Budding young rowing enthusiast Shane Antonition will be quite literally wired for sound when he next takes to the water.

For the 13-year-old from Smith's has just been given a brand new state-of-the-art Cox-Box to help him perform his duties as a coxswain for Bermuda Rowing Association.

And he is planning a number of fundraising events, including a sponsored row, to pay for the new $1,000 machine.

The box shows the cox time, stroke rate and stroke count while providing a powerful amplifier and speaker system that ensures the cox's voice is heard by his team of rowers, as Shane explained.

"The Cox Box is basically, as the name suggests, a box that the cox is able to look at look at and if it is hooked up properly it can give the cox information, such as stroke weight and also the cox wears a microphone and it is connected to speakers and allow the rowers in the bow to be able to hear what the cox is saying," he said.

Shane has been involved with the Bermuda Rowing Association for a couple of months now, but it was not until he took to the water that his coxing skills really came to the fore, with his coaches believing he has the ability to go far in that role. There is even talk that he could use his skills as a cox to win a scholarship to a top university in the US, Canada or the UK, such as Oxford or Cambridge.

For the moment he is just enjoying doing his coxing with the Bermuda Rowing Association, but if the chance arises to race in a full competition he is planning to grab it with both hands. "I am so new to it all that I am just enjoying it right now," he said.

"Going away to another country or major competition would just be a nice experience to try."

Shane has been coxing the Association's women's team in their training for the Masters event in Canada next year, but he will not be eligible to take part in the event itself since it is a coxless event.

"The group has been on Saturdays and they are getting ready for the Masters next year and they didn't have a cox, so they asked if I could be their cox," he said.

He also has a number of basic commands which he needs to remember to relate to the crew, such as 'hands on', which indicates getting ready to lift the boat, 'full crew, rowing from backstops (or frontstops), are you ready, go!' — the cox specifies what the crew are to do, gives them time to prepare and when they are ready, shouts 'go!', as well as the more familiar phrases like 'ease-up' (stop rowing, while leaving the blade just above the water) and 'let it run' (once 'eased-up', the boat remains balanced until the cox commands to 'drop' the oars).

With the cox box now in his possession, all Shane has to do now is find the money to pay for it, which he is planning to do by packing groceries at the supermarket, baking cakes and even doing a sponsored row on a rowing machine at school.

"We have the cox box, we just need to pay for it," he said.

"We have spoken to Miles Market and on Friday between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. we have agreed all the tips that are raised by packing groceries will go towards this cox box.

"When I go back to school we are going to do bake sales and we are planning to bring in a rowing machine and get sponsorship depending on how many metres I do on it."

And his mother, Diana, is right behind him in his quest to become a cox.

"He is only 13, but he has taken to it responsibly and maturely," she said. "Now that people know he is there they, during weekend courses where they get together in groups, they have asked if he can cox them.

"I went out to see him do it for the first time last Saturday and it is hard work for the crew if they don't have a cox because they have to turn around and steer the rudder themselves while they are rowing at the same time.

"I think the Bermuda Rowing Association is planning to give the kids a bit of exposure to international events by taking them to go and see rowing competitions in Boston, for example, where they can get a feel for the sport, which can only be good for their experience."