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.
In sculling each athlete uses two oars, one in each hand. The Olympic sculling boats are the single, the double and the quadruple. In sweep rowing each athlete uses one oar, on bow side or stroke side, and the boat is balanced only if the two sides match. Olympic sweep boats are the pair, the four and the eight. The eight is the only Olympic boat that still carries a coxswain.
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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.
In sculling each athlete uses two oars, one in each hand. The Olympic sculling boats are the single, the double and the quadruple. In sweep rowing each athlete uses one oar, on bow side or stroke side, and the boat is balanced only if the two sides match. Olympic sweep boats are the pair, the four and the eight. The eight is the only Olympic boat that still carries a coxswain.
A stroke has four parts. At the catch the blade enters the water square, near the toes. The drive is the push: legs first, then the trunk opening, then the arms drawing the handle to the body. At the finish the blade comes out cleanly. The recovery returns the handle, rocks the body forward and slides the seat toward the stern, in that order, while the blade feathers or stays squared according to the crew's call.
Boats are aligned by the stakeboat holder or by the crew backing into the start. The starter brings them to attention and then gives the signal. The first strokes are short and very high, often above 40 strokes a minute, to get the hull moving. The crew then lengthens into a race rhythm, commonly the mid-30s for an eight and a little lower for a single, and protects that rhythm until the planned moves.
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