Rowing
This rower is in a scull. She is using two sculling oars.
All boats used in
rowing are called shells. Some shells are called sculls. In a
scull, each crew member rows with two oars called sculling oars.
Sculls can be made for a single rower, two rowers or four rowers.
There is
a coxswain in this shell and eight crew members
In a shell that is
not a scull, each crew
member uses only one oar. It is called a sweep oar and the rower holds onto it with both hands. In this type of shell there can be two, four or eight rowers.
In some events there is an extra crew member called the coxswain (say cox'n). The coxswain directs the crew and steers the shell. Shells are from 8 metres long for a single scull to about 20 metres for a crew of eight. They are made of high technology materials such as kevlar and graphite fibre. Some are made of ultra-thin plywood.
History
The ancient Chinese may have been the
first people to race in longboats.
In Egypt, as long ago as 2500 B.C. oared
barges were raced on the Nile River.
The ancient Greeks and Romans travelled
in huge rowing boats called 'galleys'.
Go here for the official world rowing website: there's a photo gallery and information about the world's top rowers. There's an on-line coaching manual too. http://www.fisa.org/home/default.sps
women in 1976. Races are held over a 2000 metre course.
For more about rowing at the 2008 Beijing games go here http://en.beijing2008.cn/cptvenues/sports/rowing/
http://www.olympic.org/uk/sports/programme/index_uk.asp?SportCode=RO
Remember:
Always acknowledge where you find information
If you use any of the information on this page acknowledge this
source in your bibliography like this:
Rowing
(2006). [On-line], Available: www.kidcyber.com.au
updated November 2007