Rowing (sport)

Rowing, known as crew in the United States, is a sport where boats are raced using oars. Unlike paddling sports, rowing oars—called blades in the United Kingdom—are fixed to the boat with rowlocks, whereas paddles are unattached. The sport has two main disciplines: sculling, where each rower uses two oars (one in each hand), and sweeping, where each rower holds a single oar with both hands. Athletes compete in various boat classes, from single sculls for one person to eights, which have eight rowers and a coxswain. Most elite and championship races take place on calm, 2-kilometer (1.2-mile) courses with lanes marked by buoys.

Modern competitive rowing began in the early 17th century, when professional watermen held regattas on the River Thames in London. Prizes for these races were often offered by London Guilds and Livery Companies. Amateur competition emerged toward the end of the 18th century with the formation of boat clubs at British public schools; the oldest recorded is the Westminster School Boat Club, dating to 1813. Oxford and Cambridge colleges also established clubs in the early 19th century. Public rowing clubs appeared around the same time in England, Germany, and the United States. The first American college rowing club was founded at Yale College in 1843.

Rowing is one of the oldest Olympic sports. It was scheduled for the 1896 Games but was canceled due to bad weather. Men have competed since the 1900 Summer Olympics, and women’s rowing was added in 1976. Today, fourteen boat classes race at the Olympics. The sport’s governing body, the World Rowing Federation, also holds annual World Rowing Championships featuring twenty-two boat classes.

Rowing is now practiced in 150 countries across six continents, each with its own federation. 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. Numerous other races exist between clubs, schools, and universities worldwide.

**History**

An Egyptian funerary inscription from 1430 BC mentions the warrior Amenhotep II’s skill in oarsmanship, though scholars debate whether rowing contests existed in ancient Egypt. In the *Aeneid*, Virgil describes rowing as part of funeral games held by Aeneas for his father. In the 13th century, Venetian festivals called *regata* included boat races.

The first modern rowing races grew from competition among professional watermen in the United Kingdom, who provided ferry and taxi service on the River Thames. Prizes for wager races were often offered by London Guilds and Livery Companies or wealthy riverside homeowners. The oldest surviving race, Doggett’s Coat and Badge, was first contested in 1715 and is still held annually from London Bridge to Chelsea. During the 19th century, these races became numerous and popular, drawing large crowds. Prize matches among professionals also became common on other British rivers, notably the Tyne. In America, the earliest known race dates to 1756 in New York, where a pettiauger beat a Cape Cod whaleboat.

Amateur competition in England began toward the end of the 18th century. Documentary evidence is sparse, but the Monarch Boat Club of Eton College and the Isis Club of Westminster School existed in the 1790s. The Star Club and Arrow Club in London for gentleman amateurs were also active before 1800. At Oxford University, bumping races were first organized in 1815, when Brasenose College and Jesus College boat clubs held the first annual race. Cambridge’s first recorded races were in 1827. Brasenose beat Jesus to win Oxford’s first Head of the River; both clubs claim to be the oldest established boat clubs in the world. The Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge first took place in 1829, making it the second intercollegiate sporting event (after the first Varsity Cricket Match by two years). Interest in this race and subsequent matches led Henley-on-Thames to host an annual regatta starting in 1839.

Founded in 1818, Leander Club is the world’s oldest public rowing club. The second oldest existing club is Der Hamburger und Germania Ruder Club, founded in 1836, which marked the start of organized rowing in Germany. During the 19th century, wager matches between professionals in North America became very popular, attracting large crowds. Narragansett Boat Club, founded in 1838, was dedicated exclusively to rowing. Its origin traces to an 1837 parade in Providence, Rhode Island, where a group of boatmen pulling a longboat on wheels carried the oldest living survivor of the 1772 Gaspee Raid. They boasted to the crowd that they were the fastest rowing crew on the bay. Providence locals challenged them to a race, which the locals won. The six-man core of that group founded Narragansett Boat Club the following year. Detroit Boat Club, founded in 1839, is the second oldest continuously operated rowing club in the United States. In 1843, the first American college rowing club was formed at Yale University.