1. Designing a Life Jacket for
Crew
Why Don’t Rowers Wear Life Jackets?
Marc Messing,
RowSafeUSA.Org
607.280.6408

2.  Rowing has NO safety standards
 No requirements for coaching certification
 No requirements for First Aid
 No requirements for CPR
 No requirements for boating safety
 No requirements for Life Jackets
----------------------------
 Seasons start and end on cold water

3. Today’s Life Jackets

7. Why Don’t Rowers Wear Life Jackets?

8. Rowers in Racing Shells

9. rowing is very, very safe…

10. “… statistically, rowing is very, very safe…”
• Statement of USRowing following Mohammed Ramzan’s death

11. “… statistically, rowing is very, very safe…”
But on COLD WATER…
it is extremely dangerous and life-threatening

12. Cold Water Rowing

13. • Cold Shock
• Swimming Failure
• Hypothermia
• Post Rescue Collapse

14. What are the reasons?
• not required by law
• not recommended by USRowing
> Unnecessary
• Bulky
• Hot
• Chafe
• Interfere with the motion
• Tradition: rowers don’t wear life jackets

15. UNNECESSARY?
“athletes have been unnecessarily killed
and injured… due to lax standards and/
or enforcement of rules.”
US Rowing,
2007 Safety Video

17. Database of more than 60 fatal
and near fatal accidents

18. Precipitating Events
fatal & near fatal accidents
 Low visibility
 Common mistakes
 Sudden Changes in the Weather
 Equipment failures
 Motorboats
 Jet Skis
 DUIs

19. Low Visibility

20. Mistakes & Malfunction

21. Catching a Crab

22. Sudden Changes in the Weather

23. Anatomy of a Racing Shell

24. Racing Shells, Kayaks, Canoes,
Guide Boats

25. Rowboats, Canoes, Kayaks, and
Racing Shells

26. Sample Life Jacket Exam
1. Life Jacket should always be carried in boat
2. Life Jacket should always be carried and
worn in rough water or high winds
3. Life Jacket should always be worn
4. Life jacket should not be worn

27. Sample Life Jacket Exam
1. Life Jacket should always be carried in boat
2. Life Jacket should always be carried and
worn in rough water or high winds
3. Life Jacket should always be worn
4. Life jacket should not be worn
Correct Answers: 1 A; 2 B; 3 C; 4 D

28. Why Don’t Rower’s Wear Life Jackets?
Not required by law
Not recommended by USRowing
Inconsistent with common practice (tradition)
> Bulky
> Chafe
> Hot
Interfere with proper training (motion)
Unnecessary (due to stability of eights)
Unnecessary (because of accompanying launches)

29. Why Don’t Rower’s Wear Life Jackets?
Not required by law
Not recommended by USRowing
Inconsistent with practices at collegiate level
Bulky
Chafe
Hot
Interfere with proper training (motion)
Unnecessary (due to stability of eights)
Unnecessary (because of accompanying launches)
 Concerned they will encourage risky behavior
 “Unnecessary, uncomfortable, and humiliating… we try to look professional.”

30. Humiliating and Unprofessional?

31. What are the substantive reasons?
Unnecessary
> Bulky
• Hot
• Chafe
• Interfere with the motion
• (Tradition: rowers don’t wear life jackets)

32. Life Jackets Are Bulky

33. Some are bulky; others are not!

34. • Unnecessary
• Bulky
> Hot
• Chafe
• Interfere with the motion
• (Tradition: rowers don’t wear life jackets)
What are the substantive reasons?

35. • Unnecessary
• Bulky
• Hot
> Chafe
• Interfere with the motion
• (Tradition: rowers don’t wear life jackets)
What are the substantive reasons?

36. • Unnecessary
• Bulky
• Hot
• Chafe
> Interfere with the motion
• (Tradition: rowers don’t wear life jackets)
What are the substantive reasons?

37. Cornell Study
Thesis: Manwen Li
Professor: Professor Huiju Park,
PhD
Cornell University
Dept. Fiber Science and
Applied Apparel Design

38. Tradition
• Unnecessary
• Bulky
• Hot
• Chafe
• Interferes with the motion
> Tradition

39. Tradition

40. 33CFR175
exempted rowers in racing shells from all PFD requirements
and pre-empted state authority

41. Sport is Growing

42. Challenge Facing Life Jacket Association
• Rowing can be extremely dangerous and life threatening
• it has no safety regulations for protecting scholastic rowers
who make up the largest part of the market
• and it is resisting the use of life-jackets

43. Critical Parameters
• Bulk
• Overheating
• Chafing
• Interference with Motion
• Tradition
• Market Acceptance

44. Rowers may prefer to wear nothing at all
But they should still wear life jackets