THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF ROWING: SWEEP AND SCULLING.
SWEEP ROWING IS WHEN EACH ROWER HAS ONE OAR, EITHER ON THE RIGHT OR ON THE LEFT. SCULLING IS WHEN EACH ROWER HAS TWO SMALLER OARS, ONE IN EACH HAND.
BOAT CLASSES
BOATS CAN SEAT ONE, TWO, FOUR, OR EIGHT ROWERS. THE SCULLING BOATS ARE SINGLES (ONE ROWER), DOUBLES (TWO ROWERS), AND QUADS (FOUR ROWERS). THE SWEEP BOATS ARE PAIRS (TWO ROWERS), FOURS (FOUR ROWERS), AND EIGHTS (EIGHT ROWERS). EIGHTS ALWAYS HAVE A COXSWAINS, WHEREAS QUADS AND FOURS CAN BE WITH OR WITHOUT A COXSWAIN (CALLED A “STRAIGHT” FOUR/QUAD). SINGLES, DOUBLES, AND PAIRS DO NOT HAVE COXSWAINS.
WHEN ABBREVIATED, SOME OF THE FOLLOWING SYMBOLS ARE USED:
-
THE NUMBER OF ROWERS IN A SHELL IS REPRESENTED WITH A NUMBER.
-
COXSWAINS ARE DESIGNATED WITH A “+”, WHEREAS “-” MEANS WITHOUT A COXSWAIN. EXAMPLE: 4- IS A STRAIGHT FOUR AND 4+ IS A FOUR WITH A COXSWAIN.
-
SWEEP ROWING HAS NO SPECIAL SYMBOL, BUT “X” IS USED TO REPRESENT SCULLING. EXAMPLE: 2- IS A PAIR AND 2X IS A DOUBLE.
SWEEP
ROWING SHELLS
PAIR (2-)
APPROXIMATELY 32 FEET LONG AND ABOUT 60LBS. ROWED BY TWO PEOPLE USING ONE OAR EACH.
COXED FOUR (4+)
APPROXIMATELY 42 FEET LONG AND ABOUT 112LBS. ROWED BY FOUR PEOPLE USING ONE OAR EACH. COXSWAIN USUALLY IN THE BOW.
STRAIGHT FOUR (4-)
APPROXIMATELY 42 FEET LONG AND ABOUT 112LBS. ROWED BY FOUR PEOPLE USING ONE OAR EACH. NO COXSWAIN.
EIGHT (8+)
APPROXIMATELY 60 FEET LONG AND ABOUT 210LBS. ROWED BY EIGHT PEOPLE USING ONE OAR EACH. COXSWAIN SITS IN THE STERN OF THE BOAT.
SINGLE (1x)
APPROXIMATELY 26 FEET LONG AND ABOUT 30LBS. ROWED BY ONE PERSON USING TWO OARS.
DOUBLE (2x)
APPROXIMATELY 32 FEET LONG AND ABOUT 60LBS. ROWED BY TWO PEOPLE USING TWO OARS EACH.
QUAD (4x)
APPROXIMATELY 42 FEET LONG AND ABOUT 115LBS. ROWED BY FOUR PEOPLE USING TWO OARS EACH.
COXED QUAD (4x+)
APPROXIMATELY 42 FEET LONG AND ABOUT 115LBS. ROWED BY FOUR PEOPLE USING TWO OARS EACH. COXSWAIN USUALLY SITS IN THE BOW.