Rowing, often called crewin 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 (1.2mi) long with several lanes marked using buoys.
Modern rowing as a competitive sport can be traced to the early 17th century when professional watermen held races (regattas) on the River Thames in London, England. Often prizes were offered by the London Guilds and Livery Companies. Amateur competition began towards the end of the 18th century with the arrival of "boat clubs" at British public schools. Similarly, clubs were formed at colleges within Oxford and Cambridge on the programme for the 1896 games, racing did not take place due to bad weather.[1] Male rowers have competed since the 1900 Summer Olympics. Women's rowing was added to the Olympic programme in 1976. Today, there are fourteen boat classes which race at the Olympics.[2] In addition, the sport's governing body, the World Rowing Federation, holds the annual World Rowing Championships with twenty-two boat classes.
An Egyptian funerary inscription of 1430 BC records that the warrior Amenhotep (Amenophis) II was also renowned for his feats of oarsmanship, though there is some disagreement among scholars over whether there were rowing contests in ancient Egypt.[4] In the Aeneid, Virgil mentions rowing forming part of the funeral games arranged by Aeneas in honour of his father.[5] In the 13th century, Venetian festivals called regata included boat races among others.[6]
The first known "modern" rowing races began from competition among the professional watermen in the United Kingdom that provided ferry and taxi service on the River Thames in London. Prizes for wager races were often offered by the London Guilds and Livery Companies or wealthy owners of riverside houses.[5] The oldest surviving such race, Doggett's Coat and Badge was first contested in 1715 and is still held annually from London Bridge to Chelsea.[7] During the 19th century these races were to become numerous and popular, attracting large crowds. Prize matches amongst professionals similarly became popular on other rivers throughout Great Britain in the 19th century, notably on the Tyne. In America, the earliest known race dates back to 1756 in New York, when a pettiauger defeated a Cape Cod whaleboat in a race.[8]
Amateur competition in England began towards the end of the 18th century the age before technology. Documentary evidence from this period is sparse, but it is known that the Monarch Boat Club of Eton College and the Isis Club of Westminster School were both in existence in the 1790s. The Star Club and Arrow Club in London for gentlemen amateurs were also in existence before 1800. At the University of Oxford bumping races were first organised in 1815 when Brasenose College and Jesus College boat clubs had the first annual race[9] while at Cambridge the first recorded races were in 1827.[10] Brasenose beat Jesus to win Oxford University's first Head of the River; the two clubs claim to be the oldest established boat clubs in the world. The Boat Race between Oxford University and Cambridge University first took place in 1829, and was the second intercollegiate sporting event (following the first Varsity Cricket Match by 2 years). The interest in the first Boat Race and subsequent matches led the town of Henley-on-Thames to begin hosting an annual regatta in 1839.[11]
Founded in 1818, Leander Club is the world's oldest public rowing club.[12] The second oldest club which still exists is the Der Hamburger und Germania Ruder Club which was founded 1836 and marked the beginning of rowing as an organized sport in Germany.[13] During the 19th century, as in England, wager matches in North America between professionals became very popular attracting vast crowds. Narragansett Boat Club was founded in 1838 exclusively for rowing. During an 1837 parade in Providence, R.I, a group of boatmen were pulling a longboat on wheels, which carried the oldest living survivor of the 1772 Gaspee Raid. They boasted to the crowd that they were the fastest rowing crew on the Bay. A group of Providence locals took issue with this and challenged them to race, which the Providence group summarily won. The six-man core of that group went on in 1838 to found NBC.[14] Detroit Boat Club was founded in 1839 and is the second oldest continuously operated rowing club in the U.S. In 1843, the first American college rowing club was formed at Yale University.[15] The Harvard–Yale Regatta is the oldest intercollegiate sporting event in the United States,[16][17] having been contested every year since 1852 (excepting interruptions for wars and the COVID-19 pandemic).
Philadelphia's iconic Boathouse Row, Home of the Schuylkill Navy
The Schuylkill Navy is an association of amateur rowing clubs of Philadelphia. Founded in 1858, it is the oldest amateur athletic governing body in the United States.[18] The member clubs are all on the Schuylkill River where it flows through Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, mostly on the historic Boathouse Row. The success of the Schuylkill Navy and similar organizations contributed heavily to the extinction of professional rowing and the sport's current status as an amateur sport.[19] At its founding, it had nine clubs; today, there are 12. At least 23 other clubs have belonged to the Navy at various times.[20] Many of the clubs have a rich history, and have produced a large number of Olympians and world-class competitors.[21]
Women row in all boat classes, from single scull to coxed eights, across the same age ranges and standards as men, from junior amateur through university-level to elite athlete.[26][27] Typically men and women compete in separate crews although mixed crews and mixed team events also take place.[28] Coaching for women is similar to that for men.[29] The world's first women's rowing team was formed in 1896 at the Furnivall Sculling Club in London.[30] The club, with signature colors a very distinct myrtle and gold, began as a women's club, but eventually allowed the admittance of men in 1901.[30]
The first international women's races were the 1954 European Rowing Championships.[31] The introduction of women's rowing at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal increased the growth of women's rowing because it created the incentive for national rowing federations to support women's events. Rowing at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London included six events for women compared with eight for men.[32] In the US, rowing is an NCAA sport for women but not for men;[33] though it is one of the country's oldest collegiate sports, the difference is in large part due to the requirements of Title IX.
At the international level, women's rowing traditionally has been dominated by Eastern European countries, such as Romania, Russia, and Bulgaria, although other countries such as Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, Great Britain and New Zealand often field competitive teams.[32] The United States also has had very competitive crews, and in recent years these crews have become even more competitive given the surge in women's collegiate rowing.[34] Now there is usually the same number of girls and boys in a group.
While rowing, the athlete sits in the boat facing toward the stern and uses the oars (also interchangeably referred to as "blades"), which are held in place by oarlocks (also referred to as "gates"), to propel the boat forward (towards the bow). Rowing is distinguished from paddling in that the oar is attached to the boat using an oarlock, where in paddling there is no oarlock or attachment of the paddle to the boat.
Women's single sculls final at the 28th Summer Universiade 2015
The rowing stroke may be characterized by two fundamental reference points: the catch, which is placement of the oar spoon in the water, and the extraction, also known as the finish or release, when the rower removes the oar spoon from the water.
After the oar is placed in the water at the catch, the rower applies pressure to the oar levering the boat forward which is called the drive phase of the stroke. Once the rower extracts the oar from the water, the recovery phase begins, setting up the rower's body for the next stroke.
At the catch, the rower places the oar in the water and applies pressure to the oar by pushing the seat toward the bow of the boat by extending the legs, thus pushing the boat through the water. The point of placement of the spoon in the water is a relatively fixed point about which the oar serves as a lever to propel the boat. As the rower's legs approach full extension, the rower pivots the torso toward the bow of the boat and then finally pulls the arms towards his or her chest. The hands meet the chest right above the diaphragm.
At the end of the stroke, with the oar spoon still in the water, the hands drop slightly to unload the oar so that spring energy stored in the bend of the oar gets transferred to the boat which eases removing the oar from the water and minimizes energy wasted on lifting water above the surface (splashing).
The recovery phase follows the drive. The recovery starts with the extraction and involves coordinating the body movements with the goal to move the oar back to the catch position. In extraction, the rower pushes down on the oar handle to quickly lift the spoon out of the water and rapidly rotates the oar so that the spoon is parallel to the water. This process is sometimes referred to as feathering the blade. Simultaneously, the rower pushes the oar handle away from the chest. The spoon should emerge from the water perpendicular or square and be feathered immediately once clear of the water. After feathering and extending the arms, the rower pivots the body forward. Once the hands are past the knees, the rower compresses the legs which moves the seat towards the stern of the boat. The leg compression occurs relatively slowly compared to the rest of the stroke, which affords the rower a moment to recover, and allows the boat to glide through the water. The gliding of the boat through the water during recovery is often called run.
A controlled slide is necessary to maintain momentum and achieve optimal boat run. However, various teaching methods disagree about the optimal relation in timing between drive and recovery. Near the end of the recovery, the rower squares the oar spoon into perpendicular orientation with respect to the water and begins another stroke.[35][36]
Technique exercises
Rowing technique drills are essential components of a rower's training routine, focusing on specific aspects of the rowing stroke to refine skills and enhance overall performance. These structured exercises, whether performed individually (on the erg), in groups, or whole boat provide a targeted approach to improving coordination, body positioning, and teamwork.[37][38][39]
Forward pick
The forward pick drill, often used as a standard warm-up for rowing crews in groups of 4 or 6, focuses on isolating different components of the recovery and drive sequence. Starting with arms-only strokes and gradually incorporating the back, ½ slide, and full slide, rowers gain a nuanced understanding of the interplay between these elements. The drill aims to enhance body preparation, providing rowers with a tactile sense of how each phase should seamlessly flow into the next.[40]
Reverse pick (Korzinowski drill)
The reverse pick drill, executed in groups of 4 or 6, isolates different aspects of the drive sequence. With the boat ‘’checked-down’’ (the boat has no speed), rowers initiate the drill with leg-only strokes, gradually adding the back and arms. The emphasis is on maintaining proper body position and sitting tall throughout the exercise. This drill aids in isolating and understanding the distinct elements of the drive sequence and their interconnectedness.[40]
Cut-the-cake
The cut-the-cake drill typically involves the entire boat. Rowers execute the drill collectively, starting with a normal stroke and transitioning into the subsequent recovery. During this process, the entire crew pivots forward with their bodies, swings back to the finish (without letting the oars drop in the water), then swings forward again to reach the catch position. The swinging motion, referred to as "cutting the cake," involves coordinated movements by all rowers, creating a unified and synchronized exercise aimed at improving boat balance, swing, and recovery timing.[41]
Quarter or half slide rowing
Designed for the entire crew or smaller groups, this drill involves rowing using only a quarter or half of the slide at a high rating with a full press. It sharpens quick catches and emphasizes coordination during the recovery phase.[40]
Square-Wide-6
The Square-Wide-6 drill, conducted in groups of 6 or 4, requires rowers to take a wide grip on the oar handle, emphasizing a specific body position during the recovery. This encourages proper body positioning and enhances body flexibility[42][40]
Feet-out rowing
Feet-out rowing, performed either collectively by all rowers or in smaller groups, involves the removal of feet from the shoes and placement of feet on top of the shoes. This drill helps rowers maintain continuous pressure on the footboard, especially during oar release. Despite challenges like early leg finishing or excessive layback, feet-out rowing reinforces improved leg connection and more reasonable layback, translating on-the-water skills to the erg for a more efficient rowing experience.[39]
Eyes-closed rowing
In the eyes-closed rowing drill, performed by the whole boat, rowers execute the rowing motion with closed eyes and heightened auditory awareness. Rowers row with eyes closed, relying solely on their sense of touch and careful listening to the boat motion and the coxswain. This drill is designed to enhance rowers' ability to feel the subtle movements of the boat and synchronize seamlessly with their teammates. By eliminating the visual element, rowers focus on developing a heightened sense of touch and teamwork, fostering a deeper understanding of the rowing experience. This drill enhances the overall coordination and sensitivity to the dynamics of the boat, contributing to improved synchronization and a more nuanced rowing performance.[43]
Broadly, there are two ways to row, sometimes called disciplines:[44]
In sweep rowing, each rower has one oar, held with both hands.[45] There are usually an even number of rowers – two, four or eight. Each rower's oar will extend to their port or starboard. In the United Kingdom, the port side is referred to as stroke side and the starboard side as bow side; this applies even if the stroke oarsman is rowing on the bow side and/or the bow oarsman on the stroke side.
In sculling each rower has two oars (or sculls), one in each hand. Sculling is usually done without a coxswain in quads, doubles or singles. The oar in the sculler's right hand extends to port and the oar in the left hand extends to starboard.
Within each discipline, there are several boat classes. A single regatta (series of races) will often feature races for many boat classes. They are classified using:
Number of rowers: in all forms of modern competition the number is 1, 2, 4, or 8.
Whether there is a coxswain (also referred to as cox). Coxless sweep boats are sometimes called "straight", while sculling boats are assumed to be coxless unless stated otherwise.
Although sweep and sculling boats are generally identical to each other (except having different riggers), they are referred to using different names:
Racing boats (often called shells) are long, narrow, and broadly semi-circular in cross-section in order to reduce drag in the water. There is some trade off between boat speed and stability in choice of hull shape. They usually have a fin towards the rear, to help prevent roll and yaw and to increase the effectiveness of the rudder.
Originally made from wood, shells are now almost always made from a composite material (usually a double skin of carbon-fiber reinforced plastic with a sandwich of honeycomb material) for strength and weight advantages. World Rowing rules specify minimum weights for each class of boat so that no individual team will gain a great advantage from the use of expensive materials or technology.
Smaller sculling boats are usually steered by the scullers pulling harder on one side or the other while larger boats often have a rudder, controlled by the coxswain, if present, or by one of the crew using a cable attached to one of the shoes.
With the smaller boats, specialist versions of the shells for sculling can be made lighter. The riggers in sculling apply the forces symmetrically to each side of the boat, whereas in sweep oared racing these forces are staggered alternately along the boat. The sweep oared boat has to be stiffer to handle these unmatched forces, so consequently requires more bracing and is usually heavier – a pair (2-) is usually a more robust boat than a double scull (2x) for example, and being heavier is also slower when used as a double scull. In theory, this could also apply to the 4x and 8x, but most rowing clubs cannot afford to have a dedicated large hull which might be rarely used and instead generally opt for versatility in their fleet by using stronger shells which can be rigged for either sweep rowing or sculling. The symmetrical forces also make sculling more efficient than sweep rowing: the double scull is faster than the coxless pair, and the quadruple scull is faster than the coxless four.
Many adjustments can be made to the equipment to accommodate the physiques of the crew. Collectively these adjustments are known as the boat's rigging.
Oars, sometimes referred to as blades, are used to propel the boat. They are long (sculling: 250–300cm; sweep oar: 340–360cm) poles with one flat end about 50cm long and 25cm wide, called the spoon. Classic blades were made out of wood, but modern blades are made from more expensive and durable synthetic material, the most common being carbon fiber.
An 'oar' is often referred to as a blade in the case of sweep oar rowing and as a scull in the case of sculling. A sculling oar is shorter and has a smaller spoon area than the equivalent sweep oar. The combined spoon area of a pair of sculls is however greater than that of a single sweep oar, so the oarsman when sculling is working against more water than when rowing sweep-oared. They are able to do this because the body action in sculling is more anatomically efficient (due to the symmetry).
The spoon of oars is normally painted with the colours of the club to which they belong. This greatly simplifies identification of boats at a distance. As many sports teams have logos printed on their jerseys, rowing clubs have specifically painted blades that each team is associated with.
Indoor rowing (on indoor rower, or rowing tank) is a way to train technique and strength by going through the same motions as rowing, with resistance(usually a large tank of water). Indoor rowing is helpful when there are no rowable bodies of water near by, or weather conditions don't permit rowing.
A rowing tank is an indoor facility which attempts to mimic the conditions rowers face on open water. Rowing tanks are used primarily for off-season rowing, muscle-specific conditioning and technique training, or simply when bad weather prevents open-water training.
Ergometer rowing machines (colloquially ergs or ergo) simulate the rowing action and provide a means of training on land when waterborne training is restricted, and of measuring rowing fitness. Ergometers do not simulate the lateral balance challenges, the exact resistance of water, or the exact motions of true rowing including the sweep of the oar handles. For that reason ergometer scores are generally not used as the sole selection criterion for crews (colloquially "ergs don't float"), and technique training is limited to the basic body position and movements. However, this action can still allow a workout comparable to those experienced on the water. Indoor rowing has become popular as a sport in its own right with numerous indoor competitions (and the annual World Championship CRASH-B Sprints in Boston) during the winter off-season.[46]
There are several formats for rowing races, often called "regattas". The two most common are side by side and head races.
Side by side
Most races that are held in the spring and summer feature side-by-side,[lower-alpha 2] or sprint[lower-alpha 3] racing; all the boats start at the same time from a stationary position, and the winner is the boat that crosses the finish line first. The number of boats in a race typically varies between two (which is sometimes referred to as a dual race) to eight, but any number of boats can start together if the course is wide enough.
The standard length races for the Olympics and the World Rowing Championships is 2 kilometres (1.24mi) long. In the United States, some scholastic (high school) races are 1.5 kilometres (0.93mi), while many youth races are the standard 2 kilometres. Masters rowers (rowers older than 27) often race 1,000m. However the race distance can and does vary from dashes or sprints, which may be 500 metres (1,640ft) long, to longer dual races like the 6.8 kilometres (4.2mi)Boat Race.
Two traditional non-standard distance shell races are the annual Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge and the Harvard-Yale Boat Race which cover courses of approximately 4 miles (6.44km). The Henley Royal Regatta is also raced upon a non-standard distance at 2,112meters (1mile, 550yards).
In general, multi-boat competitions are organized in a series of rounds, with the fastest boats in each heat qualifying for the next round. The losing boats from each heat may be given a second chance to qualify through a repechage. The World Rowing Championships offers multi-lane racing in heats, finals and repechages. At Henley Royal Regatta two crews compete side by side in each round, in a straightforward knock-out format, with no repechages.
Two crews racing in the annual Lagan Head of the River, Belfast. The closer boat is being overtaken by the boat on the far side.
Head races are time trial / processional races that take place from autumn (fall) to early spring (depending on local conditions). Boats begin with a rolling start at intervals of 10 – 20seconds, and are timed over a set distance. Head courses usually vary in length from 2,000 metres (1.24mi) to 12,000 metres (7.46mi), though there are longer races such as the Boston Rowing Marathon and shorter such as Pairs Head.
These processional races are known as Head Races, because, as with bumps racing, the fastest crew is awarded the title Head of the River (as in "head of the class"). It was not deemed feasible to run bumps racing on the Tideway, so a timed format was adopted and soon caught on.
Time trials are sometimes used to determine who competes in an event where there is a limited number of entries, for example, the qualifying races for Henley Royal Regatta, and rowing on and getting on for the Oxford and Cambridge Bumps races respectively.
A bumps race is a multi-day race beginning with crews lined up along the river at set intervals. They start simultaneously and all pursue the boat ahead while avoiding being bumped by a boat from behind. If a crew overtakes or makes physical contact with the crew ahead, a bump is awarded. As a result, damage to boats and equipment is common during bumps racing. To avoid damage the cox of the crew being bumped may concede the bump before contact is actually made. The next day, the bumping crew will start ahead of any crews that have been bumped. The positions at the end of the last race are used to set the positions on the first day of the races the next year. Oxford and Cambridge Universities hold bumps races for their respective colleges twice a year, and there are also Town Bumps races in both cities, open to non-university crews. Oxford's races are organised by City of Oxford Rowing Club[49] and Cambridge's are organised by the Cambridgeshire Rowing Association.
The stake format was often used in early American races. Competitors line up at the start, race to a stake, moored boat, or buoy some distance away, and return. The 180° turn requires mastery of steering. These races are popular with spectators because one may watch both the start and finish. Usually only two boats would race at once to avoid collision. The Green Mountain Head Regatta continues to use the stake format, but it is run as a head race with an interval start.[50] A similar type of racing is found in UK and Irish coastal rowing, where a number of boats race out to a given point from the coast and then return fighting rough water all the way. In Irish coastal rowing the boats are in individual lanes with the races consisting of up to 3 turns to make the race distance 2.3km.
Rowers in multi-rower boats are numbered sequentially from the bow aft. The number-one rower is called the bowman, or just 'bow', whilst the rower closest to the stern is called the 'strokeman' or just 'stroke'. There are some exceptions to this – some UK coastal rowers, and in France, Spain, and Italy rowers number from stern to bow.
In addition to this, certain crew members have other titles and roles. In an 8+ the stern pair are responsible for setting the stroke rate and rhythm for the rest of the boat to follow. The middle four (sometimes called the "engine room" or "power house") are usually the less technical, but more powerful rowers in the crew, whilst the bow pair are the more technical and generally regarded as the pair to set up the balance of the boat. They also have most influence on the line the boat steers.
The coxswain (or simply the cox) is the member who steers the boat using rudder strings, and coordinates the power and rhythm of the rowers, by communicating to the crew, often through a device called a cox box and speakers. The cox usually sits in the stern of the boat facing the rowers but in bowloaders, usually seen in the coxed four and coxed pair types of boat, the coxswain lies in the bow. The cox is usually the smallest and lightest out of all the crew.
It is an advantage for the coxswain to be light as this requires less effort for the crew to propel the boat. In many competitive events there is a minimum weight, 55 kilograms (121lb) under World Rowing rules, set for the coxswain to prevent unfair advantage. If a coxswain is under the minimum weight allowance (underweight), they may have to carry weights in the boat such as sandbags.[51]
Athlete categories
Age
At the elite level, the World Rowing Federation recognizes an under 19 category for athletes who are age 18 or less by the end of the calendar year for a given event. The World Rowing Junior Championships is the world championship event for this category. Athletes under 23 years of age by the end of the calendar year may compete in the under 23 category, and the World Rowing U23 Championships is held for these athletes. World Rowing uses the term "Senior" for events open to any age.[52]
Under World Rowing rules, athletes may compete in "Masters" categories when they reach age 27. World Rowing holds the World Rowing Masters Regatta for these athletes, at which there are several age subcategories.[52]
Weight
Lightweight boat classes are restricted by the rowers' weight. According to the World Rowing Federation, this weight category was introduced "to encourage more universality in the sport especially among nations with less statuesque people". The first lightweight events were held at the World Championships in 1974 for men and 1985 for women. Lightweight rowing was added to the Olympics in 1996. As of 2021, the only Olympic lightweight boat classes are the men's and women's double sculls. Starting with the 2028 Olympic games, lightweight rowing will no longer have any events in the Olympics.[53]
The World Rowing Federation lightweight standards are:
Men: Crew average 70 kilograms (150lb) – no rower over 72.5 kilograms (160lb)
Women: Crew average 57 kilograms (126lb) – no rower over 59 kilograms (130lb)
At the collegiate level in the United States, the lightweight weight requirements can be different depending on competitive season. For fall regattas (typically head races), the lightweight cutoff for men is 165lb and 135lb for women. In the spring season (typically sprint races), the lightweight cutoff for men is 160lb, with a boat average of 155lb for the crew; for women, the lightweight cutoff is 130lb.[54]
For juniors in the United States, the lightweight cutoff for men is 150lb; for women, it is 130lb. In the fall the weight limits are increased for women, with the cutoff being 135lb.
Oksana Masters & Rob Jones of the US in the mixed sculls (TA 2x) final at the Paralympics, London 2012. The rowers are fixed to the seat.
Adaptive rowing is a special category of races for those with physical disabilities. Under World Rowing rules there are 5 boat classes for adaptive rowers; mixed (2 men and 2 women plus cox) LTA (Legs, Trunk, Arms), mixed intellectual disability (2 men and 2 women plus cox) LTA (Legs, Trunk, Arms), mixed (1 man and 1 woman) TA (Trunk and Arms), and men's and women's AS (Arms and Shoulders). Events are held at the World Rowing Championships and were also held at the 2008 Summer Paralympics.[55]
At the end of each year, the World Rowing Federation holds the World Rowing Championships with events in 22 different boat classes. Athletes generally consider the Olympic classes to be premier events.[57] In 2017 FISA (now the World Rowing Federation) voted to adopt a new Olympic programme for 2020, whereby the lightweight men's coxless four event was replaced by the women's heavyweight coxless four. This was done to ensure that rowing had a gender equal Olympic programme.[2] During Olympic years only non-Olympic boats compete at the World Championships.
Rowing is one of the few bearing sports that exercises all the major muscle groups, including quads, biceps, triceps, lats, glutes and abdominal muscles.[58] The sport also improves cardiovascular endurance and muscular strength. High-performance rowers tend to be tall and muscular:[59] although extra weight does increase the drag on the boat, the larger athletes' increased power tends to compensate. The increased power is achieved through the increased leverage on the oar provided by the longer limbs of the athlete. In multi-person boats (2,4, or 8), the lightest person typically rows in the bow seat at the front of the boat.
Rowing is a low-impact sport with movement only in defined ranges, so that twist and sprain injuries are rare. However, the repetitive rowing action can put strain on knee joints, the spine and the tendons of the forearm, and inflammation of these are the most common rowing injuries.[60] If one rows with poor technique, especially rowing with a curved rather than straight back, other injuries may surface, including back pains and wrist injuries. Blisters occur for almost all rowers, especially in the beginning of one's rowing career, as every stroke puts pressure on the hands, though rowing frequently tends to harden hands and generate protective calluses. Holding the oars too tightly or making adjustments to technique may cause recurring or new blisters, as it is common to feather the blade. Another common injury is getting "track bites", thin cuts on the back of one's calf or thigh caused by contact with the seat tracks at either end of the stroke.[61]
Sculling is the use of oars to propel a boat by moving them through the water on both sides of the craft, or moving one oar over the stern. A long, narrow boat with sliding seats, rigged with two oars per rower may be referred to as a scull, its oars may be referred to as sculls and a person rowing it referred to as sculler.
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.
In competitive rowing, the following specialized terms are important in the corresponding aspects of the sport:
In a rowing crew, the coxswain is the member who does not row but steers the boat and faces forward, towards the bow. The coxswain is responsible for steering the boat and coordinating the power and rhythm of the rowers. In some capacities, the coxswain is responsible for implementing the training regimen or race plan. Most coaches cannot communicate to boat/coxswain, so the coxswain is the "coach" in the boat. A coxswain is necessary in the first place because the rowers sit with their backs to the direction of travel.
In the sport of rowing, each rower is numbered by boat position in ascending order from the bow to the stern. The person who is seated on the first seat is always the 'bow', the closest to the stern is commonly referred to as the 'stroke'. There are some exceptions to this: Rowers in continental Europe number from stern up to bow. Certain crew members have other informal titles and roles. Stroke seat in most cases is responsible for keeping pace for the boat, while the coxswain is responsible for the steering of the boat.
Anthony John Edwards is an Australian former lightweight rower. He is a five time Olympian, triple Olympic medallist, a world champion and a six-time Australian national champion. He represented Australia at the premier world regattas consistently over a twenty-year period from 1993 to 2012.
A coxed four, abbreviated as a 4+, is a racing shell used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars and is steered by a coxswain.
A coxless four, abbreviated as a 4- and also called a straight four, is a racing shell used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars, without a coxswain.
An eight, abbreviated as an 8+, is a racing shell used in competitive rowing (crew). It is designed for eight rowers, who propel the boat with sweep oars, and is steered by a coxswain, or "cox".
Sweep rowing is one of two disciplines of the sport of rowing. In sweep rowing each rower has one oar, usually held with both hands. As each rower has only one oar, the rowers have to be paired so that there are equal numbers of oars on each side of the boat. In the United Kingdom, rowing generally refers to sweep rowing only. The term pulling was also used historically. In the other rowing discipline, sculling, each rower holds two oars, one in each hand.
Simon Burgess is an Australian national champion, two-time World Champion, three-time Olympian and dual Olympic silver medal-winning lightweight rower. He represented Australia ten times at World Rowing Championships between 1990 and 2002. He won world and national championships in both sculls and in sweep-oared boat classes during an eighteen-year elite level career.
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.
Rebecca Sattin is an Australian rower, a two time World Champion and Olympic medal winner. She had success at the elite world level as both a sculler and a sweep-oared rower.
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.
Justine Joyce is an Australian former representative rower. She is national champion and a world champion and is the standing world record holder in the women's lightweight coxless pair.
Maia Simmonds is an Australian former representative rower. She is a three-time national champion, rowed for her home state of Western Australia in both lightweight and heavyweight crews, in sculling and sweep-oared boats and won a silver medal at the 2014 World Rowing Championships.
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.
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.
References
Notes
↑ Doggett's Coat and Badge was first contested in 1715, rowing as a sport has recorded references back to Ancient Egyptian times.
↑ Good, Megan. "Schuylkill Navy Records, 1859–2009"(PDF). Independence Seaport Museum, J. Welles Henderson Archives and Library. Archived(PDF) from the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved October 7, 2013.
↑ "Boathouse Row Clubs". Schuylkill Navy & Boathouse Row. Archived from the original on June 26, 2015. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
↑ "British Rowing Technique". The Amateur Rowing Association. Archived from the original on February 19, 2007. Retrieved December 23, 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
↑ Inc, The Independent Rowing News (June 8, 1997). Rowing News. The Independent Rowing News Inc. Archived from the original on May 9, 2022. Retrieved May 9, 2022.{{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)
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