Basics Of Competitive Rowing

Series Summary

Competitive rowing is when athletes race against one another in a single, double or quadruple seated boat on a body of water. The first actual recorded race of competitive rowing was in 1715 and was called the Doggett's Coat and Badge and is still held today in England. The race was from the London Bridge to Chelsea. Today there are many different types of races. Side by side, head, bump and stake races are the majority of the race types. Depending on your weight there are two classes, heavyweight and lightweight. These amounts vary for men and women and per race but for the most part the cut off is 130lbs for women and 160lbs for men.

All of the athletes that race must be in peak physical condition and training is a very large part of that. The extensive workout regimen of a rower is intense and because of this they must have extensive knowledge of the psychology of the sport and many others for that matter. Take a look at this great series on competitive rowing and listen to the tips that our Olympic expert gives. She has been there and knows what it is like to train for four years just for a couple minutes of racing. It's intense but if it is what you want you can do it!

Video Transcript

" Hi! I'm Anna Marie and I am a Canadian Olympic rower. I am here on behalf of expertvillage.com. Today we are going to talk a little bit about rowing and the different types of rowing. Now if you are watching this video, I figure you already know how to row. If you don't, you need to maybe back up a few steps and go take a learn to row course. There are two different types of rowing. There is sculling in which the competitor's have two oars and they have one in each hand and there is also sweeping where the competitor's have only one oar. So in sweeping you are always rotating out to one side or the other. You are probably very familiar with this point but I am just going to start with the real basics. For sculling, there are three different types of boats. There is a single which you can see here in front of me, which fits one person. A double has two seats; obviously two riggers and will fit two people and a quad would have four. Again, each of those rowers have two oars so one in each hand is a very symmetrical movement. For sweeping, another option when it comes to rowing or another discipline, you only have one oar. Typically specialize on either starboard side with your oar going out the left side of the boat or on port side with the oar going off the right side of the boat. Typically people specialize on one side or the other if they are competitive rowers. However, some of the best rowers can actually switch back and forth. It is kind of like writing with your right hand to your left hand. In sweeping, there is also three main types of boats. There's a pair, which has two oars, so one on each side. There's a four, obviously with four rowers, and there is an eight that has eight rowers. In the four, you can also have a coxon is the little person in the front of the boat who kind of ticks me off sometimes because they are just there for a ride and yelling at you to go faster. In eight, there is always a coxon. So four can have a coxon or not and the eight definitely does. Stay tuned for some more information about lightweights and heavyweights. "