I think you are absolutely right that body-shaming is the wrong word. I think actual body shaming is quite rare, though I'm sure it happens.
I was surprised to read recently that Molly Seidel had years ago been treated in an inpatient program for an eating disorder. I knew she'd struggled with OCD, but I didn't know about the eating disorder, and inpatient treatment indicates it was severe. Eating disorders are hardly a major concern for the vast majority of American women (or men) but they do seem to be ridiculously common among top female runners. (Perhaps men as well?) I don't know what the solution is but stepping back from a "body composition focus" in undergrad seems like a good step.
I remember as an undergrad, 5'6, weighing in at 130, and my crew coach stalking off in a fury, as I'd told him I was lighter. I thought I was, but apparently I'd put on weight due to the intense lifting we'd been doing. I guess I'm not prone to eating disorders, and I don't think that experience or the general "body composition focus" on crew affected me in the slightest. But it is interesting to remember. I was a mediocre athlete. It seems ridiculous that anyone should have cared what I weighed enough to be angry about it.
A lot of coaches are OCD themselves -- one of those traits that can produce both success in leadership and considerable annoyance among those being led. I'm guessing that coach saw your weight being higher than he expected (and since he apparently seemed surprised, what are the chances you were "out of shape"?) as a failure, but his own, not yours. He probably knew or believed that a rival boat had a team with a combined weight of X, and he reckoned getting his own team under that was one thing he could control, even if he couldn't operate and synchronize everyone's arms in the races.
That's just one plausible reason some coaches act like that. And some people are like that with their own weight even if it's unrelated to body image, or when the person knows they would look better at a higher weight --100 percent a control matter. It's natural (but again, annoying and in some cases triggering) to see coaches who do the same thing by proxy.
I think you are absolutely right that body-shaming is the wrong word. I think actual body shaming is quite rare, though I'm sure it happens.
I was surprised to read recently that Molly Seidel had years ago been treated in an inpatient program for an eating disorder. I knew she'd struggled with OCD, but I didn't know about the eating disorder, and inpatient treatment indicates it was severe. Eating disorders are hardly a major concern for the vast majority of American women (or men) but they do seem to be ridiculously common among top female runners. (Perhaps men as well?) I don't know what the solution is but stepping back from a "body composition focus" in undergrad seems like a good step.
I remember as an undergrad, 5'6, weighing in at 130, and my crew coach stalking off in a fury, as I'd told him I was lighter. I thought I was, but apparently I'd put on weight due to the intense lifting we'd been doing. I guess I'm not prone to eating disorders, and I don't think that experience or the general "body composition focus" on crew affected me in the slightest. But it is interesting to remember. I was a mediocre athlete. It seems ridiculous that anyone should have cared what I weighed enough to be angry about it.
A lot of coaches are OCD themselves -- one of those traits that can produce both success in leadership and considerable annoyance among those being led. I'm guessing that coach saw your weight being higher than he expected (and since he apparently seemed surprised, what are the chances you were "out of shape"?) as a failure, but his own, not yours. He probably knew or believed that a rival boat had a team with a combined weight of X, and he reckoned getting his own team under that was one thing he could control, even if he couldn't operate and synchronize everyone's arms in the races.
That's just one plausible reason some coaches act like that. And some people are like that with their own weight even if it's unrelated to body image, or when the person knows they would look better at a higher weight --100 percent a control matter. It's natural (but again, annoying and in some cases triggering) to see coaches who do the same thing by proxy.
Yeah, he certainly didn't have any ill intentions, and it really had no negative impact on me.