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Information AboutSport Rowing |
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Rowing is a Sport in which athletes race against each other on river, lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the Oar blades as they are pushed against the water. The sport can be both recreational, focusing on learning the techniques required, and competitive where overall Fitness plays a large role. It is also an Olympic Sport . In the United States and Canada , high school and Collegiate Rowing is sometimes referred to as '''crew'''.1. BASICS While rowing, the athlete sits in the boat facing backwards (towards the Stern ), and uses the Oars which are held in place by the Oarlock s to propel the boat forward (towards the Bow ). This may be done on a River , Lake , Sea , or other large body of Water . It is a demanding sport requiring balance as well as physical strength and cardiovascular endurance.2 Whilst the action of rowing and equipment used remains fairly consistent throughout the world, there are many different types of competition. These include endurance races, Time Trials , stake racing, Bumps Racing , and the side-by-side format used in the Olympic Games . The many different formats are a result of the long History Of The Sport , its development in different regions of the world, and specific local requirements and restrictions. There are two forms of rowing. In ''Sweep'' or ''Sweep-oar'' rowing, each rower has one oar, held in both hands. This is done in pairs, fours and eights. Each rower in a sweep boat is referred to either as " Port " (aka "strokeside") or " Starboard " (aka "bowside"), depending on which side of the boat the rower's oar extends to. In ''Sculling'' each rower has two oars (one in each hand). "Sculling" is usually done in doubles, quadruples, or singles without a coxswain. The oar in his or her right hand extends to the Port side, and the oar in his or her left hand extends to Starboard . Anatomy of a stroke See Also: Anatomy of a rowing stroke The two fundamental reference points in the rowing stroke are the ''catch'' where the oar blade is placed in the water, and the ''extraction'' (also known as the 'finish' or the 'release') where the oar blade is removed from the water. The rower leans forward, and bends the legs,sliding forward in their seat. After the blade is placed in the water at the ''catch'', they apply pressure to the oar simultaneously sliding in their seat into the unbent legs position. The part where pressure is applied is called the ''drive'' phase of the stroke, which occurs after the blade is vertically placed in the water. Once the rower ''extracts'' the oar from the water, the ''recovery'' phase begins, setting up the rower's body for the next stroke.3 Rowing Propulsion Rowing is a cyclic (or intermittent) form of propulsion and in the quasi-steady state the motion of the system (rower, oars and boat) is repeated regularly. In order for this perfectly cyclic motion to be maintained the sum all the external forces on the system, averaged over the cycle, must be zero, so that the system as a whole does not accelerate. In that case the average drag (retarding) force on the system must equal the average propulsion force on the system. The drag forces consists of aerodynamic drag on the superstructure of the system (everything above the waterline) and the hydrodynamic drag on the submerged portion of the system. The propulsion forces are the forward reaction of the water on the oars while in the water. Of course the oar can be used to provide a drag force (a force acting against the forward motion) when the system is brought to rest. Although the oar can be conveniently thought of as a lever with a "fixed" pivot point in the water, the blade slips sideways and sternwards through the water, so that the magnitude of the propulsion force developed is the result of a complex interaction between unsteady fluid mechanics (the water flow around the blade) and solid mechanics and dynamics (the handle force applied to the oar, the oar's inertia and bending characteristic, the acceleration of the boat and so on). Distinction from other watercraft See Also: Watercraft rowing The distinction between rowing and other forms of water transport, such as canoeing or kayaking, is that in rowing the oars are held in place at a pivot point. This allows the oars to act as a lever of force, rather than a paddle. In flatwater rowing, the boat (also called a 'shell' or 'fine boat') is narrow to avoid Drag , and the oars are attached to oarlocks at the end of outriggers extending from the sides of the boat.4 These boats also have sliding seats to allow the use of the legs in addition to the body to move the oar and so drive the boat. HISTORY See Also: History of rowing |
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