Kaarin Scanlan from the Bristol University Women's Senior Squad demonstrating how to scull.
To a non-rower rowing can be fairly jargonistic, and so here is a brief run down of rowing in general and some of its terms that the race commentators might use on the day:
Firstly, there are two types of rowing:
In sculling the rower has two oars (a.k.a. blades), with one blade in each hand, as shown below:
Kaarin Scanlan from the Bristol University Women's Senior Squad
demonstrating how to scull.
Sculling is carried out in singles (1 person), doubles (2 people) and quads (4 people).
Sweep oar rowing is the type of rowing you'll see at The Varsity Boat Race, and this is where each rower has only one oar, as shown below:
Jon Evans, Bernard Matthews and Mark Roberts from UBBC doing
a bit of sweep rowing, whilst Emily Redding coxes them.
Sweep rowing is carried out in pairs, fours and eights. Eights also always have a coxswain (aka the cox), whose job is to steer the boat as well as to coach the rowers from within the boat. The cox is the ninth member of the crew and can make all the difference to the outcome of a race. They act as the voice that a rower would hear in their mind if they had the time to think whilst trying to row a race.
Both sculling and sweep rowing are based on the same principles, and the terminology used to describe both sweep and sculling stroke is the same.
The rowing stroke can be divided into two parts:
The Drive - This is the part of the stroke when the blade is in the water.
The drive begins with the catch, which is when the rower puts the blade into the water at the front of the stroke.
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The 'Catch' part of
the stroke. |
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The rower then drives the blade through the water by pushing first with the legs, and then continuing the stroke by leaning back with the body and pulling through with the arms. This brings us onto the end of the drive stage, cunningly known as the finish, which is when the blade is tapped out of the water by the rower pushing down on the handle of the oar.
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The 'Drive' part of
the stroke. |
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The Recovery - This is the part of the stroke when the blade is out of the water.
The recovery is so called because it allows a rower to recover from the exertion of the drive phase. Having tapped the blade out of the water the rower will feather the blade; this is when the blade is turned from being vertical to being horizontal. The rower then moves back towards the catch position by moving in the following way - arms away, rock the body over and then break the legs and roll up the slide. This process should be as smooth and controlled as possible, so as not to disturb the run of the boat. As the handle of the oar passes over the rower's ankles they will square up, which is when they roll the oar back to vertical. Once the rower reaches full compression (legs bent) and is at the start of the stroke again, they will lift their hands and drop the blade in to take the catch and the whole stroke starts over again.
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The 'Recovery' part
of the stroke. |
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Stroke Rate - This is the number of strokes per minute.
Rating is an important factor in any rowing race. Too slow and the boat won't travel fast enough, too fast and the crew will tire out too quickly. Varsity Boat Race crews will generally start the race at 40 strokes a minute or higher and then settle after about ten to twenty strokes at their race pace, which is usually in the high 30s. Towards the finish the crew will 'wind it up' which means increasing the rate back up to the 40s to increase the boat speed.
For a boat to be as fast as possible the movement and timing of each member of the crew must be impeccable; they must move as one. This only really comes with practice, which leads me on to the next part of this lecture (and yes it is a lecture).
Typically senior level crews will train twice a day six days a week, with the majority of this time spent on the water or alternatively on the indoor rower (a.k.a. the erg), aiming to cover about 150km a week between the two. Trying to balance a degree with all this training is difficult to say the least, so the degree often takes a back seat to rowing at senior level.
As a tangible yardstick to show just how fit some of the contestants in the 2005 Varsity Boat Race are, here are some of the times they take to row 2000m (the standard rowing race distance - 2k) on the indoor rower:
Bristol Men's Senior Squad, Mark Roberts - 6:09
UWE Men's Senior Squad, Matt Bartholomew - 6:05
UWE Men's Alumni Squad, Peter Reed - 5:57
Bristol Women's Senior Squad, Jess Penneycard - 7:21
To be considered fit enough to row for Great Britain men must achieve a time of under 6:10 for a 2k, and women a time under 7:15.
A six minute 2k requires a split (as shown below) of 1:30 per 500m on average over the whole distance.
The monitor from an indoor rower. |
 This chap shows the basic technique to using the indoor rower. The process is to come off of the finish in an arms, body, slide movement - just like in a boat. |
Next time you go to the gym see how low you can make your split. If you can even see 1.30 or less (for men) on the monitor at all then you should definitely think about taking up rowing.
The 2003/04 Bristol Novice Men's Squad letting off steam at a social. |
Ross Stewart lending support to the near legendary Harry Martin at the 2002/03 Varsity Ball. |
Rowing at University is an excellent opportunity, as the costs are heavily subsidised by the University. It is also a great way to make lifelong friends and enjoy some pretty amazing socials. Being a student is one of the few times of your life that you will have enough free time to really enjoy your rowing, so if you are thinking about it hurry up and get involved!
To find out more have a look at:
The
University of Bristol Boat Club's website
The University
of the West of England Boat Club's website
