I.

Introduction

Rowing, method of moving a boat through water by using one or more oars. Rowing is a universal activity, practiced since early human history wherever suitable bodies of water have existed. For centuries it was the most common and dependable mode of transportation over water, until the advent of sails and later the invention of the steam engine. Rowing is today, therefore, primarily a form of sport and recreation.

As a sport, rowing has two distinctive forms. In the more common form (also called crew or sweep-oar racing), two or more crew members sit facing the stern of the boat, each rower pulling one oar. In the 19th century crews of 8, 10, or 12 members were popular; in the 20th century crews of 2, 4, or 8 are most common. With 8 rowers (also called strokes), the vessel is steered by a nonrowing coxswain, or cox, who sits in the stern of the boat, facing the crew. The job of the coxswain is to steer the boat, decide tactics, and establish and maintain the speed and rhythm of the strokes of the rowers. The other form of rowing, in which no coxswain is used, is called sculling, or scull racing. It is performed singly, by a pair, or by 4 rowers; each rower faces the stern and pulls a pair or oars.