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.
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.
Henley Women's Regatta, often abbreviated to "HWR" or "Women's Henley", is a rowing regatta held at Henley-on-Thames, England. Chris Aistrop and Rosemary Mayglothling were jointly responsible for setting up the Regatta in June 1988 and Aistrop was the first chairman.
Vesta Rowing Club is a rowing club based on the Tideway of the River Thames in Putney, London, England. It was founded in 1870.
Rob Roy Boat Club, or Robs, is a boat club based on the River Cam in Cambridge, UK, which has traditionally focused on training and racing in small boats. The club has members at all levels, from national squad through seniors and veterans to juniors and novices.
Queen's University Belfast Boat Club (QUBBC) is the boat club of Queen's University Belfast in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is based on the River Lagan in the Stranmillis area of the city, about 10 minutes' walk from the university.
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.
University of London Boat Club is the rowing club for the University of London and its member institutions, many of which also have their own boat clubs. The club has its boathouse on the Thames in Chiswick, London, UK. It is a designated High-Performance Programme funded by British Rowing.
Amber Bradley is an Australian former rower - a six time Australian national sculling champion, a two time World Champion, dual Olympian and an Olympic medal winner. She won her World Championships in both sculling and sweep-oared boat classes.
Paul Reedy is an Australian former rower. He is a dual Olympian, an Olympic and Commonwealth Games silver medalist who competed over a seventeen-year period at the elite level. He was a fourteen-time Australian national champion across both sculling and sweep-oared boats and then coached six Australian crews to national championship titles. He later coached at the London Rowing Club and was appointed as British national Head Coach from 2009. He took Great Britain's lightweight women's sculling crews to Olympic and World Championship gold medals in 2012 and 2016.
Jane Robinson is an Australian former rower - a national champion, three-time World Champion and triple Olympian. She competed at the Summer Olympics in 1996, 2000 and 2004; and at World Rowing Championships in 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, and 2003. She won World Championships as both a sculler and a sweep-oared rower. She attended Toorak College in Mount Eliza, Victoria.
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.
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.
Commercial Rowing Club is a sports club located in Dublin, affiliated with Rowing Ireland. Commercial Rowing Club facilitates competitive rowing for Juniors and Adults. The Club is open to male and female athletes. The club colours are Myrtle Green, White & Azure Blue.
Rowing Ireland, formerly the Irish Amateur Rowing Union, is the governing body of rowing for Ireland. It is a cross-border organisation administering the sport in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Alexander (Steve) Purnell is an Australian rower. He is an Olympic and national champion who has represented at underage and senior world championships. In 2018 in an Australian eight, he won the Grand Challenge Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta. He rowed in the bow seat of the Australian men's coxless four to a gold medal victory at the Tokyo Olympics.
Robert Black is an Australian rower. He is a national champion, a national representative in sculling and sweep-oared boats and twice an U23 World Champion.
Hamish Parry is a former Australian representative lightweight rower. He was a nine-time national champion in both sculling and sweep-oared crews and has sculled at underage and senior world championships from 2013 to 2021.
Katrina Bateman is an Australian former representative rower. She is a ten-time Australian national champion, winning four national titles in the single year of 2015 and rowing in successful Victorian Queen's Cup crews for six consecutive years from 2011-2016. She was twice a medallist at underage world championships and has won gold, silver and bronze medals at World Rowing Cups between 2013 and 2019.
The rowing competitions at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris are scheduled to run from 27 July to 3 August at the 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 has been reduced from 526 to 502, with an equal distribution between men and women. Despite the slight changes in athlete figures, the rowing program for Paris 2024 remains constant from the previous edition as the competition will feature an equal number of categories for men and women, with seven each.
