Summer can be one of the biggest opportunities to improve as a high school rower.
I've seen athletes drop 20 seconds on their 2k erg score in a single summer. I've also seen rowers return to their teams in the fall having lost fitness and momentum after months of inconsistent training.
The difference often comes down to how intentionally they approach their summer.
Between rowing camps, summer racing programs, family vacations, academic commitments, and time away from their regular team, it's easy for high school rowers to end up with a scattered training schedule.
But with the right plan, summer can be an incredible opportunity to improve your erg score, develop your technique, gain racing experience, and build confidence before the fall season.
I'm Kristin Hedstrom, an Olympian and eight-time U.S. National Team rower. Since 2013, I've worked with hundreds of high school rowers and their families to help athletes improve their erg scores and reach their potential.
Here are the five things I recommend every high school rower and parent consider when planning summer rowing training.
1. Start by Identifying Your Summer Rowing Goals
Before signing up for rowing camps or summer training programs, get clear on what you want to accomplish.
Most families start researching summer opportunities sometime between January and May. The earlier you can make a plan, the better.
But the first question shouldn't be Which camp should I attend?
It should be:
What do I most want to improve in my rowing this summer?
During the spring racing season, athletes are juggling erg testing, seat racing, regattas, schoolwork, AP exams, SAT preparation, and college recruiting.
It's a busy, demanding time of year.
Summer gives you an opportunity to step away from some of that pressure and focus more intentionally on your development.
For most high school rowers, summer training goals fall into two primary categories.
Goal #1: Improve your 2k erg score
Some athletes want to use the summer to build fitness and make significant improvements to their 2k erg score.
This is especially valuable for rowers who don't get much dedicated erg training during the school year or who know their erg score is holding them back from opportunities within their team or college recruiting.
Back in 2013, while I was still training for Team USA, families from two of the top rowing clubs in the Bay Area approached me about helping their athletes improve their erg scores over the summer.
These rowers were only erging about once a week during the winter and wanted to make substantial progress.
I developed a structured summer erg training program that included regular training and 2k testing. We saw dramatic improvements in their scores.
That original program eventually evolved into the virtual summer training and educational programs I coach today.
Goal #2: Improve your technique and racing experience on the water
For other rowers, summer is the perfect opportunity to spend more time on the water.
I understand this particularly well because I grew up rowing in Boston and went to college in Wisconsin.
When you've spent November through March training almost exclusively on the erg because the water is frozen, the last thing you want to do when summer arrives is spend more time indoors!
For those athletes, a summer rowing program focused on technique, boat skills, and racing can be an excellent choice.
Programs that race at regattas like RowFest or Canadian Henley can give athletes opportunities to try different boat classes, experience new racing situations, and build confidence competing on the water.
Your local rowing club is often a good place to start looking for these opportunities.
What should your summer goal be?
Think about where you are in your development and what would make the biggest difference in your rowing career.
Maybe your goal is to break 7:30 on your 2k.
Maybe it's to become more technically proficient in a single scull.
Or maybe you want to gain enough racing experience to compete for a seat in your team's top boat next fall.
You might even decide that you want to work on both your erg score and your on-the-water skills.
Whatever your priorities, start with your goals and then choose your summer programs to support them.
2. Build a Consistent Summer Rowing Training Plan
One of the biggest mistakes I see high school rowers make over the summer is training inconsistently.
They attend a rowing camp for a week, take several days off, do a few random erg workouts, leave for a family vacation, and then attend another camp.
By August, they've spent plenty of time doing rowing-related activities, but they haven't necessarily followed a consistent training program.
And consistency is one of the most important ingredients in getting faster.
First, take a break after spring racing
Before starting your summer training, I recommend taking one to two weeks off after your spring season ends, whether that's at Regionals or Youth Nationals.
This gives you time to recover physically and mentally from a demanding year.
By the end of spring, most high school rowers are carrying considerable fatigue from months of training, racing, school, and other commitments.
Taking time to recover, catch up on sleep, and reset can help you return to training feeling refreshed and motivated.
Then, create a training plan that covers the entire summer
Once you've had a chance to recover, the priority becomes consistency.
Summer rowing camps can be valuable for technical development, racing experience, and learning from different coaches.
But many camps only last a few days or a week.
Even longer programs might only cover a portion of your summer.
That leaves athletes responsible for figuring out what to do during all the days and weeks in between.
This is exactly why I started writing structured summer erg training plans for high school rowers more than a decade ago.
I wanted athletes to be able to participate in camps and on-the-water programs while maintaining consistent training throughout the summer.
Instead of losing momentum between camps, they could continue building fitness and improving their erg scores.
And when they returned to their teams in the fall, they were stronger, more confident, and ready to compete for seats in their team's top boats.
The goal isn't simply to stay busy over the summer. It's to follow a training plan that builds on itself from week to week.
A note for parents
Parents play an important role in helping athletes put together a realistic summer schedule.
Look at the entire summer calendar before registering for programs.
Where are the gaps? What happens during family vacations? Will your athlete have access to an erg? Who will provide guidance and accountability between camps?
Helping your athlete plan ahead can make a significant difference in how consistently they train.
3. Choose Summer Rowing Camps and Programs Strategically
One of the great things about summer is the opportunity to learn from different coaches.
During the school year, most rowers train almost exclusively with their high school or club coaches.
That consistency is important, but exposure to new coaching perspectives can be incredibly valuable.
Over my own 15-year rowing career, I worked with eight different coaches.
Sometimes I'd been working on a particular technical concept for months, and all it took was hearing another coach explain it slightly differently for something to finally click.
Summer camps, clinics, and online coaching programs provide opportunities to learn new approaches to rowing technique, training, pacing, and mindset.
But more programs aren't necessarily better.
How to choose the right summer rowing programs
Instead of signing up for every opportunity available, think about how the different programs fit together.
Consider these questions:
- What is the primary focus of each camp or program?
- How does it support your overall summer training goals?
- How long does it last?
- What training will you do before and after the program?
- How will it fit with family travel, academic programs, or internships?
- Will you have enough recovery time between training commitments?
For example, you might attend an on-the-water rowing camp for a week, continue following a structured erg program when you return home, and participate in another racing opportunity later in the summer.
Those experiences can complement each other when they're planned well.
Alternatively, an athlete who wants to focus on their erg score might make a structured summer training plan their primary commitment and add a shorter technical clinic or rowing camp.
Online coaching can be especially effective here because it gives athletes access to experienced coaches without requiring them to travel for the entire summer.
The best summer training plan isn't the one with the most activities. It's the one where every component supports your development.
4. Learn How to Train for and Execute a 2k Erg Test
For athletes who want to pull a faster 2k erg score, summer presents an enormous opportunity.
And I'm not just talking about accumulating more meters.
I'm talking about actually learning how to train for a 2k, pace a 2k, and execute a strong performance when it matters.
During the school year, many high school rowers experience erg testing as something that happens to them.
Their coach announces a 2k test, sometimes with little warning, and athletes sit down at the erg hoping they'll perform well.
For athletes who already experience a lot of nerves around erg testing, this can be incredibly stressful.
They know their results may affect seat racing, team rankings, and college recruiting.
But they may not have a clear understanding of how to approach the test.
Use summer to become a better 2k tester
One of the most valuable things you can do over the summer is practice 2k testing in a structured environment.
That means learning:
- How to create a realistic pacing plan for your 2k.
- How different target splits should feel.
- How to manage discomfort during the middle of a hard piece.
- How to stay composed when your test gets difficult.
- How to evaluate your performance and adjust your strategy for the next test.
- How to track improvement from one testing opportunity to the next.
When 2k tests are planned, supported, and followed by thoughtful reflection, they become valuable opportunities to learn.
Instead of simply hoping for a PR, you're developing the skills to execute one.
And because summer testing typically happens outside your regular team's ranking and seat-racing environment, athletes can often experiment and learn without the same pressure they experience during the school year.
By the time fall arrives, they've practiced their pacing. They've learned how to handle the difficult moments. And they've built confidence in their ability to execute a plan.
Why improving your 2k matters for college recruiting
Your 2k erg score is one of the most important performance metrics in rowing.
A faster score can help you compete for a seat in your team's top boat, move up within your training group, and attract attention from college rowing coaches.
It can also create opportunities to attend identification camps or be considered for more competitive rowing programs.
That's why I encourage ambitious high school rowers to approach summer erg training as more than just an opportunity to get fitter.
It's an opportunity to become a more educated, confident, and strategically prepared athlete.
The skills you develop during summer training can carry over directly into your fall erg testing, spring racing, and college recruiting opportunities.
5. Find Accountability and Community
One of the most overlooked parts of summer rowing training is accountability.
During the school year, most rowers have a built-in structure.
You have scheduled practices, teammates expecting you to show up, and coaches guiding your training.
During the summer, much of that structure disappears.
Suddenly, you're responsible for deciding when to train, what workouts to do, and how to stay motivated.
It's easy to push a workout to tomorrow or skip a session when something else comes up.
That's why I believe having accountability during the summer is so important.
This could come from a structured training program, an online coaching group, or a training partner who shares your goals.
The important thing is having a system that helps you stay consistent, even when motivation fluctuates.
Surround yourself with rowers who share your ambitions
Summer also offers an opportunity to connect with athletes outside your regular team.
During the school year, most rowers spend nearly all their training time with the same teammates.
But through summer programs, you can meet athletes from different clubs, states, and competitive environments.
These connections can be incredibly valuable.
You get to learn how other athletes train, what standards they hold themselves to, and how they approach their goals.
You also get to share the challenges of training with people who understand exactly what you're going through.
When I expanded the community component of my summer erg program, it became one of the most rewarding parts of the experience.
Athletes from across the country were learning from each other during group coaching calls, encouraging each other through difficult workouts, and building friendships despite being thousands of miles apart.
Some even ended up meeting in person at rowing camps later that summer.
What started as individual athletes pursuing their own 2k goals became a community of motivated rowers supporting each other's progress.
Training alongside athletes who share your ambitions can help you raise your standards, stay accountable, and discover what's possible for you.
Make This Summer Count
Summer can be a turning point in your rowing career.
You have an opportunity to step away from the demands of the regular racing season, focus on your development, and make significant progress toward your goals.
But those improvements rarely happen by accident.
The athletes who make the biggest gains are intentional about how they spend their time.
They identify what they want to improve, find a structured and consistent training plan, choose programs that support their goals, invest in learning, and surround themselves with people who push them to get better.
As you think about your upcoming summer, ask yourself three questions:
What do I want to make real progress on this summer?
What skills do I want to learn?
Who do I want to surround myself with to help me discover what's possible?
Your answers should guide the decisions you make about your summer training.
And the work you put in now can have a tremendous impact on how you perform when you return to your team in the fall.
Ready to Pull a Faster 2k This Summer?
I'm Kristin Hedstrom, Olympian, eight-time U.S. National Team rower, and coach to high school rowers across the country.
My Summer 2k Erg Accelerator is designed for ambitious athletes who want to make meaningful improvements to their erg scores through structured daily training, education, accountability, and intentional 2k testing.
Athletes also get the opportunity to connect with motivated rowers from around the country who share their commitment to getting faster.
