Of all the varsity sports played in Ithaca, crew is likely the most obscure. This is not to slight either men’s or women’s crew (which are, in fact, real freaking good); it’s just a fact. A team isn’t going to get much on-campus exposure when it competes off campus.

Just because a sport isn’t popular certainly doesn’t mean it’s easy. Rowers must run several miles each day to stay in shape, as well as lift weights to build strength. Hell, anyone who’s been on an elliptical can tell you rowing takes skill.

Still, that leaves out the person sitting in the stern of the boat who doesn’t seem to do anything but bark at the rowers. What could they possibly contribute to the greater athletic community? Seriously, who would ever want to be a coxswain (a.k.a. cox or coxs’n)?

Not to say that her lifelong dream was to be one, but junior Steffanie McKay said she knew she was all but destined to be a coxswain.

“Both my parents rowed in college,” she said. “I started rowing my freshman year of high school, but they told me I was too small.”

So what do you do when you’re not strong enough to row? Naturally, you become the person that yells at people to row faster. But McKay, who’s the coxswain on the Bombers’ men’s varsity 8, will be the first to tell you her job is more than just yelling “stroke!”

“You don’t necessarily need to be loud,” she said. “Last year the second varsity 8 had a more calming coxswain to keep them relaxed.”

Nothing like a soothing voice to keep you focused while you stroke your way to victory. But the job doesn’t end there. Junior Annie Bova, the coxswain for the women’s varsity 8, said her role is also that of a second coach.

“I’m the coach on the water,” she said. “I focus on the technical aspect, keeping guys rowing at the same speed and working on timing.”

Since coaches can only watch from the shore, it’s a coxswain’s job to catch possible problems in the boat, as well as relaying the coach’s instructions when doing drills.

The relationship between a cox and his or her crew must be symbiotic and McKay said that there is a notable difference between a crew that has a good coxswain and a crew with a bad one.

“Two crews can have rowers  of the same strength, but [the one with the better coxswain] will pull ahead,” she said.

A coxswain’s most important job, though, is steering the boat in and out of the dock and keeping it straight during the race. Sounds easy, but mess that up and one can bet it’ll be the crew barking at them.