Sykes Racing

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Sykes Racing
Founded Melbourne, Australia (1966 (1966))
Founder Jeff Sykes
Products Rowing boats
Website www.sykes.com.au

Sykes Racing is an Australian manufacturer of rowing shells. The boat's users range from school students to Olympians.

Rowing (sport) Sport where individuals or teams row boats by oar

Rowing, often referred to as crew in the United States, is a sport whose origins reach back to Ancient Egyptian times. It involves propelling a boat on water using oars. By pushing against the water with an oar, a force is generated to move the boat. The sport can be either recreational for enjoyment or fitness, or competitive, when athletes race against each other in boats. There are a number of different boat classes in which athletes compete, ranging from an individual shell to an eight-person shell with a coxswain.

Olympic Games major international sport event

The modern Olympic Games or Olympics are leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games are considered the world's foremost sports competition with more than 200 nations participating. The Olympic Games are held every four years, with the Summer and Winter Games alternating by occurring every four years but two years apart.

Contents

History

The company was founded in 1966 by Jeff Sykes. Sykes saw the need for innovation in the Australian boat building industry and set out to build the most superior boats in the world. The company's products range right through from novice rowers to world class, elite athletes. These days the company has developed a reputation for developing very high class racing sculls. Since 1992, 75% of Australia's rowing medals from World Championships and Olympic Games have come from rowers using Sykes Racing shells. Sykes' first boat is still in existence today.

Jeff Sykes is an Australian national champion lightweight rower and a builder of world class rowing racing shells.

The World Rowing Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA. It is a week-long event held at the end of the northern hemisphere summer and in non-Olympic years is the highlight of the international rowing calendar.

Types of boats

Sykes Racing uses three different composite materials which include Honeycomb Carbon Composite Boats, Honeycomb Kevlar Boats, Honeycomb Glass Boats. These different materials are used in the eight boat types they produce which are:


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Rowing at the Summer Olympics

Rowing at the Summer Olympics has been part of the competition since its debut in the 1900 Summer Olympics. 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 International Rowing Federation. FISA predates the modern Olympics and was the first international sport federation to join the modern Olympic movement.

In watercraft, a racing shell is an extremely narrow, and often comparatively long, rowing boat specifically designed for racing or exercise. It is outfitted with long oars, outriggers to hold the oarlocks away from the boat, and sliding seats. The boat's long length and semicircular cross-section reduce drag to a minimum. This makes the boat both fast and unstable. It must be balanced by the rowers to avoid tipping. Being able to balance – or "set" – the boat while putting maximum effort into the oars is therefore an essential skill of sport rowing.

In competitive rowing, the following specialized terms are important in the corresponding aspects of the sport:

Janousek Racing Boats British manufacturer of rowing racing shells

Janousek Racing Boats Ltd is a British-based manufacturer of rowing boats / racing shells established in 1981 by Bohumil Janoušek, a Czech rower and Olympic double bronze medallist.

Head of the Schoolgirls (Victoria)

The Victorian Head of the Schoolgirls regatta is contested between girls at schools from all across the state of Victoria Australia. Schools from the Girls Sport Victoria (GSV) and also Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APS), as well as smaller school rowing groups which enter under a rowing club banner, compete in a range of events over 1000m for the Year 9 and Year 10 events or 1500m for the Open events.

Atlanta Rowing Club American rowing club

Atlanta Rowing Club (ARC) is a non-profit 501(c)(4) masters rowing club located in Roswell, Georgia. ARC's colors are red and white. As a masters organization, it is the only club in the Atlanta area for rowers who are beyond high school or college age, although there are several members who are in college. The club is a volunteer-based organization with 200+ members throughout the year.

Double scull boat class in rowing

A double scull is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for two persons who propel the boat by sculling with two oars, one in each hand.

Quad scull boat class in rowing

A quad scull, or quadruple scull in full, is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat by sculling with two oars, one in each hand

Coxed four boat class in rowing

A coxed four is a rowing boat 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.

Coxless four boat class in rowing

A coxless four is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars.

Eight (rowing) boat class in rowing

An eight is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for eight rowers, who propel the boat with sweep oars, and is steered by a coxswain, or "cox".

Sweep (rowing) type of rowing when a rower has one oar

Sweep or sweep-oar rowing is a type of rowing when a 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 is an oar on each side of the boat. This is in contrast to sculling when a rower has two oars, one in each hand. In the UK the term is less used as the term rowing generally refers to sweep oar. The term pulling was also used historically.

Michael McBryde is an Australian former lightweight rower. He was a national champion, an U23 World Champion and a medallist at senior World Championships.

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.

Paul Anthony Thompson MBE is an Australian elite level rowing coach and former rower. As a rower he was an Australian under-age champion, won a silver medal at the 1985 U23 World Championships and rowed in senior King's Cup eights for both South Australia and New South Wales. He has coached Australian and British crews to World Championship titles and Olympic medals including taking Kate Slatter and Megan Still to Australia's first women's Olympic rowing gold at Atlanta 1996. By 2012 he was Great Britain's head coach for women and lightweights and took British crews to three gold and two silver medals at London 2012.

Stuart Wilson is a British lightweight rower. He became world champion in the lightweight men's four at the 1979 World Rowing Championships. He moved to Australia in 1982 and competed for his adopted country at the 1984 World Rowing Championships.

1964 European Rowing Championships international rowing event

The 1964 European Rowing Championships were rowing championships held on the Bosbaan regatta course in the Dutch capital Amsterdam. Women competed from 31 July to 2 August. Men competed the following week from 6 to 9 August. Men competed in all seven Olympic boat classes, and women entered in five boat classes. Many of the men competed two months later at the Olympic Games in Tokyo; women would first be allowed to compete at Olympic level in 1976.

Sonia Mills is an Australian former rower – an Australian national champion, world champion and an Olympian. She had world championship success in both sculls and in sweep-oared boat classes. She competed in the women's double sculls event at the 2008 Summer Olympics.