What Is Rowing?

If your child or grandchild is a rower, and you don’t understand anything about the sport, look no further for a beginner’s guide to rowing.

Rowing is the art of moving backward.

It works over 90% of the body, not just the arms. Boat size ranges from a single- with one rower- to an eight (pictured), which has eight rowers and a coxswain.

Where do I start?

For high schoolers and middle schoolers, you will most likely start on the Learn-to-Row or JV/Novice Team. Once gain skill and speed, you will be asked to join the High Performance/Varsity Team.

For Masters, we offer an Adult Learn-to-Row program and once you are ready, you can row with the Masters Team.

What’s the schedule like?

We train all year round and have a few summer races, but fall and spring are our two main racing seasons. We practice 6 days per week, 3 hours per day. The specific schedule will vary for each team.

How is it New Canaan Crew if New Canaan doesn’t have water to row on?

We row on the Norwalk River and have athletes from several towns in Fairfield County, including Darien, New Canaan, Westport, Norwalk, Wilton, Ridgefield, and others. Apart from our high school teams, we offer learn-to-row programs for pre-high school kids and adults who are interested. We also have a Masters program.

How far away are regattas?

Most of our races are less than three hours away, but there are some exemptions like the San Diego Crew Classic, Youth National Championship, and occasionally the Summer National Championship.

What happens in the winter?

In the winter, we use the upper floor of the boathouse where we have a large selection of workout equipment. We also use our secondary location at Van Zant, where we have indoor tanks and a weight room. Fun fact- the only two indoor rowing tanks in Connecticut are here, at Maritime, and at Yale University.

Rowing Dictionary

Blade: The flat part of the oar that makes contact with the water. Blades are usually decorated with the team’s colors and/or logo, so you can spot them in a race.

Boat/Shell: the fiberglass vessel in which the rower or rowers sit. There are two classes of boats:

  • Sculling: each seat has two oars, one on each side of the seat. A single has one rower, a double has two, a quad has four, and an octuple has eight.

  • Sweeping: each seat has one oar, and sweep boats usually (but not always) have a coxswain to help steer the boat. A pair has two rowers, a “four” has 4, and an “eight” has eight.

Boathouse: a building, ranging from simple to luxurious, on the water that houses the team’s boats and serves as the meeting place for practices.

Bow: the front of the boat; or the first rower in a multi-seat boat.

Catching a Crab: when an oar gets pulled deep into the water instead of keeping it parallel to the boat. This can be quite disruptive to the rowers’ rhythm and could cause the boat to come to a stop or flip. 

Coxswain (Cox): a non-rower who usually sits in the stern of the boat and helps steer the boat and directs and encourages the rowers. 

Erg (short for Ergometer): a rowing machine that approximates the feel of sculling a boat on the water. 

Feathering/Squaring: feathering is turning the oar so that the blade is parallel to the water, and squaring is turning the oar so the blade is perpendicular.

  • Rowing on the square is when you keep your oar squared the entire stroke.

  • Rowing on the feather is when you feather your oar during the recovery.

Oar: a pole with a rower on one end and a flat blade on the other, used to propel the boat through the water:

Port: the left side of the boat when facing the bow; on a sweep boat, rowers with their oars on the left side of the boat.

Head Races: A race where boats are started one at a time down a long course, (typically 2-3 miles), usually with several bends. Boats are started at 15-second intervals, and the boat with the fastest time down the course wins the race. 

Sprint Races: usually a shorter race (1-1.2 miles) on a wider body of water, where all boats start at the same time and race next to each other. The first one across the finish line wins.

Power 10: a burst of all-out strokes from the rowers, usually called for by the cox.

Regatta: an event where many crew teams assemble and compete in lots of races, and their families and friends come and cheer them on. They are usually quite festive, so come prepared to have fun. Make sure you prepare for often muddy and cold conditions and dress properly for the weather.

Rigger: the metal frame that is attached to the boat and holds the oar in position. The rigger is usually removed, or de-rigged, from the boat while transporting it.

Seat: The part where the rower meets the boat; also, if given a number, the position of the rower in the boat, with seat 1 being the bow, seat 2 right behind the bow, etc.

Starboard: the right side of the boat when facing the bow.; on a sweep boat, rowers with their oars on the right side of the boat.

Stern: the back of the boat

Foot Stretcher: the part of the boat that holds a rower’s feet in place while rowing. 

Stroke: The cycle of inserting the oar into the water, pulling on it, lifting it out, pushing forward, and reinserting it into the water again. Also, the rower seated closest to the stern who sets the pace for the rest of the rowers on the boat. 

Deck: the flat part of the boat where the rowers aren’t sitting

Finish: the part of the stroke where the oar(s) meet the body.

Catch: the part of the stroke where the rowers begin pulling on the oar. 

Drive: the part of the stroke where the Rowers are moving the oars through the water and moving the boat forward. 

Recovery: the part of the stroke where the rowers feather their oars and prepare for the drive of the next stroke. 

Oarlock: where the oar is held on the rigger.