Asian Games rowing: Dhananjay Uttam Pande, the smallest man in India’s eight-man silver-winning team, is the coxswain. Here’s what that means | Asian-games News
When the Indian rowing team claimed the silver medal in the Men’s Eight category on Sunday, seven of them sat in the long boat with their backs to the finish line, rowing as if their lives depended on it.
One man, Dhananjay Uttam Pande, though was not rowing. In fact, he was the only member of the team facing the finish line as he sat in the stern of the boat without an oar in his hands.
Why? Because, Pande, the oldest member of the team at 32, is a coxswain for the team! Not just the oldest, at a height of 5’7”, he is also shorter than his teammates: Neeraj (6’2”), Naresh Kalwaniya (6’1”), Neetish Kumar (6’1”), Charanjeet Singh (6’0”), Jaswinder Singh (6’2”), Bheem Singh (5’12”), Punit Kumar (6’2”), Ashish (5’11”).
The nifty little device that helps the coxswain steer the boat without rocking it too much. (Screengrab/World Rowing)
The coxswain role is a bit like being a jockey. Just like the latter, the coxswain has to be diminutive. Hence, the coxswain is usually the smallest member of the crew. Their job is not to row but make tactical decisions, inform a crew member if they’re out of sync with the others, steer the boat, pacesetting, and, yes, motivate the rest of his crew.
The way the coxswain steers is with a nifty little wooden device in the corners of the boat that guides it with a string. The need for this device is to ensure that the coxswain doesn’t make too much movement while steering and durb the balance of the boat.Most Read
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“My role as a cox is to guide the boat, give them the right instructions about what pace to maintain in the race, and which team to focus on. My job is to make all the eight members think together,” Pande said after the race.
The eight-man race also demands a lot of coordination, which comes only after having trained together for years.
“We have been training together since 2019, and attended all the camps at the same time,” Neetish added.
