Sweating my first lightweight race

The Texas Rowing Championships are this weekend, and I’m signed up. I registered for three events, the Masters Single, the Novice Single, both on Sunday, and — this is crazy — the Masters Lightweight Single, which is on Saturday. What’s crazy is that the maximum weight for the men’s lightweight category is 160.0 pounds — with you’re competition clothing on — and as of this morning, I weigh 169.8 pounds. Buck naked. So, I need to lose 10 pounds by the time of my Saturday morning weigh-in, which must occur between one and two hours before the scheduled start of my event. The Mens Masters Lightweight Single event is scheduled for 12:20pm, so I have to weigh in between 10:30 and 11:30.

There is no way I can shed 10 pounds of fat in four days. Even if I fasted for four straight days, I would not shed that much weight. I know, because I have practiced fasts in the past. I have been eating like a bird for the last day and a half; If I keep doing that, I might be able to get down to about 165 pounds, but no more. So, I may need to sweat down another 5 pounds of water weight.

Now, I know from my cycling days that I can easily drop ten pounds of perspiration on a long ride in the heat, even while drinking plenty of water on the ride. So it is possible. From talking to other experienced lightweight rowers in the club, I’m clearly not the only one who has had to employ dehydration strategies to make weight. It’s quite common, actually. In practice that means dressing up in a couple layers of sweats, getting on an ergometer, and rowing until they’ve sweated off the necessary weight.

Still, five pounds is a lot of water. That’s five full drinking glasses, more than I usually drink in a single day and certainly more than I will transpire throughout a normal day without actively sweating.

So, my plan is to wake up Friday morning, weigh myself, and go from there. I may need to partake in some sweat-filled activity Friday and drink very minimal fluids. This is going to be interesting, and it’s probably stupid.