies. In thinking about the topic of safety, I imagine that there's going to be agreement that safety is the coxswain’s number one job. I have always read that. I've always heard that in conversations. It's one of the few things I think that we can all agree on. So let's work off the premise that safety is our number one job, but it's not just a figure of speech. How can we really begin to get into some of the particulars about what that looks like? And a lot of that is driven by the nature of the sport itself and the roles that exist in this sport. 

 

BREANA: Right. So by stepping into the coxswain seat, we are assuming the primary responsibility for the safety of our shell and the people in it. 

 

ANNE: It's not like your regular workplace, for example, where the little motto is ‘Safety is everyone's job’. 

 

BREANA: Yeah, the rowers truly are - by stepping into their seats, they are relinquishing … they are giving up control of safety to us and then they're sitting down and going backwards for the entire outing. So they are placing that responsibility and trust on us. It really is our job to take on the primary safety responsibilities of the boat. 

 

ANNE: If there are any safety lapses, they can be seen by our crews and our teams as a breach of trust, right? So if the rowers and the coach can't trust us, even if they never really articulate it, we are going to be much less effective in achieving the goals of the crew. So let's all agree that safety - a safe environment, a safe atmosphere, a safety culture - is the underpinning of trust. If we work off that, I think then everything that we discuss after this will make sense. 

 

BREANA: And I think that's really valuable because a lot of coxswains want to know how can I earn the trust of my rowers and it might not be a glamorous, outward display of making a really great race call or something like that. It is also these day-to-day, small moments where we are behaving in a safe way, which as Anne said, the rowers internalize whether they say that out loud to you or even to themselves or not. 

 

ANNE: It's an awe-inspiring responsibility. So let's now delve into a little bit more about what that means. We need to have certain characteristics that start to build that foundation of trust and safety. Breana, why don't we talk about some of the attributes that we need to bring to the table? 

 

BREANA: The first ones that come to mind for me are things like not being sleep deprived when you get into the coxswain seat. I know when I started coxing in college and as I advanced into more and more challenging classes, if I knew that I was going to be up really late at night - possibly all night studying for an exam the next day, for example - I would reach out to my coach and explain why I would not be able to show up and bring my best and be safe at a five in the morning practice after not having slept at all. So not being sleep deprived at practice is an important one for me. 

 

ANNE: That's a tall order for many of us, Breana, but it is something to aspire to. And it really touches on the fact that we need to be alert mentally and physically … able to be at our top because we are responsible for safety. So, you know, it goes without saying that we're not under the influences of substances, for instance, or that we are distracted by non-rowing issues. We need to be on the moment that we arrive at the boathouse and whenever we are in the coxswain role. 

 

BREANA: Another one that comes to my mind is that we really have to make sure that we are dressed appropriately as we get to practice and we aren't therefore distracted by inadequate clothing. I have seen a circumstance. I was in the launch and was at a spring break training trip in a place that would purportedly be warm, but that particular day it was not warm. And another coxswain who was in a boat that we were following in the launch was wearing only a cotton hoodie, which we've talked about many times on CoxPod.  Leave the cotton hoodies at home. Leave the denim at home. That’s not ideal attire for coxing. But that's what this coxswain brought - was the only warm thing that they had. So they were out for that practice. It was windy, it was chilly, and they were getting soaked from the wakes … from the splash. And I noticed from the launch that all of a sudden this coxswain was veering all over the place. They had previously had control of the boat and suddenly they had lost that control. And we stopped the boat, went up to them in the launch, and that coxswain was succumbing to hypothermia. Basically, they were conscious but not fully in control of their actions and able to safely operate the boat anymore. So the coach switched me in. We got the coxswain who was struggling on the launch, got them warm, et cetera. But it really does show that it's not just a matter of discomfort if we aren't dressed correctly. It can actually become a serious safety issue. We have had an entire episode on clothing at CoxPod, so check out Episode 31 for a lot more on that. But bottom line, we wanna make sure that we are dressed appropriately to deal with the elements. We're able to stay warm, we're able to stay cool, we're able to stay dry, we're able to protect ourselves from the wind, from the sun - all of those things that are realities of the rowing environment but can distract us from being safe coxswains. 

 

ANNE: I'd like to continue a little bit more about distraction because our goal is to avoid distractions as much as possible … to be alert and on all the time. And I must say that all the technological gadgets that we now have or complicated drills can often draw our attention away from being as aware of our environment and the rowers as we might need to be. So pay attention to that. Some of us have a different tolerance or ability to deal with multiple stimuli at the same time, but honestly, remember safety is job one - not your split. Again, this is where it ends up not being so glamorous, but if you are focused with your eyes down at the gear, you cannot necessarily simultaneously fully attend to your environment. You need to be able to multitask, yes, but your top priority is safety. So don't let the others take top priority. Maybe we could shift to talking about a few other tools that we bring to the safety arena. And one of those is our voice. 

 

BREANA: Yes, we've said it before. We'll say it again. Our voice is one of our primary tools - if not our number one tool - as a coxswain. And judicious use of our voice is really important. I strive to make sure that my voice can remain a really important safety tool by limiting the times when I'm using it to my full extent. So if you hear me yelling, truly, truly yelling, it is an extremely serious situation because I've only done this a couple of times in my entire coxing career and it had an impact because it was so rare because that was not the way I normally sounded to rowers. I’m thinking in particular of a time where we were loading an eight onto the top rack of a trailer, which as everyone knows who's done that, it is a harrowing experience every time especially if you're a small team that doesn't have a huge amount of personnel to manage that situation. So we have the usual circumstance of some people on the trailer partway up to help push the boat up, some people on the ground pushing the boat up and things start to go awry. People are struggling with getting the boat hoisted all the way up. So it's kind of canted … it's partway up onto the trailer. And suddenly everyone is giving advice. Everyone is talking and trying to share how this situation could be fixed. One person was just screaming because they saw that things were not going well. And again, I was, you know, three, four, maybe even in my fifth year with a team and they had never heard me act like this before, but I was like, we have to get control of the situation. So I just raised my voice as much as I could. I said, “Hey. I am the one voice that is going to resolve this situation”. And then was able to direct people and they responded because yelling is not my personal normal disposition as a coxswain. So that had the impact that it needed to have to quiet all of these other voices that were all offering their own opinion and get that boat safely up on the trailer. 

 

ANNE: What a wonderful example of using your voice in an unusual way to counteract what is going on and to keep things as safe as possible. And who of us does not relate to the incidence of trailer loading anxiety and near misses, etc.? My blood pressure just went up a little bit even just imagining that. 

 

BREANA: Mine too. 

 

ANNE: Exactly. Well, let's shift to sort of the other end of the spectrum in terms of using our voice as a safety tool. And that is our ability to use our voice in mitigating any anxiety or crisis behaviors that might be happening if there's an emergency, for instance, or just people are getting rattled. You can bring your voice down and maintain calm and actually take leadership that way by being the opposite of what you're experiencing amongst everyone else. And we would be remiss if we didn't emphasize the importance of having clear commands. No matter what the situation, clear commands direct information to whoever is around and it might not just be the crew. It might be other people in the environment. Those clear commands are essential for us to instruct people and maintain the safe environment. So don't underestimate that power. Work on that and building that skill set there. Thus far we've been talking about what we bring individually to the safety environment … creating it … maintaining it. And we've established that it is job one and that our two key areas are: safety of people and safety of the equipment. And both of these need to be considered throughout the entire time that we are in our roles as coxswains. This should infuse every moment. So first job would be people safety. 

 

BREANA: When it comes to that, of course, the rowers are who we think of first. And as we've said in other episodes, it's really valuable to be aware, if you can, of any health issues that the rowers have. Maybe it's issues that you know in advance. This rower has asthma, this rower has certain allergy, this rower is going through a mental health challenge right now and might be affected in this way in the boat. Other times, those things arise suddenly. I had a time where we were out in an eight. It was a very warm day and the coach said from the launch, “OK. We’re going to do some practice pieces”.  And stroke seat looked at me and said, “I'm starting to feel cramping in my stomach. It's kind of weird.” And ultimately that led to me communicating with the coach and saying, “I don't think full-fledged pieces are gonna be right for us at this moment”. And we modified to do just some practice starts to keep ourselves close to the dock. And I was able to stay in touch with this rower, visually observe them, make sure that they weren't deteriorating, check in after each brief practice start and make sure that they were still okay to continue. So sometimes again, these things are known in advance and we can anticipate issues or be prepared to help a rower if needed. And other times, they appear suddenly. But clear communication between coaches, us as coxswains, and rowers is really helpful for maintaining a safe environment. 

 

ANNE: And shouldering that responsibility of advocacy for your rowers is really a way that you help to build their trust as well. And speaking of rowers, it's really important that we understand their capabilities. Both Breana and I often work with crews that have widely varying capabilities in terms of strength and mobility. And understanding that has to go into your safety equation. So be sure that you are knowledgeable about what their capabilities are, what their limitations may be, and you need to adapt in order to maintain their safety. And sometimes you need to have a lot of creativity to do that. That's okay. That's our job. 

 

BREANA: And let's not forget while we're in this environment that the coach themselves is another party who we want to make sure has a safe experience. Yes, it's their job to watch out for your safety. But it's also our job to make sure that they are safe. So when the launch dies, for example, make sure that your coach is still okay. Don't row away into the sunset thinking, “Oh, the launch always breaks down. They'll get it back up”. And then who knows what's happening to them. They could be floating somewhere with a completely dead launch. So I view that as part of my role as well - just checking on the coach … not letting it become a massive distraction for the practice but making sure that their wellness is in my mind as well. And if you are coxing without a coach - that happens to me from time to time - and a step that I take is to always make sure that other people at the boathouse who are going to be out, maybe other coached programs, know that my boat is going out. So I will often approach a coach on land, get their phone number if I don't have it already, and then just share with them, “Hey, I'm gonna be running a practice on my own in this eight. I'm perfectly capable of doing that, but I do want another person on the water to know that we are out here should we need anything”. So that's just a step that I take to make sure that we are safe in that uncoached situation. 

 

ANNE: These sorts of details are examples of how we build safety and maintain safety throughout the time at the boathouse or whenever we're at a venue … whenever we're in this role. So let's continue in that vein where we're going to (sort of) walk through our timeline from when we get to the venue to when we're on the water and then all the way until we're leaving the venue. And if there aren't any gaps in your processes, that's great, but come along with us and see whether or not you hit all these different aspects of safety. And let's start with when we're on land before we launch. 

 

BREANA: We already spoke a bit about the things that we need to arrive with as a coxswain in addition to an alert mind, etc. We need to make sure that we are dressed appropriately - so being aware of the weather conditions. And sometimes that means having an honest conversation with your coach about those weather conditions. You know yourself and your capabilities. You probably know your rowers well and their capabilities. And there may be time when you have to encourage a coach to modify a plan on the basis of that. And that's okay. It's okay to say to a coach, “I'm not comfortable with the fog right now. Personally, this has exceeded my ability to feel like I could safely take a boat out in this. That's my limitation as a coxswain and I have to share that with you.” It might be that the flow of a river is too high. And you know that while certain crews might be totally fine in that environment, your boat is going to struggle when going against that flow to even make it back to the dock. 

 

ANNE: Those are two great examples of weather conditions that may affect how we manage the practice with our coach. And another key safety consideration is knowing your body of water. For instance, at our club, we have a whiteboard that people who have been out before us may write down something that's unusual - some big obstruction that might have appeared … an underwater obstacle, tree, etc. 

 

BREANA: I also check my microphone and if that isn't working and you as a coxswain are then asked to just deal with it. This is a component of safety we would argue - and have argued at CoxPod - being able to project your voice to the crew. So if a coach says, “Oh, I'm sorry, that's the only boat left. We have to go out”, then I have a conversation with them and I have done this where I say that “My only calls are going to be safety and steering related. And I'm going to have to ask you, the person in the launch with a megaphone, to take over some of the responsibilities. I'm not going to be able to call a complicated drill without proper voice amplification.” So that's something that I have had to do in the past if I'm being asked to just deal with one of my, in my perspective, key safety features in the boat not working. 

 

ANNE: I absolutely take this on as a responsibility and challenge every coxswain to do this prior to putting hands on the boat. It does not take a lot of time. And even if you rowed that boat half an hour ago … two days ago … you think you were the last crew that was in it - I urge you to walk up and down the boat and ensure that everything is in operational order. One of the side benefits of this, in my view, is that the crew - consciously or unconsciously - the crew is likely to notice in some way that is what you are doing. It doesn't mean they should not also be responsible for those components, but they see you doing this. And again, this helps to build the trust. They know that you are also looking out for them and making sure that they're going out with safe equipment. And in talking about equipment, we have to recognize that the equipment itself can be very dangerous. For instance, those riggers. I have seen more people and equipment injured with riggers than anything on the water, for instance. So please, please be very aware of all the equipment that's around you and around your rowers and direct rowers and others to be safe. And it's not just the riggers that can be dangerous. I have also had a situation where the gunnel was damaged and I had a rower that picked up the boat using that part of the gunnel and sliced her hand because the fiberglass just dug into it. So you've got to watch carefully for all parts of the equipment. And that includes oars, those big, long, gnarly weapons. So speaking of very long things, let's talk about the fact that just moving a boat from point A to point B is a challenge, safety-wise. Why? Because what? You cannot stand at both ends or even in the middle. So what are you going to do, Breana? 

 

BREANA: We've talked about this actually on CoxPod before a conversation who weren't aware that a big large boat was about to be quickly moving out of that area. Personally, I adopt an approach of flexibly moving around according to the needs of the circumstance. Maybe I'm starting at one end and then moving to the other to make sure we don't clip anything as we leave the bay, for example. One practice that I have seen a team use that I thought was really great was as the rowers had hands-on and were about to walk out of a boat bay in a kind of small but busy boathouse, they had a practice of the coxswain would have the entire boat call ‘heads’. That was one of their calls before the boat walked out so that there was a loud noise of nine voices saying something before an eight was about to move out of the bay. That was a strategy that this team used to protect people who were standing outside the bay - maybe having a conversation – who weren’t aware that a big, large boat was about to be quickly moving out of the bay. So I thought that was great. 

 

ANNE: This moving of the boat requires that we scan our environment where the boat is headed. Prior to the boat moving at all, that is one of our responsibilities - whether it be at a regular practice or at a regatta - where there are now additional people to contend with in terms of the crowds and spectators and people who have no clue about how to behave around a boat. So our job is (again) to understand where we're headed, anticipate, scan the environment. make adjustments accordingly because we're responsible of making sure that everyone is safe here. And in terms of regattas or places where there will be non-rowing people around, it is not going to do anything to say “Heads up”. They do not know what this means. Please use some other language so that people are aware that they need to move or be careful. But don't plow through screaming, “Heads up”. 

 

BREANA: Such a valid point. I find that sometimes even just a very light tap on the shoulder, for example, of a person who is on their phone, head down, walking in front of the place that my boat is about to go. Those kinds of signals - if you don't know a stranger by name, for example - can be helpful for safety. And then we have our rowers, the folks actually carrying the boat. And as we reflected, we would almost contend that this is when more injuries can happen than in the actual on-water rowing circumstance. When we are carrying and especially when we are lifting it over heads, placing it on the dock. So this boat handling time period is potentially a really dangerous time. And my advice is just not to push it … knowing that. So if you've got the circumstance where, ‘Oh no, a rower didn't show up for the eight today. So now we've got seven but two of them are in the bathroom. It's fine. We'll just take it down with five. We can totally do it’. I've heard those kinds of arguments from coaches and rowers and sometimes you have to assert yourself as a cox in there and say, “No, that's beyond what I'm comfortable with … beyond what we should be doing as a lineup.” So I'm gonna ask a couple of people to help step in if I can. I have no problem doing that and do it often as needed. Or I'm gonna wait for those people to come back from the bathroom and then I'll check if the rowers actually can walk it down with seven. That kind of thing. So it's never worth just trying to make it work, I feel, in this environment. Don't be afraid to advocate for yourself. I've even had to ask the coach to contribute to carrying the boat down because we were gonna have seven. And then I dock at the end of the day and I wait for them to dock their own launch and come back and help us out so that we don't have people permanently injuring themselves. 

 

ANNE: I am 100% in agreement with you, Breana. Do not push it. This is not (also) the time for you to be looking down at your notes or being distracted by anything else. Please pay 100% attention to what's happening with that boat and that crew as you're carrying it down … putting it in and out of the water. Speaking of our time on docks, however - docks themselves can pose hazards. We've got the docks that basically are nothing but one splinter after another all over the place. I have been a visiting coxswain and landed at a dock where I got out and there were holes in various locations in the decking. There are trip hazards. There are often screws and bolts … other metal objects that are out … so if your crews put their hands out on the dock and are not aware, they can be injured that way. And there are also the fun docks - and I say fun sarcastically, clearly - that are floating and when you step upon them or put any weight on them, they drop down six to eight inches, going underwater and making the surface slippery. There are all sorts of things that we could say about docks. Maybe someday, Breana, we will do an entire episode on docks because it's clearly something I've spent a lot of time thinking about. 

 

BREANA: Being completely focused around the dock is absolutely critical. This is such a high traffic place. I have coxed at multiple boathouses where there are shifts of practice where a bunch of teams are coming back at the same time that a bunch of other teams are leaving for the next session. That means that there are people returning to the dock, bringing the boat overheads, walking around, people coming down to the dock, putting the boat in the water, people shoving off, people returning, and that requires constant vigilance and patience and attention in order to keep people and equipment safe in that environment. So I completely agree with Anne, focus is 100% required. 

 

ANNE: And from one of those docks, we will be launching and going out on our outing or practice or race … whatever it is. So let's now talk about safety considerations when we are on the water. 

 

BREANA: Of course, another aspect of navigating most bodies of water is that you're probably not the only vessel out there. So we should look out for other water users, other boats and watercraft of whatever kind, but also look out for their safety. I feel that is part of our job is mutually making sure that everybody who's out on a body of water is safe to a reasonable degree. An example that comes to mind - I was coxing an eight by myself, so no coach. There were a lot of other boats and teams around but we were passing underneath a bridge and my rowers let me know that from their perspective being able to see behind us, there was a single that had flipped and was underneath the bridge kind of struggling to get back into their boat. So what I did was I called - got on my cell phone - called the coach of this group of singles who was managing a lot of singles spread throughout about a thousand meters on the river. And our boat just stayed there to make sure that this single was going to be okay. So I called the coach … the coach is on their way from a different part of the river. And we just kept an eye on this person and stayed with them to make sure that they were going to be all right. So that is the kind of thing that I think is part of our responsibility as water users … even if it's not our team, even if it's not a rower, to just keep an eye out and make sure that other people using our bodies of water are okay. 

 

ANNE: That's a dramatic example, I think, of the importance of continually scanning our environment. I really like how you're attending to the entire body of water, Breana, because those other boats and people on the water - we have to presume that they are not looking out for our safety in the way that we are looking out for everyone's. 

 

BREANA: To that great point, Anne, one way to help ensure our safety on the water is to never assume that another boat or launch or anything sees you and is going to react to your presence. That could be a coach that is giving their team some really important instruction and you barreling towards them and screaming, “Out of my way!” That situation might not resolve in time. So always assume that the other person is maybe incapacitated or not seeing you and you've got to take anticipatory steps in order to prevent a safety issue sometimes. 

 

ANNE: And speaking of boats approaching, I personally find that one of the most dangerous times on the water is when there is a boat that is coming up behind me and I may or may not be aware of it. I feel very vulnerable in those situations and of course rely on my stroke seat - or in the case of being in a bowloader on my bow seat - to let me know that there is a boat approaching. So again, that is where I may need to take an evasive maneuver, not necessarily trusting that other boat sees us and will react and maintain safety. And let's not underestimate the power of evasive maneuvers. We often have to take them. Please do not feel bad about that. 

 

BREANA: I agree. Safety is always more important than whatever piece you're doing … whatever line you're trying to maintain in a practice or even in a race if it really, really comes down to it. Safety has got to remain that number one. And while we are prioritizing safety - while we are not just talking the talk but walking the walk and making safety actually our number one thing - sometimes that means, as Anne mentioned earlier, that we can't do it all. Something has to get sacrificed as we're coxing in exchange for safety to take priority. And that's totally acceptable. Our advice is to communicate that as a result, your behavior might change when you are prioritizing safety. I have had times where I am running apiece and I'm in the zone of coxing, but I am monitoring of course for safety and I notice that something strange is unfolding in front of me. I'm not sure why a boat is moving the way that they are and I need to keep an eye on it to know if I need to be making any kind of defensive change to my own steering. So I will just say to the rowers, “I’m going to be quiet right now because I'm watching some boats up ahead”. And they can continue with the piece without you for a moment. They're going to be okay. And you can prioritize the thing that you need to prioritize instead of worrying about, ‘Oh, let me call the rate shift right now. Oh, let me see if I can make a technical change.’ It's okay to put that to the side. Tell the rowers that you're doing that and then do the right thing that you need to do to assess a situation and make that safe decision. And like Anne has also been emphasizing, that is a small way in which you are establishing that trust with your rowers because they're getting that message that you're the kind of coxswain who will make safety a priority, even if it comes at the expense of some of the other higher order jobs that we have as coxswains. 

 

ANNE: Breana, it strikes me that there are almost unlimited safety scenarios that we could talk about here and I'm confident that our fellow coxswains have their own stories that are gonna be similar and some that will be quite different. Look forward to potentially seeing some of that conversation going on in Discord, where you can share your safety suggestions, your safety issues, and more importantly, maybe how you addressed them or got out of those safety situations. So perhaps we could talk about a couple more examples here and then move on to our next topic. One that I wanted to bring up was crabs. Right? Because crabs can be a really significant injury point. Many times they're not but they have that potential. And my perspective on crabs is that because of that potential for being an injury point, I always specifically ask the rower to confirm that they're okay. I do not presume that silence on part of the rower means that they're okay. I want to get a verbal confirmation that they are not injured and I recommend that fellow coxswains do the same. And if I might, I also wanna talk about another time when I find safety to be paramount, and that is at the end of a race, crossing the finish line and all that happens from there and getting back to the dock. What I really wanna say is that you need to be on high alert. The rowers are exhausted. They are really not thinking. You probably are having your own thoughts about how that race went. You may be thinking that this is a time that you can relax. Please, please maintain vigilance. Make sure that you're safe. Remember that probably none of the other crews are in a position to be proactive. Take responsibility. Get out of the way. And then on the way back to the dock, pay particular attention to all aspects of safety, including getting the boat off the water and back to wherever it is housed - trailer or slings or whatever. Rowers and crews are drained generally at that point and this is when you need to be spot on in terms of safety. 

 

BREANA: We've been talking a lot thus far about the everyday - the more or less everyday circumstances in the rowing world where safety comes into play. Now we're going to pivot to talking about the other thing that might come to our mind when we think about safety, which are those rarer, emergency situations. And really important for both the ordinary and the emergency situation is to reflect on our personal styles of how we approach these. My personal experience was that I honestly wasn't sure what type of reaction I would have in an emergency until I found myself in those types of situations in the rowing environment. I was relieved to discover that I am the type of person who is generally able to maintain calm in an emergency and respond appropriately … mobilize myself to appropriate action. But in those circumstances, I observed others having other types of reactions - like completely freezing. That might be your reality as well that you hope you're the kind of person who can maintain decorum and stay in control in a situation. That's not everybody's default though, so you might find that out only through actually experiencing an emergency circumstance. Or you might be able to do some self-assessment before that sort of thing happens, if it ever does. 

 

ANNE: This personal assessment and self-reflection that you are asking us to do, Breana, I think is really very important. We all have our own style. We have our own style when we are in ordinary circumstances. And then we have our own style - which may be similar or it may be very different - when we have an emergency in front of us. It's okay. Just understand how you behave. And then what you can do is build some of those skillsets that will enable you to be more helpful in an emergency situation. Now, Breana's just described a situation where she was not aware of how she would react in an emergency situation. She found out she was calm and effective and so forth, but that's not always the case. It's all right. Understand where you are coming from. Part of that reflection will include thinking back to experiences earlier in your life in different, non-coxing scenarios to better understand how you might behave if you encounter an emergency situation in your role as a coxswain. And this could be summarized as our response style. 

 

BREANA: Some interesting work has been done on this idea of response styles. We will include some references in our show notes to point you towards the work of Dr. John Leach, who put forward this idea of the 80-10-10 response to emergencies. So. in observing how people respond to unfolding disasters, his observation is that 10% of people will have their wits about them. They will quickly respond, they will be able to ensure their own safety, ensure the safety of others as much as possible. 80% of people will have the response to basically freeze. They're paralyzed in response to this emergency and are not able to take action. And then the remaining 10% of people have a response style of losing it - basically just not able to respond at all - perhaps making things worse by reacting in a very strong way but not in a productive way. So it's really interesting work reflecting on emergencies that have happened on aircraft, that have happened on watercraft, and understanding the human response to that and how we can improve safety. And one takeaway is that we can improve our response to emergency situations by rehearsing how we will respond so that in the moment, our minds don't have to come up with an appropriate response. We have already reflected on an appropriate response and we can go right to that default in a fast and straightforward way. That is the ideal that is put forward by this literature and it's why people train on safety. We can do a little bit of that ourselves as coxswains - even if it's just in our own minds reflecting, ‘Okay. Two boats have collided. What is my first response? Am I picking up the phone to call someone? If I do pick up the phone, what am I pushing to call someone? Is it an emergency number? Is it a coach? Is it a safety officer at a boathouse? Is it some kind of specialized on water safety entity that is better to call?’ I've lived in places where 911 is not the right entity to call. It's actually Harbor Patrol who can get to you on the water faster, for example. So even if you are fortunate to not have any rowing or other emergency situations in your life that could inform you about your own style, all of us have the capacity to reflect on how we might respond and start preparing an appropriate response so that if the time comes, we're able to execute it. So again, we will link some resources for anyone who wants to read and learn a little bit more about this researcher's work. 

 

ANNE: In talking about preparing for emergencies and understanding our styles, that is very important. And I take that as an action item. And this is where I would urge every crew, every team, every club to have procedures … processes written out … and have active conversations with each other about what the expectations are during an emergency situation, whether it be on the water or on land. If we have - as a group - had a conversation, it will support better behavior, more effective behavior and responses when and if we encounter an emergency. And this is essentially my call to action. It's really important that we support written procedures with conversation and review - not just in a book somewhere, but every year, every month, whatever seems appropriate. This needs to be an active conversation and a commitment on part of all the people and us understanding our roles as coxswains - one of the key people responsible for safety. 

 

BREANA: Absolutely. Established procedures are … I honestly really find them comforting because you don't have to make up what to do in response to an emergency. Those procedures should be established. Of course, sometimes things that are very hard to anticipate happen, but it's helpful to have - as research has also demonstrated - that prescribed response, if possible, to fast track you to responding quickly and appropriately. So we can help ourselves do that when we are in these safety meetings. We're in that start of season meeting and the coach or the safety officer tells you, “Hey, you know, if you encounter an emergency on our body of water, this is the number that you are supposed to call.” So when I'm in those meetings, I'm pulling out my phone and I'm putting that number in. What I personally do is I put a symbol in front of those key safety numbers so that they show up at the top of my contacts list so that I don't have to open it, scroll through and say, where's Harbor Patrol? And I'm typing it in and everything's slow and stressful. We want to help ourselves respond appropriately and quickly. I think it's also really important to know on your body of water the best practices, the guidance for how to tell an emergency responder where you are on your body of water. If you have colloquial names for certain rock formations or certain bridges, that might not help a person who is on their way to you in an ambulance. So is there a strategy that people on your body of water recommend? Sometimes it's - describe the street that is closest to where you are, describe a particular landmark that's on land that a person in a vehicle would be able to look up or be familiar with. So that is really helpful to think about as well. The things that we know and are comfortable with as we navigate on the water might not be the right information to get someone quickly to your location if help is needed. 

 

ANNE: This conversation and getting down to the specifics of what to do should an event occur are so important and I urge people to include the team in hearing and listening to that so that if something happens, although you may be the person - the leader that's directing the activities - they are familiar with them. They're not trying to come up with a totally different process that runs counter to what you're trying to do and what has been prescribed. So involve the team. Another great idea is to get together with your fellow coxswains on your team and drill what you would do. Take some of those moments and practice what you would do. You can turn it into sort of a Q and A. It can be a game. It can be a challenge, whatever it is, but talk it through. Figure out what you would do. Make sure that other people are also knowledgeable so that you can work in harmony with one another. 

 

BREANA: Because let's not forget, the person in trouble might be us, so we should not be the only person who is capable of responding to a situation. 

 

ANNE: We can also lean on our rowing organizations for resources and we encourage coxswains to check their federations for safety information. And in terms of additional safety resources, I've mentioned previously that I feel having a CPR or a first aid certification can be a very helpful adjunct to your skill set and to your credentials. So basic emergency response training … however you get that … is very helpful. I'd like to explore a bit more about our response style and our physiological response that's going to affect how we react in emergencies regardless of the level of emergency, right? Because it's on a continuum. You've got sort of the everyday scary situations and then we have full-fledged crisis situations. Regardless of where the safety event falls on the emergency spectrum, I think we would do well to remember that we are also going to be having a concurrent physiological response to that event. And I'm confident that each one of us understands a bit about what I'm talking about. You might think of it as a startle response where your blood pressure seems to rise, you feel tight all over, you might have a tingling sensation, your head might hurt. We hope you grow to understand how you react physiologically to a situation that might be becoming unsafe. 

 

BREANA: This is helpful to be aware of not necessarily so that we can stop it altogether or even prevent it, but so that we recognize when these things start happening to us physically and we're able to still respond ideally and not let those things take us over. So if I see a potential safety situation developing in front of me and I start to feel my heart beating faster, I start to feel my stomach churning a little bit, maybe my cheeks are getting warm. My mind is starting to fill with all kinds of concerns and I can just feel this kind of like … at its worst, like impending doom almost. But I'm thinking in advance, how am I going to prevent this situation that is unfolding? That can't stop me from moving the steering cables in the way that I need to, from saying to my rowers, weigh enough or whatever it takes to respond appropriately to that situation. But our point here is that being aware of those things - again, the goal is not to necessarily stop them - but being aware of them will help you respond better to a situation. 

 

ANNE: Put another way, Breana, we are going to have a physiological response. We can't control it. This is part of our autonomic nervous system. We might have heard of it as the fight or flight or freeze mechanism. But we are going to react in particular ways based on our physiology. Be aware of them. It's helpful to imagine dangerous situations … feel those feelings … but still try to keep a clear head. If you do this, again, that's that drilling and that practice that will help you realize that you can be in control even though those physiological responses are going on. That's it. Not to be afraid of them. To expect them and to work on top of them. And that's what we aspire to, right? Is that when all the physiology is going haywire and is saying, ‘Run away’ or ‘Freeze’ that we are able to then use our higher order thinking, remain calm, authoritative, and effectively problem solve. And an added consideration here is that if other people - for example, your rowers - are involved in this experience, knowing that they're gonna have their own response style. Okay. But we also could use them potentially as supports in this because sometimes the rowers will have more experience in a particular type of situation. I'd urge you to assess that quickly and if they are going to be a source of support and problem solving, don't be afraid to rely on their experience. And Breana, I appreciate that you shared some of your physiological responses to an emergency situation or at least a safety situation. I have similar responses. And I think there's another way that we're similar. When we talked about creating this episode, we found we were very similar in terms of our tendency to be risk-averse. There is a continuum of tolerance of risk and you and I sit on one far end of that highly risk-averse personality style, if you will. And consequently, we are much more invested and actively participate in preventing things from happening. Understanding that not everybody's that way, right? Why does understanding our risk tolerance matter? It's because some of us may have to more actively build our sort of safety engine that we have running all the time, where we are scanning our environment, we are constantly and actively assessing risk. We are anticipating and doing everything we can to set up a safe scenario where we can do our jobs and let our crews perform to their maximum capacity. Some of us come by that very naturally in terms of our personality as Breana and I tend to be, but you may have to actively seek that out and build that. And I think that is something that we want to emphasize to people. All of us have had safety events … small … and some of us might have had some large ones, but you have not been a coxswain for very long if you haven't had something happen. And that might just be as small as bumping into something. It might be something more major. But we really need to understand that every successful coxswain has had some brush with safety. And if we haven't yet, we probably will. So a couple things to keep in mind  here. Number one - if it happens, own it, understand it, learn from it. Get support for yourself if you find yourself ruminating a lot about it. Try to put it into perspective but if you do tend to ruminate, as I do, about mistakes that I've made, you need to talk with somebody else about it, get some support about that, because it's going to happen. Now, it might be that you've also witnessed something happening. Don't forget that this is another place that you need to do some self-care. Coxswains can and should support one another, but we are not the only resources that we should rely on. Do your best to prepare for it not to happen, right? We're all about preparation and crisis avoidance. But if it does happen, learn from it. 

 

BREANA: Those are such great points and truly, making a mistake is not a sign that you have to hang up the headset and step away from the coxswain seat forever and quit on the spot or anything like that. As Anne said …. I personally find it to be true as well … all of us have had some kind of safety circumstance from the minor to the major. And every successful coxswain you look up to has surely had such a circumstance. And they kept at it. They learned, they grew, and they're safer the next time that they get in the boat. So don't despair if something has happened to you or around you. You can still absolutely be a successful coxswain in this sport and learn from that experience. 

 

ANNE: And this is another time that we can emphasize the importance of discussing safety with one another. Let's make it a glamorous thing to talk about. Let's make it something positive to talk about. Let's empower one another to bring this to the forefront and discuss it as often as we do like, ‘What are your favorite motivational calls?’ or ‘What do you do about steering XYZ course?’ Let's infuse our conversation with safety challenges … successes. Let's celebrate. Let's learn. Let's grow in this area because it is our job number one. And not only is it important, it's vast. As we found out from this episode, we are both a little frustrated that we can't cover all the topics that we intended to but time is running short. We want to have a final call to action which is to ask each one of us, including ourselves, what is the one safety skill that you would like to add - consciously add and commit to developing this year? Or you could make a shorter timeframe if you want … this season. But let's each commit to thinking about one additional safety skill that we'd like to further enhance or start developing. And as we're thinking about building our skill set in response to this call to action, we could think about (sort of) four different domains. And the first of these I would consider to be preparation because preparation is confidence. 

 

BREANA: Another facet of our skill set is our situational awareness. Are we on that 360 swivel at all times making sure we are aware of what's coming up behind what's going on ahead? Are we recruiting others to help us with that if we're in a bow loader? Those kinds of things. Being aware of the environment around us is one key aspect of our safety skill sets. 

 

ANNE: And a third domain might be considered our ability to anticipate. This is a step past developing our situational awareness. This is imagining what might happen … how things might unfold. And preparing in advance - in our minds - what we would do in reaction to that imaginary or potential experience. 

 

BREANA: And the last domain is advocacy for ourselves and also for our rowers. Feeling comfortable saying that a situation doesn't meet our safety standards or being comfortable articulating what might need to change in order for a situation to become more safe - for us, for rowers, for our coaches, for our equipment, for other individuals on our body of water - with the key goal really being at the end of the day that people and equipment are safe. 

 

ANNE: And that safety helps to build that level of trust. It's through that daily unconscious and conscious demonstration of creating a safe environment for our crews that they're able to believe and trust in us and respond to us. If they don't trust me and I call a power 10 or weigh ‘nuff, they're gonna hesitate. They're not going to be able to perform at their optimum level. It's not that I'm saying magic words - it's that they're trusting me enough that they put their safety in my hands. And when that trust is established, they are responsive … they react appropriately … and we do better as a team. So if you want - at the end of the day - to measure your safety skillset, you can do it by a couple of things. One is, you know, are you and your rowers and your equipment in good condition, unharmed, et cetera. But the real meat of it to me - the real heart of the matter - is the level of trust that the rowers have in me and would have in you. And that to me is the gold standard of how you can tell whether or not you have infused safety into all that you do as a coxswain and that it is your job one. 

 

BREANA: And if we take it seriously that safety is our number one job, there is so much to cover.

 

ANNE:  There sure is. And as we said, we hope to have more in the future. But now we do need to conclude this episode anyway. And as we finish up, we want to thank you for listening. If you like what we're doing, please consider financially supporting us on Patreon. We're excited to bring you more content soon … some of it safety related. And until next time, I'm Anne. 

 

BREANA: And I'm Breana, signing off for now.