From the start of the race, they are screaming at the top of their lungs. As they lean forward, giving everything they have, the boat speeds ahead. They can see the strain and fatigue on their teammates’ faces. Like captains on a ship, they help propel their boat to victory without even touching an oar.  

Senior Clint Weigl, junior Kayleigh Melroy and sophomore Eli Earl are the coxswains of the men’s crew’s three varsity boats. They take to heart a role in crew that is often misunderstood and unnoticed. Melroy said she frequently has trouble explaining to people what her participation on the men’s crew entails.

“First of all, so many people don’t know about the sport,” Melroy said. “Second of all, people are like, ‘You’re a coxswain? What the heck is that?’”

Coxswains usually sit in the stern of the boat, facing the rowers. During practice they call out drills as directed by Head Coach Dan Robinson and help their crew build cohesion and technique. During a race, however, their job becomes far more complicated.

Robinson said the coxswains’ most prominent role is motivating and directing the rowers. Once the boats launch to prepare for a race or conduct practice drills, the coxswain takes over.

“The coxswains are leaders,” Robinson said. “They steer, get the rowers excited, and they also coach. They are in the boat and can see things the coach doesn’t.”

Melroy said the many important aspects of being a successful coxswain include keeping the boat on course, calling off other boats, announcing how far ahead of other boats the squad is and being a consistent motivational force.

Earl said the most difficult thing about being a coxswain is balancing all the responsibilities.

“I stick with it because I like the guys, I like yelling, and there’s a lot of mental acrobatics you have to do,” Earl said. “It’s a lot of multitasking. It’s really mind-intensive as opposed to physically intensive.”

Earl was a rower for the crew during his freshman year but had to take time off because of an illness. He returned as a coxswain, however, to stay involved with the sport.

“In my boat, it’s a boat full of my friends,” he said. “There’s a bond of respect, and by spending so much time together — we have boat dinners before every race — we develop friendships, and that reflects in the boat.”

During practices and training, the coxswains have to learn on the job. They need to feel the boat out and get a sense of what motivates a particular group. For many coxswains, they don’t know what type of enforcement a boat requires until they have been working together on a consistent basis.

Weigl said the race plans are carefully constructed, but it is the responsibility of the coxswain to make effective calls, signifying the stroke rates the rowers must reach based on the positioning of boats during the race. The creativity and awareness of the coxswain can be the difference between first and last place.

“Many times, if you’re battling with another boat, the coxswain plays the biggest role in whether you win or lose,” Weigl said. “If the coxswain isn’t aggressive enough and doesn’t make good calls, it doesn’t matter how fast you are.”

The Bombers’ coxswains take on the responsibility of setting the tone for their boats, trying to promote a calm and collected atmosphere for rowers, who are pushing themselves to the brink during the final sprints or worn out by a rigorous practice.

“The coxswains make sure we give one hundred percent of what we can give,” sophomore rower Morgan Ewing said. “They’re the eyes, ears and brains of the boat.”

Melroy said recently the water has been really rough, which makes it mentally taxing on the crew. However, she said that the best way to combat that stress is to take a deep breath and take care of any problems after practice.

“Sometimes you just want to lose your cool, and it’s hard not to,” she said.

Weigl said that making it through the good days and the bad days helps create a bond within each boat that is essential for the Bombers’ success. Melroy said the coxswains are willing to push themselves and their teammates to reach the finish first.

Melroy said when she is in the boat, she and the rowers focus on nothing else. The adrenaline makes them only want to reach the finish line.

“When you win, and you know that you were there to motivate the guys, and it works, it’s awesome,” she said.