Rowing, often called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using rowlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is divided into two disciplines: sculling and sweep rowing. In sculling, each rower holds two oars, one in each hand, while in sweep rowing each rower holds one oar with both hands. There are several boat classes in which athletes may compete, ranging from single sculls, occupied by one person, to shells with eight rowers and a coxswain, called eights. There are a wide variety of course types and formats of racing, but most elite and championship level racing is conducted on calm water courses 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) long with several lanes marked using buoys.
Rowing has been part of the Summer Olympics since its debut in the 1900 Games. Rowing was on the program at the 1896 Summer Olympics but was cancelled due to bad weather. Only men were allowed to compete until the women's events were introduced at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal which gave national federations the incentive to support women's events and catalysed growth in women's rowing. Lightweight rowing events were introduced to the games in 1996. Qualifying for the rowing events is under the jurisdiction of the World Rowing Federation. World Rowing predates the modern Olympics and was the first international sport federation to join the modern Olympic movement.
Ian Andrew Wright is a former New Zealand rower who won an Olympic bronze medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. Wright won 31 national titles during his career. After his rowing career ended, he became a coach and his Swiss lightweight men's four team won gold at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He was announced as Australia's head rowing coach in September 2016. He immediately coached the Australian men's four to a gold medal at the 2017 world rowing championships in Sarasota, Florida.
Richard Scott Chambers is a British rower, and is the brother of fellow rower Peter Chambers. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London he was part of the British crew that won the silver medal in the lightweight men's four.
Ross Brown is an Australian former national and world champion lightweight rower.
Benjamin Cureton is an Australian former lightweight rower. He was an eight-time national champion, a world champion and a three-time Olympian. He won his world championship in the men's lightweight fours, and an Olympic silver medal in that boat class in Athens 2004. He competed at two further Olympics in this discipline. For a twelve-year period from 2001 – excepting 2009 and 2010 – Cureton held his seat in all the Australian lightweight coxless fours selected to race at the premier world regattas.
The 1978 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 30 October to 5 November at Lake Karapiro near Cambridge, New Zealand. Twenty-eight countries were represented at the regatta. In the history of the World Rowing Championships, 1978 was the only year when the lightweight rowing championships were not held in conjunction with the open men and women event; the lightweight events had already been held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in August.
Samuel Beltz is an Australian former lightweight rower. He is a 16-time national champion, a world champion and dual Olympian. He competed at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics and represented Australia at the premier world class regattas over a fifteen-year period from 1999 to 2014.
Roderick Chisholm is a British lightweight class former rower who represented both Great Britain and Australia at world championships. He is an Australian national champion, a World Champion and a dual Olympian who competed at the world class level in both sculls and in sweep-oared boats.
Thomas Gibson is an Australian lightweight rower. He is a twelve-time Australian national champion, a world champion and a dual Olympian.
The rowing competitions at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo took place between 23 and 30 July 2021 at the Sea Forest Waterway in Tokyo Bay. Fourteen medal events were contested by 526 athletes.
Adam Freeman-Pask is a British International rower, World Bronze medallist, European Silver medallist and London 2012 Olympian.
Sam Scrimgeour is a British lightweight rower.
Colin Cusack is a retired British lightweight rower.
Alister Foot is an Australian world champion lightweight rower. He won a gold medal at the 2011 World Rowing Championships in Bled in the lightweight men's eight.
Darryn Purcell is an Australian former national and world champion lightweight rower. He won a gold medal at the 2011 World Rowing Championships in Bled with the lightweight men's eight.
The men's lightweight coxless pair competition at the 2016 World Rowing Championships in Rotterdam took place at the Willem-Alexander Baan.
The men's lightweight coxless pair competition at the 2022 World Rowing Championships took place at the Račice regatta venue.
The rowing competitions at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris ran from 27 July to 3 August at the Stade nautique de Vaires-sur-Marne, National Olympic Nautical Stadium of Île-de-France in Vaires-sur-Marne. The number of rowers competing across fourteen gender-based categories at these Games was reduced from 526 to 502, with an equal distribution between men’s and women’s events. Despite the slight changes in athlete figures, the rowing program for Paris 2024 remained constant from the previous edition as the competition featured an equal number of categories for men and women, with seven each.
The women's lightweight coxless pair competition at the 2024 World Rowing Championships will take place in St. Catharines between 20 and 24 August 2024.
