Why Row?

Curious about what is rowing? There is not one single answer. Wondering if it is something that you can do – that answer is yes. You can learn to row or try new types of rowing, whether you are tall or short, chunky or skinny, young or old and regardless of where you live. Maybe you already spend time in the gym or at home on a rower and are wondering what it might be like to be in one of those unusual boats facing backwards on water. Or perhaps you row on a lake or a river and are intrigued by coastal rowing and how different it is from what you currently enjoy. Rowing offers many different opportunities, whether you are looking for competition, recreation, fitness or travel and for those seeking solitude or connection. Get started, gain confidence as your skills grow, get fit and healthier. Welcome to rowing!

Rowing has a long history. Picture galley slaves in ancient Egypt or Rome, dory fishermen on the Grand Banks, pilot gigs guiding sailing vessels into harbour, or young lovers courting on a pond or gentle stream. As a sport, rowing started with races between competing watermen who ferried passengers across the Thames or whalers testing their speed and strength against rival boats in America. The first official amateur regattas began in England in the early 1800’s with races between Oxford and Cambridge Universities, a rivalry which continues to this day with the annual Boat Race held every April in London. In 1892 the world governing body for the sported was founded as the Fédération Internationale des Sociétés d’Aviron (FISA), now know as World Rowing. Rowing became an Olympic event for men in 1900 and for women in 1976. What is considered rowing has continued to evolve, as more people take learn to row courses, clubs open and expand, new boat and rower designs are developed, and opportunities to join the sport grow on and off the water.

Rowing Explained

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Indoor rowing is how many people get introduced to rowing. You can learn to indoor row at any age from your teens onwards. Suitable for all body types, fitness levels and abilities, it gives you a low impact and full body workout. Indoor rowing has the easiest access to equipment and programs and is the most affordable of the different types of rowing. Many gyms have at least one ergometer or rower, with some specializing exclusively in rowing. Individuals have a wide range of options for their home, including some with subscription training programs. A wealth of websites, apps and virtual rowing organizations and services can teach you to learn to row properly on the machines, provide training programs to build fitness and strength, welcome you into a community of indoor rowers and offer virtual competitions to supplement in person indoor rowing events.

Learn to row indoor

Give indoor rowing a try at a local gym or a rowing club in your area. Pay a drop-in fee if you do not have a membership. It is easy to jump on and start pulling, but better to understand the technique involved, to gain maximum benefit from your efforts and avoid injury. Look at the resources below for starter videos and information. Take a class or private lesson and have an experienced instructor give you feedback on what you are doing right and what you can improve. Learn the lingo and understand the data that appears on your rower’s display. It will help you get better at indoor rowing.

Once you are comfortable on the machine, what would you like to accomplish? Increase your weekly distance rowed? Go faster, pulling at a harder level or improving your splits? Train for an indoor rowing event? Tackle a charity challenge row? Consider joining an in-person or virtual class or program to build your endurance, introduce variety into your workouts and find like-minded people with whom to share your successes and have fun.

Additional resources

As rowing has expanded and evolved, so has the terminology. Classic, along with flatwater rowing, is a fairly new term to differentiate the best-known type of rowing, traditionally seen at the Olympics. Within classic rowing, there are multiple variations. Picture a solo sculler, enjoying a quiet morning row from their cottage dock. Or a boisterous crowd of high school students, jostling in the boathouse until their coach yells and they focus on lifting an eight precisely from the racks and making their way to the water. A group of women, some with grey hair, gather three times a week for a mid-morning outing before heading together to a nearby coffeeshop. Elite athletes take sure, strong and efficient strokes as they log long hours training to represent their club or country.

The type and styles of boats rowed are just as varied. Sweep rowers have one oar each, rowing in boats with two, four or eight rowers, sometimes with a coxswain to steer. Sculling means each rower has two smaller oars, with boats of one, two or four athletes most common, although some clubs have boats for three or eight scullers. The stability of boats range from wider, recreational craft sometimes made of wood, to sleek racing shells built for lightness and speed. Sliding seats are the norm, with feet connected to the boat with a footboard. Riggers which hold the oars in place extend beyond the gunwales. With the rowers facing backwards from the direction of travel, the full body is engaged in propelling the boat forward.

When a boat is rowed well, it is beautiful to watch and rewarding to do. The blades of the oars go into the water together and come out at the end of the stroke in unison. All the bodies move as one, pushing first with the legs, opening with the back and finishing with the arms pulled into the body, before slowly moving back up the slide to prepare for the next stroke as the boat glides through the water.

Learn to row

Rowing is a technical sport, with many things to learn at the beginning, including how to handle the equipment safely, getting in and out, balance in the boat and timing as well as the mechanics of the rowing stroke. If you are an indoor rower, you have some understanding, but rowing on the water requires new skills. Most clubs require new on-water rowers to take a multi-week learn to row course. If you are not sure whether rowing is for you, see if there is a “Come Try” day in your area, or encourage your employer to participate in a corporate challenge event, which includes instruction as well as a fun race at the end, often in support of a charity.

Suggestions on how to find a club are below. Once you are ready to commit, sign up for a learn to row course. Know that everyone else showing up at the boathouse on that first day are likely also wondering if rowing suits them and what exactly is involved. National rowing federations manage certification for rowing coaches, so you can have confidence in safe and quality instruction. Don’t worry if you don’t catch on to everything right away. There is a lot to learn. In fact, that is one of many things that rowers love about their sport – the chance to continually improve, making the next stroke just that much better. Once you have completed a learn to row course and mastered the basics, many clubs have programs which you can join, for fitness rowing or to train to compete.

Additional resources

World Rowing lists all national rowing federations with contact information. There is also good information on what is rowing, plus events and rowing news from around the world.

Coastal is the more adventurous and some would say more fun type of rowing, although it is not limited to salt waters. Coastal boats are typically sculling boats built wider, shorter and heavier and are designed to let water easily wash out. This makes them better able to manage waves and swells, more stable and highly manoeuvrable. Some clubs on lakes and rivers use coastal boats for their learn to row programs. When the wind comes up, creating waves that restrict rowing in flatwater boats, coastal shells can still be used. This also makes them excellent choices for long distance tour rowing.

While coastal rowing shells are more forgiving in terms of technique and balance, the best coastal rowers take all the skills of a classic rower and then add extra technique to interpret waves, currents and tides, to know how to deal with maritime traffic and signals and to learn to row with the water, “dancing with the waves” as it has been termed. Two types of coastal racing have emerged in the last few decades. The endurance format is a 4-to-6 km race around multiple turning points, with as many as 16 boats starting. The exciting beach sprint format pits two boats against each other at a time. It begins with a short sprint run down the beach to the boats, a 250m row along a buoyed slalom course then a 180-degree turn before rowing back to the beach and sprinting to the finish line in the sand. Coastal rowing is the fastest growing form of on-water rowing – join to catch the wave.

Learn to row coastal

Start by checking if local clubs have coastal boats. If not, there are a growing number of camps and locations where you can try out coastal rowing. Many island nations in the Caribbean or Pacific regions have introduced coastal rowing and it is well established in Europe, especially in France, Spain and Italy. Coastal boats are usually a bit cheaper to buy than classic rowing shells. With a trolly they can be launched from almost any beach or dock, opening up a whole new world of rowing experience. If you can’t access coastal rowing easily, enjoy it virtually with some of the videos suggested below.

Additional resources

Additional Resources:

The members of the Rowing Industry Trade Association (RITA) are dedicated to growing rowing and are ready to support you as you learn to row or explore what is rowing. Our membership includes boatbuilders of all types (classic, recreational, racing, coastal), manufacturers of indoor rowers, indoor rowing clubs, rowing accessories including clothing, docks and instrumentation plus providers of training programs, information sources and rowing travel.

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