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FLAT WATER ROWING
Flat water rowing is the main and central form of rowing, and is also an Olympic sport. As the name suggests, it involves rowing on calm, windless water (usually a man-made, purpose-built rowing lake or river, or a calm natural lake or river).
| Core Features | Content |
|---|---|
| Surface conditions | Racing takes place in calm, wave-free waters. This is the main feature that distinguishes it from coastal rowing (rowing that takes place near windy coastlines). |
| Racetrack | A straight course is used, usually 2000 metres in length (the standard distance for the Olympics, World Championships, World Cup, etc.), but also 1000 or 1500 metres in length (often used for Junior or Masters races). The course is divided by buoys into parallel lanes (usually 6-8 lanes), each about 13.5 metres wide. |
| Objectives | The winner is the one who crosses the finish line first after rowing the required distance as fast as possible in their respective lanes. The competition is based on speed, endurance, skill and teamwork. |
| Boat Type | Content |
|---|---|
| Boat Design | The boat is designed to be extremely slender and streamlined to minimise water resistance, and it is made of lightweight materials (carbon fibre, fibreglass, wood, etc.). |
| Double Paddle (Sculling) | Each oarsman holds a shorter oar in each hand. Types of boats are often abbreviated with an “X”, e.g., single sculls (1x), double sculls (2x), quad sculls (4x). |
| Single Paddle (Sweep Rowing) | Each oarsman holds a longer oar in one hand, and the oars are rowed on one side of the boat. Types of boats are usually abbreviated without an “x”, e.g.: double single oar coxless (2-), double single oar coxed (2+), four single oar coxless (4-), four single oar coxed (4+), eight single oar coxed (8+). |
| By Coxwain | In coxswain boats, such as an eight-person boat, the coxswain is responsible for steering, commanding and motivating the crew. In coxless boats, e.g. single-handed boats, double-handed single oars without a coxswain, and four-handed single oars without a coxswain, the direction of the rudder is controlled by one of the oarsmen. |
| Technical Features | Content |
|---|---|
| Slide | The oarsman sits on a sliding seat that slides forward and backward, and uses his legs to drive the boat forward. |
| Riggers and Oar Locks | The oar is secured to the hull by the oarstay, which provides the lever pivot point. |
| Paddle Cycle | The action consists of a continuous, cyclical cycle of four stages: lift the oar into the water – pull the oar to drive – press the oar out of the water – and return to the oar to recover. |
| Efficiency and Balance | The boat is very narrow and requires a lot of balance from the oarsman. The technical manoeuvres seek efficient driving underwater and smooth recovery on the water to maintain speed and stability. |
| Competition Format | Content |
|---|---|
| This is usually a multi-boat race (each in its own channel). | |
| An elimination system of preliminaries, repechages, semifinals and finals will be used. | |
| Starts are made with a floating starter to ensure that all boats set off in perfect alignment and at a standstill. | |
| During the race, boats must stay strictly within their own lanes and must not interfere with other boats. |
| Events & Organisations | Content |
|---|---|
| Top Level Competition | Summer Olympic Games, World Rowing Championships, Rowing World Cup Series. |
| Governing Bodies | The Federation of International Rowing (FISA) is the supreme organisation governing the sport of stillwater rowing worldwide. |
| Key Attributes | Content |
|---|---|
| The ultimate test of endurance and strength | The 2000m race is a huge challenge for athletes in terms of aerobic and anaerobic capacity. |
| Perfect teamwork | The multi-rower event requires all rowers to synchronise their movements, strength and rhythm as one. The eight is known as the “jewel in the crown of rowing” and is the ultimate expression of team spirit. |
| Combination of technology and power | In the pursuit of absolute power, the requirements for technical details (angle of entry into the water, power sequence, body posture, boat balance) are most demanding. |
| Harmony between people and equipment | Athletes need to accurately sense water currents, boat speed, balance, and integrate with the sophisticated boat. |
Flat water rowing is a competitive sport in which athletes compete to complete a specified distance (usually 2000 metres) in a straight course in calm waters, sitting with their backs to the front in a long, slender boat fitted with a sliding seat, and using oars (either single or double) fixed to the oarstay to propel the boat forward through leg-driven technical movements. It emphasises endurance, strength, technique, rhythm and teamwork (in multi-rower events), and is the most mainstream and popular form of rowing, and an important Olympic event. Rowing differs from dragon boating and canoeing in that: the athletes’ backs are turned in the forward direction, paddles are fixed to the boat, there is a sliding seat, and the boat is longer and slimmer.