Rowing (Olympic sport since 1896)

   About

   Tactically, it sounds as ludicrous as sprinting the first five kilometres of a marathon. To win a 2000-metre rowing race, the crew must sprint for the first 500 metres.

   Such are the demands in the sport of the Athlete of the Century and the Oarsome Foursome.

   Rowing is an endurance test that finishes at a speed of up to 10 metres a second. Crews cover the middle 1000 metres at about 40 strokes per minute, but, over the first and last 500 metres, shift up a gear to as many as 47.

   The modern master is Steve Redgrave of Great Britain, widely hailed as the greatest rower ever. A six-time World Champion, he won gold medals at the last five Olympic Games and has been loosely crowned Athlete of the Century.

   Competition

   The Olympic Games added a women's rowing competition in 1976, and women now compete in six of the 14 medal events. The races are divided into sculling and sweep oar, with heavyweight and lightweight divisions.

   A rower has one oar in sweep rowing, an oar in each hand in sculling. Boats have one, two, four or eight rowers. The eights have a cox, who steers the boat and directs the crew, but, in all other boats, one rower steers by controlling a small rudder with a foot pedal.

   Men and women each compete in single, double and quadruple sculls, lightweight double scull, the eight and coxless pair. Men also race in coxless four and lightweight coxless four.

   All boats race in heats, with the top finishers advancing directly into the semi-finals or the six-boat final. The other boats get a second chance, with the top boats again qualifying. The progression system - and any semi-finals - depends on the number of boats in each event.

   List of events

   -- coxless pair (2-) Men

   -- double sculls (2x) Men

   -- eight with coxswain (8+) Men

   -- four without coxswain (4-) Men

   -- lightweight coxless four (4-) Men

   -- lightweight double sculls (2x) Men

   -- quadruple sculls without coxsw Men

   -- single sculls (1x) Men

   -- double sculls (2x) Women

   -- eight with coxswain (8+) Women

   -- lightweight double sculls (2x) Women

   -- pair without coxswain (2-) Women

   -- quadruple sculls without coxsw Women

   -- single sculls (1x) Women

History

   Discipline's origin

   Rowing was first used as a means of transport in the ancient cultures of Egypt, Greece and Rome. Rowing as a sport probably began in Victorian England in the 17th and early 18th centuries. By the 19th century, rowing was popular in Europe and had been exported to America. Early races were usually contested by professionals, and heavy betting on races was common. The earliest recognised champion was Toronto's Edward "Ned" Hanlan, nicknamed "The Boy in Blue," because of his penchant for racing in a sky blue outfit. Hanlan has also been described as the first true world champion of any sport. Competitive rowing precedes most of the other Olympic sports in its recorded modern history. The first Oxford-Cambridge race took place in 1828 and Yale and Harvard first rowed against each other in 1852 on New Hampshire's Lake Winnipesaukee.

   Olympic history

   The only time that rowing has not been contested in the Olympics was in 1896. The sport was actually on the programme that year but rough seas forced the cancellation of the events. There are multiple events for men in both sweep events and sculling events. These have included single, double, and quadruple races in scull events. In the sweep events, the races included are two and four oarsmen, with and without coxswain, and the large boat event with eight oarsmen and a coxswain.

   Women were admitted to the Olympic programme in 1976. They compete in a streamlined programme, with only one sweep event for two and four oarswomen, and a coxed eight event.

   The United States was the dominant nation in Olympic rowing until about 1960. The Soviet Union quickly became a power in the sport, but in the 1970s and 1980s the GDR (East Germany) was by far the dominant nation. The unification of Germany obviously changed this, but it should be noted that the Federal Republic of Germany was also a top rowing nation, and the team from the combined Germany is still one of the world's rowing powers.

   The Olympic rowing programme underwent a change beginning at the 1996 Olympics, with the introduction of lightweight events. The men's coxed pairs and coxed fours were discontinued, replaced by the lightweight double sculls and lightweight coxless fours. The women's coxless pairs event was discontinued and replaced by lightweight double sculls. The weight limits for lightweight events are as follows: individual women must not weigh more than 59kg, with the average crew weight no more than 57kg; individual men must not weigh more than 72.5kg, with the average crew weight being no more than 70kg.

Equipment

   Blade

   The flattened, or spoon-shaped, part of an oar that touches the water during rowing.

   Boot

   A device that holds the bow of a boat before a race, then drops below the water on the starting signal.

   Bow

   The forward section of a boat.

   Bowball

   A rubber ball attached to the bow tip of a shell to protect against damage and injury in case of a collision.

   Button

   A collar around the shaft of the oar that keeps the oar from slipping through the oarlock and can be adjusted up and down the oar to increase or decrease leverage.

   Cox box

   An electronic device used by the coxswain to amplify his or her voice and broadcast it through speakers located throughout the shell.

   Double

   A sculling boat for two rowers.

   Eight

   A sweep-oar boat with eight rowers and a coxswain.

   Fin

   A small, flat piece of wood or plastic attached perpendicularly to the bottom of the shell to help the shell stay on a true course; also known as a "skeg".

   Four

   A sweep-oar boat for four rowers, with or without a coxswain.

   Gate

   A bar across the oarlock to prevent the oar from popping out.

   Gunwale

   A horizontal strip of wood running the length of a shell, to which the ribs and other parts traditionally are attached.

   Handle

   The part of an oar held by an oarsman.

   Keel

   The body of the shell that runs from box to stern.

   Loom

   The part of an oar between the blade and the handle.

   Oar

   A lever used to propel and steer a boat through water, consisting of a long shaft of wood with a blade at one end.

   Oarlock

   A U-shaped device on a boat's gunwale where the oar rests and swings; also called a "rowlock".

   Outrigger

   A framework attached to the shell and used to support the oarlock; also called a "rigger".

   Pin

   The metal rod upon which the oarlock is mounted.

   Rib

   A U-shaped piece of fabricated wood, aluminium or carbon fibre that supports the hull by fitting inside the shell between the keel and the gunwale.

   Rigger

   A framework attached to the shell and used to support the oarlock; also called an "outrigger".

   Rowlock

   A device on a boat's gunwale where the oar rests and swings; also called an "oarlock".

   Rudder

   A device under the shell of a boat used to steer it.

   Scull

   One of two short oars worked from side to side over the stern of a boat as a means of propulsion.

   Shell

   A rowing boat.

   Skeg

   A small, flat piece of wood or plastic attached perpendicularly to the bottom of the shell to help the shell stay on a true course; also known as a "fin".

   Sleeve

   The plastic jacket on the shaft of the oar upon which is mounted a button, used to secure the blade to the oarlock.

Glossary

   Aligner's hut: A hut near ground level on the starting line occupied by the starting judge and an official called the aligner.

   Back splash: Spray kicked up towards the bow of a boat, created as the oar enters the water while still travelling towards the bow on the recovery.

   Bow: The forward section of a boat.

   Bowman: The oarsman who sits nearest the bow of a boat.

   Bowside: All the oarsmen whose oars are in the water on the left side of the shell when facing the stern.

   Bucket: A system of rigging where two consecutive oarsmen row the same side.

   Canvas: The narrowing part of a boat between the bowman and the actual bow of the boat or between the coxswain and the stern, originally covered in canvas.

   Catch: The act of the oar initially engaging the water during rowing.

   Catch a crab: To make a faulty stroke, such as one where the blade either enters the water at a wrong angle and sinks too deep or is held at the wrong angle and fails to enter the water at all.

   Check: An abrupt change in the rate of deceleration caused by pressure on the foot plate where the oarsmen's feet are fixed without simultaneous pressure on the metal rod where the oarlock is mounted.

   Check it down: An emergency command to stop the boat by jamming the oars into the water to create massive drag.

   Course: The competition area in the water for rowing.

   Cox: Short for "coxswain", the person who steers the boat.

   Coxless: With no coxswain.

   Coxswain: The helmsman of a racing shell.

   Deck: The areas of a shell at the bow and stern.

   Dig deep: To put an oar deep into the water, resulting in a loss of power; also called "knife in".

   Drive: The part of the rowing action between the catch and the release when the oar is moving through the water with force.

   False start: A start where one or more boats has taken off too early.

   Feather: To rotate the blade of an oar while rowing so the blade is parallel to the surface of the water.

   Finish: The final part of the drive before the oar is taken out of the water.

   Front splash: Spray kicked up as the oar enters the water at the catch and the oarsman begins to apply pressure before the blade is submerged completely.

   Full paddle: The top level of exertion an oarsman can produce; also called "full pressure".

   Full pressure: The top level of exertion an oarsman can produce; also called "full paddle".

   German rig: Two consecutive rowers (usually the fourth and fifth rowers of an eight) working the same side of a shell while the remaining oarsmen alternate left and right.

   Heat: A single division of a race, with the top finishers advancing to the finals or semi-finals of a competition.

   Hold water: A command by a coxswain for the oarsmen to place their blades horizontally in the water to stop the shell quickly; similar to "check it down", but usually less dramatic.

   Inboard: The distance from the end of the handle to the portion of the button touching the oarlock.

   Inside hand: The rower's hand nearest the oarlock (left hand for starboards, right hand for ports).

   Italian rig: A crew realignment where all but the rowers on each end are rowing in pairs on alternating sides.

   Knife in: To put an oar too deep into the water, resulting in a loss of power; also called "dig deep".

   Layback: The amount of backward lean of an oarsman's body toward the bow at the end of a stroke.

   Lightweight: A weight division in some events for women weighing 59 kilograms or less and men weighing 72.5kg or less.

   Oarsman: A rower

   Off keel: A condition where a shell is unbalanced.

   On keel: A condition where a shell is balanced and level.

   Outboard: The distance on an oar from the oarlock to the tip of the blade.

   Outside hand: The rower's hand furthest from the oarlock.

   Paddle: To row with minimal pressure.

   Pitch: The difference in the angle at which an oar is set, compared with perpendicular to the water.

   Port: The left side of a boat when facing the bow.

   Power 10: A series of 10 strokes where a crew supplies additional power to advance on another crew.

   Puddle: A whirl left in the water from the blade slipping as the rower pulls.

   Quadruple: Involving a four-person crew.

   Racing start: The first 20 or 40 strokes of a race, usually at a higher cadence than those for the rest of the race because shorter strokes usually are needed to overcome the shell's inertia.

   Rating: The number of strokes a crew rows per minute.

   Recovery: The part of the rowing action between the release and the catch in which an oar is positioned for the next stroke.

   Regatta: A boat race.

   Release: The part of the rowing action when the oar is removed from the water after driving through it.

   Rig: 1.the arrangement of riggers (and, hence, oars and rowers) in a shell. 2.to fit out, or prepare, a boat for racing.

   Run: The distance a boat travels during one stroke.

   Scull: A race where rowers work with two oars, one in each hand.

   Set: The balance of a boat.

   Single: A sculling boat for one rower.

   Square: To rotate the blade of an oar so it is at a right angle to the surface of the water.

   Starboard: The right side of a boat when facing the bow.

   Stern: The back part of a boat.

   Stroke: 1.a complete rowing motion, made up of a catch, drive, finish, release, feather and recovery. 2.the rower nearest the stern who sets the rhythm and cadence for the crew.

   Sweep-oar rowing: Rowing with one oar held in both hands.

   Swing: A state of balance and speed that many oarsmen strive to achieve when rowing.

   Toe: To use a foot-controlled rudder, as in some sweep-oar rowing.

   Wash out: To bring the blade out of the water during the drive and before the finish, causing a loss of power.