* I suppose, though, that if people are chasing lucrative scholarships to college lightweight teams that might be an incentive...* Scholarships for men's rowin

* I suppose, though, that if people are chasing lucrative scholarships to college lightweight teams that might be an incentive...* Scholarships for men's rowing largely don't exist. There are a few schools with full varsity programs, but not many. Women's rowing, as a scholarship activity, is a largely new thing - there was a massive increase in women's rowing in the 1990s in order to comply with federal regulations. The men's football (American, not soccer) team has 85 scholarships available - rowing is an easy way to add 20+ women's scholarships. As for lightweights in high school, I was one. If there was no lightweight program, I likely would have stuck to XC running. No way I could compete against the typical 180lb+ heavyweight at 140lbs.