When people think of rowing, they may think of sports like kayaking or canoeing – maybe even the children’s song “Row, Row, Row your boat.” But the sport of rowing, otherwise known as crew, is quite different from other types of boating sports. 

Rowing occurs in an upright and horizontal fashion, with the blade skimming on top of the water until it is squared and ready to enter at the top of the stroke.

There are two different types of rowing, sculling and sweeping, each including boats of one, two, four, or eight rowers. Sculling involves each person having two oars while sweeping involves each person only having one oar and having a preference of side. 

Both are extremely common, with sweeping being more common in high school crew. There are two parts of the season, for both colleges and high schools, with the fall season racing 5k’s and the spring racing 2k’s.

In sweeping, crews of eight have four people on starboard (left side) and four on port (right side). The sides rotate every other so every pair has one port and one starboard. Crews also face towards the stern (the back) of the boat while propelling the boat forward with all eight pushing towards the bow. Each rower has a rigger in which they place their oar to keep it stable while they row. 

In sculling the crew and boat move the same way, but each rower has two oars and two riggers, instead of the one that sweeping includes.

Apart from the eight rowers, there is a coxswain whose job is to steer the boat, keep the crew motivated, ensure safety, and call moves or orders to the crew, much like a coach would in football.

There are many different teams throughout the US at the high school level, with there being two teams in the Sacramento area alone. Capital Crew row at Lake Natoma in Gold Rush, CA, and River City Rowing Club row in West Sacramento. 

After talking to Lucie Czako (15), a coxswain on Capital Crew’s Varsity Women’s team, she talks about some of her favorite parts about being on the team.

“My favorite part is the environment; being on the lake every day and also the people,”  Czako said. “I’ve met so many of my closest friends through rowing and it’s like my second family.”

AJ Linklater (15), a member of  Capital Crew’s Varsity Women’s team, said that her favorite part of rowing is  “how much of a team sport it is and the community,” Linklater said. 

Another major field of rowing is the collegiate world, with the top teams scouting different high school teams all around the US. Some of the top rowing colleges are in California with Stanford, UC Berkeley, and UCLA. All these programs are at the top of their leagues.

The sport of rowing is one that is a challenge but also a great learning experience for the rest of an athlete’s life.