2,000 m on a buoyed multi-lane courseRace distance
World Rowing, founded in 1892 as FISAGoverning body
Paris 1900; the 1896 regatta was cancelledOlympic debut
14 openweight boat classesParis 2024 events
Sculling with two oars, or sweep with oneHow crews move
Steve Redgrave: five Olympic golds, 1984–2000Consecutive golds
Rowing is a race between crews who sit facing the stern and drive the boat forward with oars. The championship distance is 2,000 metres, usually six lanes of buoyed water, and the winner is the boat whose bow ball crosses the finish line first. A single sculler races alone. An eight carries eight sweep rowers and a coxswain who steers and calls the race. Between those extremes sit pairs, doubles, fours and quads, some coxed in club racing and coxless at the Olympic regatta.
What the sport asks for is repeatable power inside a shared rhythm. A men's eight covers 2,000 metres in a little over five minutes; a single takes longer, but the piece is still a sustained effort near the limit, not a sprint that ends in the first minute. Crews rate the stroke in strokes per minute, settle after a high start, and often decide the medal in the last 500 metres. Because everyone in a sweep boat pulls on one side, one person's mistimed catch slows the whole hull.
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 championship distance is 2,000 metres, in lanes, for senior Olympic and world finals. Head races and some junior or coastal events use other distances. A 2,000-metre final takes roughly five and a half to eight minutes depending on the boat.
What is the difference between sculling and sweep rowing?
Scullers use two oars, one in each hand. Sweep rowers use one oar and sit on bow side or stroke side. Singles, doubles and quads are sculling boats. Pairs, fours and eights are sweep boats.
Why do rowers face backwards?
The athlete sits on a sliding seat and pushes with the legs against the footplate. The oar is the lever that sends the boat the other way. The crew therefore looks toward the stern, the direction they have come from. A coxswain, when there is one, faces the bow and sees where the boat is going.
What is a repechage?
A second-chance race. Crews that do not qualify automatically from their heat enter the repechage. Enough of them advance to the semi-finals or the final, depending on the event. Missing the heat does not end the regatta.
How many Olympic rowing events were there in Paris 2024?
Fourteen. Seven men's and seven women's openweight boats: the single, double, quad, pair, four and eight, and the lightweight doubles were no longer on the programme. Beach sprints were not an Olympic event in Paris.
Who has won the most Olympic rowing golds?
Steve Redgrave, Elisabeta Lipă and Georgeta Damian have each won five. Redgrave's five came in five successive Games. Lipă also holds the record for Olympic medals, with eight.
Is the rowing machine the same sport?
It is the main training tool and it has its own indoor championships, usually over 2,000 metres. It is not the Olympic event. Balance, steering and the rest of the crew do not exist on an ergometer in the same way.
What does the coxswain do?
The cox steers, calls the rate and the moves, and watches the other lanes. In an Olympic eight the cox is the only extra person in the boat. Coxless crews steer themselves, usually with a rudder worked by one of the rowers.