Rowing Hotshot: Steven Redgrave

Redgrave with Gold Olympic Medals

Commonly referred to as the greatest rower of all time, Steven Redgrave of England has one more medals in his lifetime than anyone can count. Now 48 years old, his career started in 1979 with the Junior World Rowing Championships winning the silver medal in the double sculling event. Within 1981 and 1998 Redgrave won the Henley Royal Regatta 13 times. He participated in 5 olympic games winning gold in each one. He is the only known rower to have won 5 consecutive olympic titles in the sport. Redgrave rowed in a coxed quad, a coxed double, a coxless double, and his last title was held for a coxless quad. 

Quad celebrating after Gold Medal

Redgrave retired from the sport in 2000 after his last Olympic games. Since then he has donated to numerous charities, become a motivational speaker, and helped Britain win the bid for the 2012 Olympic Games. 
The most substantial inspiration that Redgrave gives to young rowers is that he was not in perfect condition health wise, but still made far more than a name for himself. Redgrave was diagnosed with diabetes in 1997 prior to his fifth Olympic games. After consulting his Doctor he decided to follow through with the competition and refused to let Diabetes control his body. "I decided very early on that diabetes was going to live with me, not me live with diabetes" said Redgrave. 
This man has helped encourage many fans with diabetes and other health conditions look past their complications and continue to pursue their dreams. Although now out of the rowing world, Steven Redgrave is still doing wonders for rowers everywhere. 



For more information on Steven, visit http://www.steveredgrave.com

Rowing for Your Health

One of the great aspects of Rowing is that its a sport for any one who has the stamina. No matter what body type, age, or level of athletic activity, rowing strengthens the cardiovascular system. Rowing is one of the few sports that exercises the entire body and that is one of the most positive benefits.

Elderly Gentleman on Erg

The erg or rowing machine tones and increases muscle tissue as well as builds endurance. The erg increases lung capacity and is a calorie burner. After a few days of this type of aerobic exercise the heart has already begun to strengthen in order to prevent any heart diseases.

Rowing is also a low impact sport compared to a sport like soccer or basketball, so there is little room for serious injury. This enables rowers to continue into older ages. Many rowers seen at the Olympics and different regattas around the world are over 40 years old. This sport is a skill one would keep for a lifetime.

Broken down by the parts of the stroke: The lower body is worked during the drive as the legs push off, the footplates. The upper body is used when completing the stroke as the arms pull the oar to the chest. The abs and back are worked out during the drive and recovery, being flexed and relaxed all throughout the piece.

Staying in consistent healthy shape has been proven to increase life capacity. Working out the whole body in one workout rowing can reduce the stress for an individual ultimately leading to a more healthy and beneficial lifestyle.

Nutrition Tips for Rowers

Rowing: An Olympic Sport

Contrary to popular belief, the sport of rowing is a widespread sport all over the world. Rowing has been part of the Summer Olympics since 1900. Originally, men were the only ones allowed to compete, but in 1976 Montreal held women's events. The fourteen events held at the Summer Olympics every year are for men and women: double sculls, single sculls, eight, coxless four, coxless pairs, and quad sculls. For lightweight men, coxless four and double sculling is offered. For lightweight women only double sculling is offered.

Prior to the early 1900's, all of the olympic races were under 2000 meters until in the Henley Royal Regatta in London that the distance was increased. Women originally rowed around 1000 meters, but again the distance was upped in 1988 to 2000 meters. These races are sprint races, not head races, which allows six boats to row side by side all starting at the same time.

In order to determine which crews are allowed to row in the Olympics, the International Rowing Federation hosts events for qualification. During “Continental Qualification Regattas” crews compete at 4 different regattas in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and an Open Final a year preceding the Olympics they plan to row in. FISA (the French International Rowing Federation) decides how many crews are qualified for the games at each regatta.

Women's Eight With Gold

The current top 5 medalist teams are East Germany, United States, Great Britain, Germany, and Romania. The most Gold medals ever won by a team is 33, putting East Germany in the lead. The United States has one the most total Olympic Medals overall with 84, but only second in Gold medals with 31, following East Germany. 

Out on the Water

Similar to Track and Field, Rowing has different events and heats at every regatta. Every team is first divided into Varsity and Novice. The novice rowers must wait a full year from their first race until they are no longer considered novice anymore. Any novice with experience may row on varsity if needed, however no varsity member can row on a novice boat.

 Once separated into novice and varsity, there are quite a few different options for what type of boat one can row in. There are eight, four, two, and single person boats. The eight and four boats have coxswains along with them. In the majority of boats, the coxswain sits in the stern, facing forwards as the rowers face him/her. In a boat called a "bow loader" the coxswain is sitting inside the boat in the bow, in front of and facing away from the rowers. Bow loaders give the coxswain a better view of the course but reduce their ability to watch the technique of each rower. A lot of rowers prefer the bow loaders because it lets them focus on the body movement of the person in from of them, allowing them to mimic each other without distractions to be in perfect unison with each other. On the contrary, some believe that the coxswain should be able to watch every stroke the rowers take, in order to make sure  Novice generally row in eights or fours, and the more experienced rowers will race in a double or single.
Lightweight boats are also an option for some schools, which generates more equal competition if everyone is the same weight. Lightweight usually means under 130 pounds for women, and under 155 pounds for men.

Sculling is another type of rowing seen in doubles and singles, where each rower has two oars instead of one. This is for remarkably experienced rowers.

Varsity 4 Bow Loader

Novice Eight 

Regattas AKA Races

The fall and spring seasons offer completely different experiences regarding races. During fall, rowers are getting back into shape, and there are only a few regattas or races. The two main regattas that take place every fall are Head of the Hooch, and Fall Fira. In rowing, they refer to many regattas as Head of the (river name). Head of the Hooch was in Chattanooga, Tennessee and hosted schools from all over the country. This race is more of a mini-nationals, proceeding the major race in Chattanooga that takes place in spring. Fall Fira was held in Fellsmere, Florida and there were only 5 schools participating, all from Florida. These two races are head races, which means that there is a staggered start, and each boat is timed separately. At the end of the races, the boats with the fastest times win. These races aren't as competitive because the rowers are can never be sure how they're doing unless a boat passes them, or they pass another boat. During fall, the races are longer and focus more on endurance. They are usually 3k or 5k long, which takes anywhere 12-15 minutes for the 3k, and 20-30 for the 5k.

The spring season is a whole new atmosphere for rowers. There are more races, shorter races, and less time to train for competition. In comparison with fall, there are 4 regattas instead of just 2. The Mayors Cup in Tampa, (Spring) Fira in Fellsmere, SIRA in Tennessee, and Stetson Sprints in Deland. Each regatta is 2k long, categorized as a sprint race. The boats are all lined up next to each other at the starting line, and all begin the race at the same time. These regattas are exceedingly more competitive and thrilling for the rowers. All of the boats are neck and neck until the finish line, and the schools know exactly how well they performed as soon as the race is over. The sprint races only take around 8 minutes each.

The Technical Stuff

 Most people think of Rowing as an "all legs" sport, but little do they know it works out the entire body. At the beginning of the stroke you first push with the legs, then extend the back backwards, and then pull the oar with the arms. The two most used words we use in terms of location in each stroke are the catch and finish. The catch is where the rower is at the beginning of the stroke, about to pull the oar through the water. The finish is at the end of the stoke with legs extended, back angled backwards, and arms holding the oar at the chest. The drive is the most powerful part of each stroke. The drive is where the rower exerts all of his energy with the whole body into pushing off the footplates and pushing the oar through the water. The recovery, refers to the few seconds during which a rower comes from the finish back to the catch.

Keeping the boat set, or balanced, is a key indicator of a successful boat. Each rower in a boat has to keep their oar handle at the same height, because it only takes one person to make the boat lean to a certain side. Looking from the bow, the left side is called Starboard, and the right is called Port. 

In every boat the rowers are facing the stern, basically facing backwards, and never seeing the finish line until it is passed.
Almost all boats have a coxswain, the person who steers and directs the rowers through a race. The coxswains are one of the most important parts of rowing. Nicknamed the "cox", one will tell the rowers when they need to put on more pressure, the rate at which the boat is at, and if someone needs to correct their technique.

Rowing Erg