Recruiting in college rowing is widely misunderstood — by athletes, by parents, and sometimes by the programs that claim to facilitate it. Timelines are governed by specific NCAA rules that many families haven't read. Evaluation criteria extend well beyond erg scores. And the role that summer training plays in the process is neither as direct as some camps promise nor as irrelevant as critics suggest.
This guide explains how the current recruiting landscape works, what coaches actually evaluate, where camps fit into the process, and how to think about summer training as part of a larger recruiting strategy. Sparks started in 2010 as a college counseling firm for rowers — camps came a year later. College counseling is our original business and remains central to what we do. Our counseling staff averages two decades of recruiting experience in conferences including the Ivy League, Big 10, and NESCAC, and includes multiple Olympians and former collegiate head coaches. What follows draws on that depth of experience and a commitment to giving families honest, specific information rather than the oversimplified recruiting content that dominates the internet.
The NCAA Recruiting Rules: What's Actually Permitted and When
Before discussing strategy, families need to understand the rules. Women's rowing is an NCAA sport, and recruiting communication is governed by specific NCAA bylaws. Men's rowing is technically a varsity sport rather than an NCAA championship sport, but most institutions apply NCAA recruiting rules to their men's programs as well — the Ivy League enforces them strictly. Violations can jeopardize an athlete's eligibility, so understanding these timelines matters.
Before June 15 after sophomore year, college coaches are significantly restricted in what they can communicate. They may send questionnaires, camp brochures, and general institutional publications — but they cannot send recruiting materials, athletics-related electronic correspondence, or make recruiting phone calls to prospective athletes or their families. This is an NCAA bylaw, not a suggestion.
What coaches can do during this period is observe and evaluate. They attend regattas. They review erg results. They talk to club and high school coaches. They're forming opinions about athletes well before they're permitted to communicate those opinions directly. The development that happens during an athlete's freshman and sophomore years shapes whether a coach pays attention at all — even though the athlete may have no idea they're being watched.
June 15 after sophomore year is when the gate opens. Coaches can begin sending recruiting materials, electronic correspondence (emails, texts, direct messages), and making phone calls — initially limited to once per month. For many families, this is the first moment they realize a college program has been tracking their athlete.
August 1 before junior year: official visits (paid by the institution) can begin. Athletes can take one official visit per school.
Start of classes, junior year: coaches can initiate off-campus contact — meeting athletes at their schools, homes, or competition sites (with specific restrictions around competition days and school hours).
Senior year: off-campus contact continues, phone call frequency increases, and for athletes who haven't yet committed, the process intensifies.
What athletes can do at any time: athletes can contact college coaches whenever they choose. They can send emails, fill out recruiting questionnaires, make phone calls, and take unofficial visits at their own expense, regardless of the NCAA calendar. Coaches simply cannot respond with recruiting-specific communication until the appropriate dates. This means proactive athletes who reach out early get on coaches' radar before the communication window opens. A direct, well-composed email to a college coaching staff — with height, weight, erg score, academics, and racing experience — will carry further in almost every case than going through a third-party recruiting service.
A note on men's rowing: because the NCAA doesn't sponsor men's rowing as a championship sport, the rules are applied with some variance across programs. Most varsity men's programs follow NCAA recruiting guidelines, but there can be differences, particularly at programs with different governing structures. Athletes pursuing men's rowing should confirm which rules their target programs follow.
The Current Recruiting Landscape
Understanding the rules clarifies the timeline. Now for the landscape itself.
Division I women's rowing is where recruiting is most structured and most competitive. Because coaches are evaluating before they can communicate, the development an athlete does during sophomore year and the summer after significantly shapes their recruiting trajectory. Once communication opens on June 15, coaches who've already identified athletes they're interested in move quickly. Verbal commitments can occur — though families should understand that verbal commitments are non-binding and don't constitute formal offers of admission or financial aid.
The summer before junior year is consequential not because recruiting happens at camp, but because the development during that summer directly affects an athlete's profile entering the fall — when recruiting conversations accelerate and official visits begin.
Division I men's rowing operates on a similar timeline in practice, though the regulatory environment is less uniform. Heavyweight programs, lightweight programs, and open-weight programs each have their own evaluation priorities. The IRA governs men's championship rowing, and its rules interact with (but don't replace) NCAA guidelines where applicable.
Division III rowing is a fundamentally different process. D3 programs cannot offer athletic scholarships, recruiting happens later, and the emphasis shifts toward academic fit and demonstrated interest in the institution. It's worth noting that some D3 teams consistently beat smaller D1 programs — a sense of parity in recruiting standards by division is an illusion given the diversity of programs and their resources. For many athletes, D3 offers the best balance of competitive rowing and academic experience. The recruiting process is less pressured but still rewards preparation and proactive communication.
Club programs at universities operate outside NCAA regulations and recruit informally, often after the athlete arrives on campus.
The Erg Score Reality
Erg scores are the most visible and most discussed element of rowing recruiting. They deserve honest treatment — including uncomfortable honesty.
Yes, erg scores matter. They provide an objective, comparable measure of physical capacity. College coaches use them as an initial filter. If your score isn't in the competitive range for a given program, your email may not receive a substantive response. This is worth acknowledging directly.
But recruitable 2K times aren't so easily broken down into divisions and standardized. Some D3 teams recruit faster than some D1 programs. Some coaches weigh the erg heavily; others weigh height, weight, and on-water ability more. The numbers are also moving targets — recruiting standards shift as the sport grows and as programs' international recruiting reach expands. We've watched top-performing D1 men's programs move from "6:30 or better" to "6:25 or better" to very top recruits commonly pulling 6:15 or faster over the past decade. On the women's side the changes have been equally dramatic, particularly as the number of serious programs has grown and new programs with significant scholarship resources have entered the market.
We deliberately avoid publishing specific benchmark tables in our content because they'd be outdated quickly and oversimplify a process that varies enormously by program. Our counseling staff works with athletes individually on this assessment because the context matters: a rising junior's 2K time means something different depending on their training age, physical maturity, and trajectory. If you're interested in a general sense of where you stand, we've built a calculator on our website that accounts for programmatic differences and change over time.
But erg scores are a filter, not the decision. Just as you can't go to college on your SAT score alone, neither can you be recruited only on an erg score. Once an athlete passes the threshold for a given program, the evaluation shifts to factors that a number on a screen can't capture. Coaches watch video to assess technique, boat-moving ability, and how efficiently an athlete translates power into speed on the water. They evaluate racing footage for competitive instincts, pacing intelligence, and composure. They consider academic profile, character, and the athlete's demonstrated commitment to the sport.
Coachability and character matter more than many families realize. College coaches are investing in four years of development — up to twenty hours a week at a much higher intensity level than high school rowing. They recruit athletes they believe can retain that commitment over four years. The first athlete a coach will deprioritize is one who demonstrates a "what will you do for me" mentality. A humble, well-researched approach — treating the process as a first job interview, not a talent showcase — carries further than families expect.
Where Camps Fit in the Process
The relationship between camp attendance and recruiting outcomes generates more confusion than almost any other topic in junior rowing. Here's an honest assessment based on our 15 years of counseling families through the process.
What camps can do for recruiting:
Camps provide development that makes athletes more recruitable. This is the most important connection. An athlete who spends two or more weeks receiving experienced coaching, developing technique, building racing experience, and working on the intangible qualities coaches evaluate becomes a stronger candidate — not because they attended a specific program, but because they genuinely improved.
Longer, more intensive camps — those involving serious training, selection, and racing — tend to see a greater proportion of athletes who are in the recruiting process. As one Ivy recruiter told us, attending a more serious camp "definitely shows a greater level of commitment than a collegiate camp, but it's going to come back to their erg." Camps have become supplementary to evidencing engagement and developing rowing IQ, which most recruiters agree is a positive indicator of an athlete's ability to grow into collegiate rowing.
Camps also build relationships with coaches who have college connections. When a camp is staffed by experienced collegiate coaches, athletes develop relationships with people who can speak knowledgeably about their abilities and character to other coaches. This isn't the "recruiting access" some programs market. It's the natural result of working closely with experienced people who know the college rowing world — and it only happens over sustained time together, not through a single introduction at a four-day camp.
What camps cannot do:
Short collegiate camps — four to seven days at a university boathouse — will generally not improve a recruit's chances at that institution. We've spoken with Ivy coaches who, after fifteen-plus years at their program, had never recruited an athlete from their own institutional camp out of hundreds of attendees. If an athlete is already talented enough to be recruited, they'll be recruited on the basis of their erg score and academics regardless of whether they attend the camp. Collegiate camps are valuable for education, inspiration, and getting a sense of an institution — particularly for 9th and 10th graders. They are not recruiting vehicles.
Camps cannot guarantee recruiting outcomes. No program — regardless of what it promises — can assure that attendance will result in recruitment. If a program implies otherwise, treat that as a red flag.
Camps cannot replace the erg work you need to do at home. Physical capacity is built through months of consistent training. If your erg score isn't competitive for your target programs, camp alone won't close that gap. As the Ivy recruiter noted, athletes may not be working on their erg if they're focused on summer racing — and the erg remains primary.
Camps cannot substitute for direct outreach to college coaches. In the rowing recruiting economy, there are far fewer collegiate programs than junior programs — and top programs have their own mechanisms for identifying athletes. A direct email to a coaching staff will carry further in almost every case than going through a third party or hoping to be "seen" at camp.
The honest truth: a camp won't get you recruited if you're not competitive. A camp might help you stand out if you are competitive. And the real value — the development of skills, self-awareness, and competitive maturity that compounds over time — is what makes quality camp experiences worth the investment, independent of any direct recruiting impact.
Timing: When Summer Training Matters Most
Given the NCAA timeline, the developmental value of summer training maps onto the recruiting process in specific ways.
Rising sophomores and juniors are in the highest-leverage window. College coaches are evaluating athletes during this period even though they can't yet communicate directly (or have only recently begun). The development that happens the summer after sophomore year — when athletes are entering the first window of permitted recruiting contact — directly shapes the profile coaches respond to. Athletes at this stage should focus on getting better, not getting noticed. The attention follows the development.
For these athletes, extended programs (two weeks or more) that produce measurable technical and physical improvement represent the strongest investment. The coaching relationships formed, the racing experience gained, and the self-coaching habits developed all feed into a recruiting profile that strengthens over the following year.
Rising seniors face a different calculus. By the summer before senior year, many D1 recruiting decisions are well underway. Summer training is still valuable for continued development and fall season preparation, but the window for camp to meaningfully influence D1 recruiting has narrowed. For D3 recruiting, where timelines are later, this summer may still be relevant.
Post-graduates represent a different situation. A gap year with structured training can meaningfully alter an athlete's trajectory in some cases — particularly those who started rowing late. In other cases, an honest assessment may be that the investment won't produce the desired recruiting outcome. This is a conversation worth having with experienced counselors before committing.
Questions to Ask Yourself Before Camp
Before investing in camp with recruiting considerations in mind, honest self-assessment helps clarify whether the investment is well-directed.
What's my realistic recruiting timeline? If coaches are already communicating with you, camp serves a different purpose than if you're hoping camp will initiate that contact. Understanding where you stand — relative to the NCAA calendar and to competitive benchmarks — prevents misaligned expectations.
Am I going to camp to develop or to be seen? Both motivations have legitimacy, but they point toward different priorities. If development is primary, focus on coaching quality, ratio, and program structure. If exposure matters, consider programs whose coaching staffs include people active in the collegiate recruiting world — though be realistic about what "exposure" can accomplish. Being "seen" has very little to do with being recruited at most competitive programs. Coaches at that level already know the prospects with the physical ability, technical skill, and competitive experience necessary for their programs.
What specific skills do I need to improve? Athletes who arrive at camp with clear developmental goals extract more value than those with vague aspirations. If your catch timing needs work, or your race pacing costs you, or your composure deteriorates under pressure — those specifics allow coaches to help you effectively.
Do I have the erg foundation to benefit from on-water focus? If your erg score is significantly below the threshold for your target programs, investing in consistent training at home may be a more direct path to recruiting readiness than a camp focused on boat skills and racing. Build the foundation first.
Making the Most of Camp for Recruiting
For athletes whose erg scores are competitive and whose recruiting process is active or approaching, several practices maximize the recruiting value of camp.
Get quality video. If you row well, this can be a significant advantage. A surprisingly small percentage of junior rowers send video to college coaches. Training and racing footage from camp — low rate rowing alongside race pressure footage — gives coaches information that erg scores alone cannot. Ask about filming practices before you attend. Put footage on YouTube and send coaches the link. It doesn't need to be production quality, but it does need to clearly identify you (seat number, boat, event).
Build genuine relationships. Camp coaches who've worked at the collegiate level and who get to know you over a multi-week program can become informed advocates. This happens through demonstrated work ethic, coachability, and character — not through self-promotion. Focus on the work and the relationships develop naturally.
Focus on development, not exposure. The paradox of camp and recruiting is that athletes who attend obsessed with being noticed tend to get less from the experience than those focused on genuine improvement. Coaches notice athletes who work, listen, improve, and take ownership of their development. That's what makes a lasting impression — at camp and in the recruiting process.
Follow up after camp. Update camp coaches on your progress in the months that follow — improved erg scores, fall race results, technical developments. This demonstrates sustained commitment and provides coaches with current information if they're asked about you.
Consider working with experienced counselors. The recruiting process has enough complexity and enough at stake that families benefit from specific guidance — not the generic content available on multi-sport recruiting websites (which top college coaches don't use and don't pay attention to), but counsel from people who understand the sport, the schools, and the process from the inside. Sparks started as a counseling firm in 2010 and has been doing this work longer than most operations in the space. Our counselors bring direct experience from programs across multiple divisions and conferences, and our approach is fit-based: we're interested in helping athletes find the right program, not the most prestigious name.
Camps are one piece of a larger recruiting puzzle. They're not a shortcut, and they're not irrelevant. They're a developmental tool that, used well, makes athletes more prepared, more recruitable, and more aware of what they're pursuing.
Development compounds. Shortcuts don't.
If you have questions about how Sparks programs and college counseling fit into your athlete's development and recruiting plan, reach out at info@sparksrowing.com or 646.770.0290. We're happy to discuss specifics — including whether camp is the right investment for your athlete's current stage.
