Rowing in 2: The stroke cycle
Almost every elite rower trains on a rowing machine, usually a damper-controlled flywheel ergometer, and the 2,000-metre erg test is the standard fitness trial. It is not the sport's championship. On the water, balance, steering, puddles and the other athletes in the boat change the picture. A national team selects on the erg and then on seat racing, where two athletes swap seats and the crew times the piece. Keep Rowing with “The stroke cycle” and 2 from 2. A crew that moves or whose blade enters the water before the start signal can be charged with a false start. Under the two-fault rule used at World Rowing championships, a second false start by the same crew excludes that crew. The starter may also exclude a crew that is late to the start or that ignores instructions. A race that is unfairly started can be recalled.
Rowing is older than the modern Olympics as a public contest. The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race began in 1829, Henley Royal Regatta in 1839, and the international federation in 1892. Women joined the Olympic programme in 1976. The greatest Olympic record in the sport belongs to Steve Redgrave, who won gold at five Games in a row. Elisabeta Lipă of Romania matched the five golds and collected eight Olympic medals across six Games.
The object is to cross 2,000 metres first in the prescribed boat class. Crews race in lanes on still water. Each boat must carry a bow ball, a small white ball on the bow that makes the hull safer in a clash and gives the finish judges a clear point. Timing and placing are taken when that ball reaches the line. Photo finish decides races that the eye cannot separate.
A championship regatta is not one race. Crews qualify through heats. Those who miss automatic qualification get a second chance in the repechage. Semi-finals, where the programme uses them, feed the A final for medals and the B final for the next places. Lane draws and conditions matter because a crosswind can favour one side of the course, which is why umpires and the fairness committee watch the water as well as the crews.
The notice keeps 2, “The stroke cycle,” and 2. Those three are the bones of Rowing. Keep Rowing with “The stroke cycle” and 2 from 2. 22
Figures to keep
- Year of the rule
- 2
- Figure in the game
- 2
- Sport
- Rowing
- Rule line
- The stroke cycle