Rowing: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Rowing is propelling a boat by means of oars. The purpose can be transportation, recreation or sport. As a sport it is sometimes known as crew. There are two forms of rowing, true rowing where each crew member has one oar, and sculling, where each crew member has two oars.

Rowing sport

Rowing is a speed sport in narrow wooden or composite boats, where the athlete sits on a sliding seat above the water level and faces backwards, using oars to move the boat. This may be done on a river, a lake, or on the sea. Sweep rowing involves one oar per rower while sculling involves two oars per rower. Rowing boats can be coxed (steered and commanded by a coxswain) or coxless (also known as "straight").

Racing boats (usually called "shells") are long and narrow in order to reduce drag to a minimum. This makes them unstable and liable to tip. Being able to balance the boat while putting maximum effort into the oars is therefore an essential skill of rowing. Originally wooden, now carbon fiber, racing shells are now almost all composite at the top levels of competition.

Rowers may take part in the sport for their leisure or they may competitively row. There are different types of competition in the sport of rowing. Regattas that are held in the spring and summer are generally "sprint races." Regulation length sprint races are 2000 m long, however occasionally the distance will be 1000 m. Dashes are 500 m long. The boats start at the same time from a stationary position and the winner is the boat that crosses the finish line first.

A head race is another type of regatta rowers can compete in, which take place from the fall season to spring (depending on local conditions). Boats begin with a rolling start at intervals of 10-20 seconds, and race against the clock. Distances can vary from 2,000 m to over 12,000 m. Examples of Head races are the 3 mile (4,828 m) Head of the Charles in Boston MA in October and the 4 1/4 mile (6,840 m) Head of the River Race on the Thames in London in March.

A third type of race is the bumps race, as held in Oxford University and Cambridge University. In these races, crews start lined up along the river at set intervals, and all start at the same time. The aim is to catch up with the boat in front, and avoid being caught by the boat behind. If a crew catches up with the crew ahead of them, and a bump is awarded, both crews pull to the side of the bank and take no further part in that race. However, the next day, the bumping crew will start ahead of the crew that was bumped. Bumps races take place over several days, and 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 hold bumps races for their respective colleges twice a year, and there are also Town Bumps races in both cities, open to all crews. Bump races are very rare in the United States.

Rowing is unusual in the demands it places on competitors. The standard race distance of 2,000 m is long enough to have a large endurance element, but short enough (typically 5.5 to 7.5 minutes) to feel like a sprint. This means that rowers have some of the highest power outputs of athletes in any sport. At the same time the motion involved in the sport compresses the rowers' lungs, limiting the amount of oxygen available to them. This requires rowers to tailor their breathing to the stroke, typically inhaling and exhaling twice per stroke, unlike most other sports such as cycling where competitors can breathe freely.

The relative obscurity of rowing has helped it develop an introspective atmosphere, where long hours, early mornings on the river, and the physical pain of the event are the price of being a part of the rowing community. The intense focus of top rowers on their sport is unusual even by the standard of similarly excellent competitors in other sports.

One piece of equipment commonly used when training for rowing, the 'indoor rower' or 'ergometer', has become popular as a sport in its own right.

History

Rowing boats (or similar vessels) have been around for centuries, but before the 18th century, there is little mention of boat races. In the 13th century, Venetian festivals called regata included boat races among others. Nowadays, rowing competitions are still called regattas (with a second 't' added).

The first modern rowing races, in the second half of the 18th century, were races between watermen on the River Thames in England. Subsequently, rowing became extremely popular as an amateur sport, often with thousands of spectators for events. From the first University Boat Race between Oxford University and Cambridge University, student rowing has become increasingly popular. In the Anglo-Saxon world, there is also a sizeable school rowing community. The Harvard-Yale race is the oldest intercollegiate sporting event in the United States.

Rowing today is governed by the FISA, which has organized World Championships since 1962. Rowing has also been conducted at the Olympic Games since 1900 (cancelled at the first modern Games in 1896).

Strong rowing nations include the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Canada, Germany, Australia and Romania. Well-known rowers of recent years include Sir Steve Redgrave (UK), who won Olympic golds in five successive Olympics in the coxed four, coxless pair and the coxless four; Matthew Pinsent (UK), who won golds in four successive Olympics, two with Redgrave in the coxless pair and two more (once with Redgrave) in the coxless four; Rob Waddell (New Zealand) and Xeno Müller (Switzerland), opponents in the single sculls; Ekaterina Karsten (Belarus) in women's single sculls; and Kathrin Boron (Germany) in women's double sculls and quadruples.

Competition Format

At World Championship level, sculling races include :

• quadruple sculls (four rowers)
• double sculls (two rowers)
• single sculls (one rower)

and sweep oar rowing races include:

• coxed eight (or eight)
• coxed fours
• coxless fours (or strait fours)
• coxless pairs (occasionally coxed pairs are rowed).

There are also lightweight men's (<72.5 kg) and lightweight women's (<57.5 kg) races in the aforementioned classes. All races are held over 2000 metres.

Coxed fours and coxed pairs are no longer Olympic events. It is rumored that this decision was made to make room for the lightweight men's and women's competition at the Olympics. As a result of the cancelation of the coxed fours and coxed pairs at the Olympics, rowers take less interest in rowing those types of boats at World Championships as well.

At national, regional and local levels, Masters rowers (those 27 and up who have not won major competitions in the last year) generally race over a 1000-meter distance.

One Stroke

• The stroke begins with the oar out of the water with the blade feathered, or in other words parallel to the water. The rower has legs straight and body upright, and arms straight in front.
• The rower leans the body forward ( i.e. toward the stern) slightly while keeping the oar level and legs straight.
• The rower bends the legs, bringing the seat forward ( i.e. toward the stern) on its rollers, while the oar remains level.
• The blade of the oar is turned 90 degrees so that it is perpendicular to the water.
• The blade is quickly inserted into the water. This is called the catch.
• The rower levers the boat past the tip of the blade by the action of straightening the legs while the body remains leaned forward and the arms remain straight. This is called the leg drive.
• The rower continues pushing with the legs while the body leans back ( i.e. towards the bow ) and begins to draw the blade handle(s) towards the body.
• The rower completes the leg drive plus backwards lean and pulls the oar to the chest by bending the arms. This is called the draw.
• The rower pushes the oar handle down such that the blade comes out of the water. This is known as the release.
• The oar is turned 90 degrees such that the blade is parallel to the water.
• The arms are pushed out in front of the body until they are straight.
• The body is returned to the upright position, and now the position is identical to the starting position.

Rowing Terminology

• Backstop -- (UK) the sliding seat position closest to the boat's bow.
• Bow -- the rower in the front (i.e. the direction the boat is moving while rowing) of a multi-person shell. In coxless boats often the person who keeps an eye on the water behind him to avoid accidents.
• Bow ball -- an essential small, soft ball no smaller than 4centimetres dia. securely attached to a rowing or scullnng boat's bow. Primarily intended for safety but also useful in deciding which boat crossed the finish line first in very close races.
• Bowside -- (UK) starboard side.
• Catch -- the part of the stroke at which the blade enters the water.
• Cleaver Blade -- Modern oar blades that have a more rectangular hatchet-shaped. (also Hatchet blade)
• Coxbox -- portable voice amplifier; may also optionally incorporate digital readouts displaying stroke rate, boat speed & times.
• Coxswain -- The person in the sternmost position of a coxed boat ; responsible for steering and race strategy.
• Crab -- a rowing error in which the blade is pushed under the water and becomes caught in the flow of the water past the boat, referred to as 'catching a crab'. This always results in slowing the boat down, and can even lift a rower out of the shell or make the boat capsize (unlikely).
• "Easy oars" -- To stop.
• Engine Room -- middle rowers in the boat. In an 8-person shell, this is generally seats 3,4,5,6. They are generally the biggest & strongest rowers. Because they are situated in the middle, their technique doesn't have to be as perfect as the others.
• Erg -- Short for ergometer: a rowing machine.
• Feather -- To turn the oar so that its blade is parallel with the water (opposite of 'square').
• Frontstop -- (UK) the sliding seat position closest to the boat's stern.
• Gunwales -- (pronounced: gunnels) the top rib of the shell.
• Hatchet Blade -- Modern oar blades that have a more rectangular hatchet-shaped. (also Cleaver Blade)
• "Hold it/her up" -- (UK) stop the boat.
• "Hold it/her hard" -- (UK) emergency stop.
• Launch -- A motorboat used by rowing instructors, coaches or umpires.
• "Let it Run" -- To stop rowing, but to let the boat glide along with oars skimming the water.
• Macon Blade -- Traditional U-shaped blade
• Oar Lock -- The rectangular lock at the end of the rigger that holds the oar in place while allowing it to pivot and lock in the square or feathers position.
• "On the Square" -- to row without feathering the blades on the recovery.
• Port -- A sweep rower who rows with the oar on the port side.
• Pot -- a tankard awarded as a prize to each member of a winning crew.
• "Power 10" -- the command to take 10 strokes at more than full pressure. Used for passing and gaining water in a race. (sometimes Power 20 or Power 30)
• Rating -- the number of strokes executed per minute by a crew. (also Stroke Rate)
• Ratio -- the relationship between the time taken during the propulsive and recovery phases of a rowing or sculling action.
• Rigger -- The triangular frame that hold the oarlock away from the gunnel to optimize leverage. (there are several styles of riggers)
• Scull -- To row with two oars (per rower), or a shell designed to be sculled.
• Seat race -- a method to compare two rowers in fours or eights. Two boats race against each other once. One rower from each boat switch positions, and the two boats race again. Relative performance in the two races is used to compare the abilities of the two rowers.
• Shell -- The boat used for rowing.
• Shoes -- The piece of the boat to which the rower's feet are attached, either by tying their actual shoes (sneakers) in, or by putting their feet into a permanently-attached pair of sneaker.
• Slides -- hollow rails upon which a rower or sculler's sliding seat will roll.
• Smoothie -- A blade design in which the face of the oar blade is smooth, without the traditional central spine.
• Split time (split)--Amount of time it takes to row 500 meters. Displayed on all ergs.
• Square -- To turn the oar so that its blade is perpendicular to the water (opposite of 'feather').
• Starboard -- A sweep rower who rows with the oar on the starboard side.
• State Room -- The space between the gunwales.
• Stretcher -- (UK) an adjustable footplate.
• Stroke -- (1) one complete cycle through the process above (2) the rower in the stern of a multi-person shell, whose timing is followed by the other rowers.
• Stroke Rate - the number of strokes executed per minute by a crew (also Rating)
• "Weigh-enough" -- The command to stop. (American)

The following short nomenclautre is often used to indicate the type of boat. A prefix of W indicates a women's event, men have no prefix. This is followed by a number indicates the number of crew members. Sculling is indicated by an X which follows. Whether there is a cox or not then follows ; though generally in sculling are coxless, this is assumed unless it is. A coxless boat can also be referred to as a 'straight' boat. For example:

• 8+ -- men's coxed eight.
• W4- -- women's coxless four or women's straight four
• 2X -- men's double scull

Rowing Clubs/Organizations

Clubs:

• Colombo Rowing Club
• Der Hamburger und Germania Ruder Club
• Leander Club
• Associação Naval de Lisboa
• Real Club España (Mexico)
• Gorcumse roei, The Netherlands