Rowing, sometimes 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 oarlocks, 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.
World Rowing, also known as the World Rowing Federation, is the international governing body for rowing. Its current president is Jean-Christophe Rolland who succeeded Denis Oswald at a ceremony held in Lucerne in July 2014.
Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other water-borne craft for as long as such watercraft have existed.
A head race is a time-trial competition in the sport of rowing. Head races are typically held in the fall, winter and spring seasons. These events draw many athletes as well as observers. In this form of racing, rowers race against the clock where the crew or rower completing the course in the shortest time in their age, ability and boat-class category is deemed the winner.
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.
Rowing is the oldest intercollegiate sport in the United States. The first intercollegiate race was a contest between Yale and Harvard in 1852. In the 2018–19 school year, there were 2,340 male and 7,294 female collegiate rowers in Divisions I, II and III, according to the NCAA. The sport has grown since the first NCAA statistics were compiled for the 1981–82 school year, which reflected 2,053 male and 1,187 female collegiate rowers in the three divisions. Some concern has been raised that some recent female numbers are inflated by non-competing novices.
Coastal and offshore rowing is a rowing sport performed at sea. In North America, this sport is often called open water rowing.
Rowing New Zealand is the sports governing body for rowing in New Zealand. Its purpose is to provide leadership and support to enable an environment of success for the New Zealand rowing community. This includes secondary schools, clubs, masters, universities and high performance.
The Stotesbury Cup Regatta, sponsored by the Schuylkill Navy, is the world's oldest and largest high school rowing competition. It is held annually in mid-May over a two-day period on the Schuylkill River near Boathouse Row in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Competing crews come from schools all over North America, though most hail from the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States.
The Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) governs intercollegiate rowing between varsity men's heavyweight, men's lightweight, and women's lightweight rowing programs across the United States, while the NCAA fulfills this role for women's open weight rowing. It is the direct successor to the Rowing Association of American Colleges, the first collegiate athletic organization in the United States, which operated from 1870–1894.
Durham University Boat Club (DUBC) is the rowing club of Durham University. In recent years, DUBC has cemented itself as one of the strongest university boat clubs in Great Britain. Under the leadership of former British Olympian Wade Hall-Craggs, DUBC notably won the BUCS Victor Ludorum for ten consecutive years (2004-2013), and has produced a number of athletes that have competed internationally at European and World Championship level.
Trevelyan College Boat Club (TCBC) is the boat club of Trevelyan College, at Durham University in England. An active north eastern rowing club, it competes on a national level, for example at Henley Royal Regatta and the Head of the River Race. The club runs under the leadership of a structured executive committee and benefits from an annual intake of around thirty novice rowers each year. The club was founded officially in 1976, although there was a history of rowing at the college earlier, with the first boat bought in 1966. It is recorded that an all fresher crew won the Ladies Invitation Race at the university Epiphany Term regatta in 1967.
Newcastle University Boat Club (NUBC) is the rowing club of Newcastle University, UK. Established in March 1911 as the boat club for Armstrong College, it celebrated its centenary in 2011, when was also appointed High Performance Programme for heavyweight men and women by British Rowing. In the past 20 years current students and alumni won 60 international vests for GB.
The Royal Thomian Regatta is the annual rowing encounter between traditional school rivals Royal College, Colombo and S. Thomas' College, Mt Lavinia. Begun in 1962 as the Royal Thomian Boat Race it later evolved into a regatta in 1966 and now consists of eight events. It is among the oldest and most prestigious Royal-Thomian sporting encounters.
The Swansea University Rowing Club (SURC) is the rowing club of Swansea University, Wales, and is situated on the west bank of the River Tawe in Swansea. It is unknown when the club was founded, but was re-founded in 2004. Rowing with SURC is open to all members of Sport Swansea, who provide a nominal level of funding and insurance for all university clubs.
The Australian Rowing Championships is an annual rowing event that determines Australia's national rowing champions and facilitates selection of Australian representative crews for World Championships and the Olympic Games. It is Australia's premier regatta, with states, clubs and schools sending their best crews. The Championships commence with the National Regatta - men's, women's and lightweight events in open, under 23, under 19, under 17 and school age events. Rowers at the National Regatta race in their local club colours with composite crews permitted. The Championships conclude with the Interstate Regatta - currently eight events competed by state representative crews or scullers selected by the state rowing associations. The states compete for an overall points tally which decides the Zurich Cup.
The Head of the Hooch Regatta, previously known as the Head of the Chattahoochee Regatta, is a 2-day rowing regatta held annually on the first full weekend in November in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The head race is currently run downstream on a 3.1 miles (5.0 km) course on the Tennessee River. It presently ranks as one of the largest rowing regattas in the United States with over 10,000 rowers and over 2,100 boats entered for the 2014 event. 1,245 boats raced on one day in the 2012 competition, more than any other US regatta on a single day.
The Tawe Phoenix Boat Club is the alumni rowing club of Swansea University Rowing Club, and currently doesn't have a permanent boating base. The club was founded in 2010 and aims to support the interests of Swansea University Rowing Club, to enter some races and to meet up socially at various points throughout each year.
The University of York Boat Club (UYBC) is the rowing club of the University of York. It was founded in 1963 by Richard Miles. The club's boathouse is located along the River Ouse in Fulford, York, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom.
