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.
British Rowing, formerly the Amateur Rowing Association (ARA), is the national governing body for the sport of rowing. It is responsible for the training and selection of individual rowers and crews representing Great Britain and England, and for participation in and the development of rowing in England. Scottish Rowing and Welsh Rowing oversee governance in their respective countries, organise their own teams for the Home International Regatta and input to the GB team organisation.
Scottish Rowing (SR), formerly the Scottish Amateur Rowing Association, is the governing body for the sport of rowing in Scotland. It is responsible for promoting the sport in Scotland and also for selecting crews to send to the Home International Regatta and the Commonwealth Rowing Championships. In addition, Scottish Rowing also runs three of the major regattas of the year, Strathclyde Park Regatta, the Scottish Rowing Championships and the Scottish Indoor Rowing Championships.
Coastal and offshore rowing is a rowing sport performed at sea. In North America, this sport is often called open water rowing.
The Welsh Varsity is an annual sporting event contested by Cardiff University and Swansea University, usually in early April. The sports contested include rugby union, hockey, cricket, squash, badminton, lacrosse, rowing, golf, basketball, football, American football, ultimate frisbee, netball, volleyball, fencing and an array of other sports. Profits go to charity. The event is held over the course of a week, with some sports competing over a weekend due to the nature of the sport. The majority of the games are held on the Wednesday afternoon, with the centrepiece rugby union match between the two sides held in the evening and often attended by in excess of 18,000 supporters.
Sport in Wales plays a prominent role in Welsh culture. Like the other countries of the United Kingdom, Wales enjoys independent representation in major world sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup and in the Rugby World Cup, but competes as part of Great Britain in some other competitions, including the Olympics.
Thomas James MBE is a British rower, twice Olympic champion and victorious Cambridge Blue. In a British coxless four in 2012 he set a world's best time which still stood as of 2021.
Llandaff Rowing Club is a sport rowing club based on the River Taff in Llandaff, a district in the city of Cardiff, Wales. The club was founded in 1946 and is affiliated to the Welsh Amateur Rowing Association and to British Rowing.
Sport in Cardiff is dictated by, amongst other things, its position as the capital city of Wales, meaning that national home sporting fixtures are nearly always played in the city. All of Wales' multi-sports agencies and many of the country's sports governing bodies have their headquarters in Cardiff and the city's many top-quality venues have attracted world-famous sport events, sometimes unrelated to Cardiff or to Wales.
Edinburgh University Boat Club (EUBC) is one of the oldest sports clubs of the University of Edinburgh, in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland.
John McFall is a British Paralympic sprinter and ESA astronaut. In November 2022, he was selected by the European Space Agency to become the first "parastronaut". ESA will do a feasibility study on him flying to space and what needs to be adapted for people with disabilities.
Monmouth Rowing Club is located on the banks of the River Wye in Monmouth, the county town of the historic county of Monmouthshire, Wales. The club is affiliated with the Welsh Amateur Rowing Association (WARA) and hosts several annually organised race events.
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 Welsh Boat Race, also known as the Welsh University Boat Race and The Welsh Varsity Boat Race, is an annual rowing race in Wales between the Swansea University Rowing Club and the Cardiff University Rowing Club, rowed between competing eights each spring since 2006 on the River Tawe or River Taff in South Wales.
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.
Golf is a popular sport in Wales. Although the sport of golf in Great Britain is most associated with Scotland, where it was established and developed, Wales can record its first courses back to the 1880s, and today has over 200 clubs. The first amateur golf competition was held in 1895 and the first professional championship was in 1904. Wales has produced several players of note, including one player, Ian Woosnam, who has won one of the Men's major golf championships and Wales has twice won the men's World Cup, in 1987 and 2005, respectively. Wales also hosted the Ryder Cup, when it was held at Newport's Celtic Manor Resort in 2010.
Robin Williams MBE is a Welsh professional rowing coach for Team GB. He represented Great Britain at six world championships, winning silver and bronze medals. He was coach to the Cambridge University Boat Club for 11 years winning seven Varsity Boat races. As of 2014 he is coach to the World record holders and the reigning Olympic, World, World Cup and European champions of the women's coxless pair, variously rowed by Helen Glover, Heather Stanning and Polly Swann, achieving an unbroken sequence of twelve gold medal victories at world level.
Agecroft Rowing Club is a rowing club based at Salford Quays, Greater Manchester, England. It was formerly based close to the Agecroft Hall in Pendleton 2 miles (3.2 km) north. Its current location is its third within today's City of Salford on a site close to the city centre of Manchester.
Professor Laura McAllister is a Welsh academic, former international footballer and senior sports administrator. As a Wales women's national football team player, McAllister won 24 caps and served as team captain. She is currently Professor of Public Policy and the Governance of Wales at the Wales Governance Centre at Cardiff University. She was formerly Professor of Governance at Liverpool University. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to sport. She was a board member of Stonewall from 2012 to 2015, and is currently a board member of the Institute of Welsh Affairs. She is Chair of the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame and a Non-executive Director of Goodson Thomas boutique executive search agency. She was honoured as one of the BBC 100 Women in December 2022.
