Rowing is the process of pushing a human-powered boat by moving the oars to move water and produce reaction force. Rowing is functionally equivalent to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be physically coupled to the boat, and the rower drives the oar like a lever, applying power in the same direction as the boat's movement.
Rowing has become an international sport. Since 1900, rowing has been part of the Summer Olympics. Rowing was originally used for transportation in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, but it was not until the late 17th and early 18th centuries that it became a sport in England. Rowing will also play in the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics.
Rowing History
Since its introduction at the 1900 Games, rowing has been part of the Summer Olympics. Rowing was scheduled for the 1896 Summer Olympics but was postponed due to severe weather. Only men had the option to compete until the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, when women's events were introduced, providing national federations with an incentive to fund women's events and enabling growth in women's rowing.
Lightweight rowing events were added to the games in 1996. The World Rowing Federation controls qualification for rowing events. World Rowing existed before the modern Olympics and was the first international sports body to join the contemporary Olympic movement.
Rowing Rules
Rowing is the process of pushing a boat with oars that are fastened to the vessel. There are many rules that rowing players must follow during the competition in Olympics.
- Unlike other disciplines, rowers sit with their backs to their path of movement, crossing the line of goal backwards.
- Rowers contest across a distance of 2,000 metres, either alone or in groups of two, four, or eight.
- There are two distinct disciplines: double sculls and sweep rowing.
- Rowers in sweep competitions use both hands to handle a single oar, whereas rowers in sculling use one oar apiece.
- The captain of the vessel steers and directs the eight-person crew.
- The boat is guided by a small paddle attached to one of the rowers' feet via a rope. There are two light rowing events.
Rowing Olympics Events
At the Summer Olympics, the following 14 events were competed:
- Men’s Events: Men's events include quadruple sculls, single sculls, coxless fours, double sculls, coxless pairs, and eight.
- Lightweight Men: Lightweight Men events include coxless fours and double sculls.
- Women: Women events include coxless pairs, single, double, quad sculls, and eight.
- Lightweight Women: Lightweight Women events include Double Sculls
The lightweight events were put at risk in 2002 when the IOC's Programme Commission advised that weight-category events would be removed save for combat sports and weightlifting. The Executive Board rejected the recommendation, and lightweight rowing continues to grow.
To achieve the IOC's goal of gender equality, it has been proposed that the men's lightweight fours be dropped beginning with the 2020 Olympics and the women's coxless fours be allowed to return.
Other non-Olympic boat events that still compete at World Championships include men's and lightweight quadruple sculls, women's lightweight single sculls, and lightweight coxless pairs.