Rowing race DVD?

July 25, 2011 2:54 AM

Rowing filter: DVD of a boat race to watch while training?

My dream gift for my dad is a boat race on DVD that he can "participate" in while on his rowing machine. Have any of the Oxford/Cambridge boat racers (for instance) ever taped a video camera to their cap during the race? Can I purchase such a DVD anywhere? I'm not interested in rowing technique DVDs, but specifically want a video that makes you feel like you're part of a race.

posted by superfish to sports, hobbies, & recreation (2 answers total)

I'm actually on a college rowing team in Cambridge. Want me to see if I can strap one to my head (might have to be a training run, but there will be the Cam and college logos and whatnot). It's not the boat race, but we can certainly do a high speed run or two.
posted by jaduncan at 6:06 AM on July 25, 2011

I'm thinking that video from a training run might work better than a race. Probably your dad is going to be working out for longer than any one race, which (normally) isn't going to be any longer than twenty minutes, but in a practice session you could get enough video to get a good workout without having to start the video over again. And for maximum verisimilitude I think you're going to want video from stroke seat in a bow-coxed four or a quad, otherwise you're going to be looking at the cox the whole time.

I'm afraid I don't know of any videos that meet those or your criteria (but if jaduncan can get you a bespoke on that's awesome); for what it's worth the videos that always inspired me were from the cox's point of view, but that's not going to do as much to make you feel you're in the race.
posted by villanelles at dawn at 9:48 AM on July 25, 2011