Rowing (sport)
Sport of racing boats using oars attached to rowlocks.
Rowing, often called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars (called blades in the United Kingdom) are attached to the boat using rowlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is divided into two disciplines: sculling and sweeping. Modern rowing as a competitive sport can be traced to the early 17th century when professional watermen held races (regattas) on the River Thames in London, England.
- field
- Sport
- disciplines
- Sculling and sweeping
- governing_body
- World Rowing Federation (Fédération Internationale des Sociétés d'Aviron)
Lore & Background
Rowing's origins as a modern competitive sport began in early 17th-century London, where professional watermen held races on the River Thames, often with prizes offered by London Guilds and Livery Companies. Today, women row in all boat classes, from single scull to coxed eights, across the same age ranges and standards as men.
Reader's Guide
Today, there are fourteen boat classes at the Olympics, and the World Rowing Federation holds annual World Rowing Championships with twenty-two boat classes. Major domestic competitions include The Boat Race and Henley Royal Regatta in the United Kingdom, the Australian Rowing Championships in Australia, the Harvard–Yale Regatta and Head of the Charles Regatta in the United States, and the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta in Canada.
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