Rowing101

Rowerv.CoxswainRowersaretheathleteswiththeoars.Acoxswainisthesmall(lessthan110lbsforwomenand120lbsformen)personwhosteerstheboatandmotivatesthecrew.Whileaboatdoesn’tmovewithoutitsrowers,coxswainsarealsoanintegralpartoftheteam.Theymakesuretheircrewsaresafe,gointherightdirection,anduseamicrophoneandspeakersystemthroughouttheboatstomotivateandcoachtheircrews.

SweepRowingv.ScullingTherearetwotypesofrowing:sweepandsculling.Sweeprowingiswheneachrowerhasoneoar,eitherontherightorontheleft.Scullingiswheneachrowerhastwosmalleroars,oneineachhand.

RowingClassifications

Rowingisalife-longsportandisenjoyedbypeopleofallagesandabilities.Someofthecommonageandskilldesignationsare:

• Junior:Enrolledinschool,orunderage19

• Collegiate:Enrolledinacollegeoruniversity

• Masters:Age21+(forsomeregattas,thisisage27orage30).Masters“A”isyoungerthanmasters“B”,andsoon.

• Novice:Intheirfirstyearofcompetition(asajunior)ortheirfirsttwoyearsofcompetition(asamaster)

• Freshman:Afreshmaninschool.Freshmencanbenoviceorskilledrowers.

• Senior:acompetitoratthenationallevel

• Elite:acompetitorforeitherthejuniornationalteam(under19),under23nationalteam,orseniornationalteam(olympic)

WeightClassesTherearetwoweightclassesinrowing:openweightandlightweight.Openweightmeanstherowerscanbeofanyweight.Lightweightmeanstherowersmustbeunderacertainweight.Formen,thisis160lbsandforwomen,130lbs.Thebenefitofhavingweightclassesinrowingisthatweightaffectsnotonlytheamountofheightandmusclethatanathletehas,butalsohowmuchmassanathletehastoadverselyaffecttheaccelerationoftheboat.Lightweightcrewstendtobeslowerthanopenweightcrews,thoughonlymarginally.Lightweightrowingispopularatthejuniorlevelbecausemanyoftheathleteshavenotfinishedgrowingyet.Coxswainshavetheirownweightlimitationsanddonotaffecttheweightclassificationofacrew.

BoatClassesBoatscanseatone,two,four,oreightrowers.Thescullingboatsaresingles(onerower),doubles(tworowers),andquads(fourrowers).Thesweepboatsarepairs(tworowers),fours(fourrowers),andeights(eightrowers).Eightsalwayshaveacoxswains,whereasquadsandfourscanbewithorwithoutacoxswain(calleda“straight”four/quad).Singles,doubles,andpairsdonothavecoxswains.

Whenabbreviated,someofthefollowingsymbolsareused:

• Thenumberofrowersinashellisrepresentedwithanumber

• Coxswainsaredesignatedwitha“+”,whereas“-”meanswithoutacoxswain.Example:4-isastraightfourand4+isafourwithacoxswain.

• Sweeprowinghasnospecialsymbol,but“x”isusedtorepresentsculling.Example:2-isapairand2xisadouble.

VocabularyCrew:Thegroupofpeopleinaboat.Thistermisoftenusedsynonymouslywith“rowing”asatermforthesportingeneral.

Erg:Shortforergometer,thisisanon-landrowingmachine.Itisusefulasateachingtoolfortechnique,anditalsoprovidesanextremelygoodworkout!Itcanbeusedtomonitorindividualprogressinrowing.

Bow:Thefrontoftheboat(thepartthatcrossesthefinishlinefirst)

Stern:Thebackoftheboat

Port:Theleftsideoftheboat(rightsideforarowerwhoissittingbackwards).Portsideisred.

Starboard:Therightsideoftheboat(leftsideforarowerwhoissittingbackwards).Starboardsideisgreen.

Shell:Arowingboat

Hull:Thebottompartoftheboat

Skeg:Thefinunderneaththeboatthatkeepsitmovingstraight

Rudder:Thefinundertheboatthatisusedtosteerandturnstheboat

Rigger:Themetalpiecethatsticksoffthesideoftheboat

Oarlock:Thepieceontheriggerthatholdstheoar

Slide:Thespacewheretheseatisfreetomovebackandforth

Footstretcher:Theassemblyinthebottomoftheboatthatcontainsshoesfortherower

Coxbox:Coxboxesareconnectedthroughouttheboattoaspeakersystemandmicrophonesothecrewcanhearthecoxswain.Coxboxesarealsoconnectedtoamagnetunderoneoftheseatstokeeptrackofthenumberofstrokesperminutethatthecrewtakes.

Bowloader:Aboat(usuallyafour)wherethecoxswainliesunderthebowdeckoftheboat

“Wayenough”:Thecommandgiventoacrewthatmeans“stop!”

Catch:Thepartofthestrokewhenthebladeentersthewater

Drive:Thepartofthestrokewheretheblademovesthroughthewater

Finish/Release:Thepartofthestrokewhenthebladeexitsthewater

Recovery:Thepartofthestrokewheretherowermovesforwardtotakeanotherstroke

Crab:Whenarower’sbladegetsstuckunderwateratthefinish

Feathering:Turningthebladeparalleltothewaterontherecoverytobemoreaerodynamic

Squaring:Keepingthebladeperpendiculartothewater

StrokeRate:Thenumberofstrokesperminutethatacrewtakes

StrokeSeat:Therowersittingthefurthestinfrontofacrew,orthemosttowardthestern.Thispersonsetsarhythmforthecrewtofollowintheirstroke.

BowSeat/Bowman:Thepersonsittingthefurthestinbackofacrew,orthemosttowardthebow.

Seatnumbers:Seatnumbercountupfromthebow.Forexample,bowmanisseat#1,thepersoninfrontofthemisseat#2,etc.Inan8+(eightwithcoxswain),strokeseatisseat#8.