History of rowing

The History of rowing is the tale of one of the oldest sports in the world. What began as a method of transport and warfare, eventually became a sport with a wide following, and a part of the cultural identity of the English speaking world.

Today rowing is an amateur sport and an Olympic event. When Pierre de Coubertin created the modern olympics, he modelled the International Olympic Committee on the Henley Stewards. The stewards organise the Henley Royal Regatta, one of rowing's most prestigious events.

Men's

Even since the earliest recorded references to rowing, the sporting element has been present. An Egyptian funerary inscription of 1430 BC records that the warrior Amenhotep (Amenophis) II was also renowned for his feats of oarsmanship. In the Aeneid, Virgil mentions rowing forming part of the funeral games arranged by Aeneas in honour of his father. [cite book
author= Burnell, Richard
coauthors = Page, Geoffrey
title = The Brilliants: A History of the Leander Club
publisher = Leander Club
year = 1997
isbn = 0 9500061 1 4 ]

In the 13th century, Venetian festivals called "regata" included boat races among others. Nowadays, rowing competitions are still called "regattas" (with a second 't' added). [cite web |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=regatta&searchmode=none
title=Online Etymology Dictionary |accessdate=2006-12-23 |format=html]

The first known ‘modern’ rowing races, began from competition among the professional watermen that provided ferry and taxi service on the River Thames in London. Prizes for wager races were often offered by the London Guilds and Livery Companies or wealthy owners of riverside houses. (ref, The Brilliants p14). During the Nineteenth Century these races were to become numerous and popular, attracting large crowds. A contemporary sporting book lists 5000 such matches in the years 1835 to 1851. [cite book
author= Wigglesworth, Neil
title = Victorian & Edwardian Boating from old photographs
publisher = Batsford
year = 1987
isbn = 0 7134 5510 1 ] Prize matches amongst professionals similarly became popular on other rivers throughout Great Britain in the Nineteenth Century, notably attracting vast crowds on the Tyne. The oldest surviving such race, Doggett's Coat and Badge was first contested in 1715 and is still held annually from London Bridge to Chelsea. [cite web |url=http://www.history.ac.uk/gh/doggett.htm |title=DOGGETT'S COAT & BADGE RACE |accessdate=2006-12-23 |format=html |work=Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section ]

Amateur competition in England began towards the end of the Eighteenth Century. Documentary evidence from this period is sparse, but it is known that the Monarch Boat Club of Eton College and the Isis Club of Westminster School were both in existence in the 1790s. The Star Club and Arrow Club in London for gentlemen amateurs were also in existence before 1800. At the University of Oxford bumping races were first organised in 1815 while at Cambridge the first recorded races were in 1827. The Boat Race between Oxford University and Cambridge University first took place in 1829, and was the second intercollegiate sporting event (following the first Varsity Cricket Match by 2 years). The interest in the first Boat Race and subsequent matches led the town of Henley to begin hosting an annual regatta in 1839. [cite book
author= Burnell, Richard
title = Henley Royal Regatta: A celebration of 150 years
publisher = William Heinemann
year = 1989
isbn = 0 434 98134 6]

In America, there is also a sizable rowing community. Ports such as Boston, New York, and Philadelphia required the building of many small rowing boats, and competition was inevitable. The first American race took place on the Schuylkill River in 1762 between 6-oared barges. As the sport gained popularity, clubs were formed and scullers began racing for prizes. Professionals were rowing against clubs and each other before the civil war. Races were often round trips to a stake and back, so that the start and finish could be watched. The public flocked to such events, and rowing was as popular in America during the 1800s as other professional sports are today. In 1824, ferrymen from the Whitehall Landing at Manhattan's Battery raced a crew from the British frigate HMS "Hussar" for $1,000. Thousands bet on the event and the Americans won. In 1843, the first American college rowing club was formed at Yale University. The Harvard-Yale Regatta is the oldest intercollegiate sporting event in the United States having been contested every year since 1852 (except for occasional breaks due to major wars, such as World War II and the US Civil War). The oldest inter-high school competition in the United States also occurred on the water, in the form of a race in six man boats between two New England boarding schools: Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, and Phillips Academy Andover in Andover, Massachusetts. The oldest continuous rowing club in America is the Detroit Boat Club, in Detroit, Michigan.

FISA, the “Fédération Internationale des Sociétés d’Aviron” in French (or the English equivalent International Federation of Rowing Associations) was founded by representatives from France, Switzerland, Belgium, Adriatica (now a part of Italy) and Italy in Turin on June 25, 1892. It is the oldest international sports federation in the Olympic movement. [cite web |url=http://www.worldrowing.com/index.php?pageid=12
title=World Rowing|accessdate=2006-12-31 |format=html]

FISA first organised a European Rowing Championships in 1893. An annual World Rowing Championships was introduced in 1962. Rowing has also been conducted at the Olympic Games since 1900 (canceled at the first modern Games in 1896 due to bad weather).

Strong rowing nations include Great Britain, the United States, Italy, France, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, and Romania. [http://www.fisa.org/bio/default.sps Well-known rowers] of recent years include Sir Steve Redgrave (UK), who won Olympic golds in five successive Olympics; Sir Matthew Pinsent (UK), who won golds in four successive Olympics; James Tomkins (Australia), three times Olympic gold medalist; Rob Waddell (New Zealand) and Xeno Müller (Switzerland), opponents in the single sculls; Ekaterina Karsten (Belarus) in women's single sculls; Kathrin Boron (Germany) in women's double sculls and quadruples.

Women's

For most of its history, rowing has been a male dominated sport. Although rowing’s roots as a sport in the modern Olympics can be traced back to the original 1896 games in Athens, it was not until the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal that women were allowed to participate – well after their fellow athletes in similar sports such as swimming, athletics, cycling, and canoeing.

Notwithstanding its male domination, women’s rowing can be traced back to the early 1800s, and an image of a women’s double scull race made the cover of Harper’s Weekly in 1870. In 1892 four young women (Zullett, Lena, Agnes, and Caroline) from San Diego Calf. joined together against their male counterparts and started ZLAC rowing club, the oldest all women's rowing club in the world, ZLAC is still popular today and ironically the junior team (high school level) is coached by a male triad. In 1927, the first rowing event for women between Oxford and Cambridge was held (for the first few years it was an exhibition, and it later became a race). And in 1954, the women's events were added to the European Rowing Championships. In 1988, the first Henley Women's Regatta was held. On April 27 1997, one of the last bastions of rowing was breached when, at an Extraordinary General Meeting, Leander Club voted to admit women as members. This rule met a condition imposed by UK Sport and qualified Leander to receive a £1.5 million grant for refurbishment from the Lottery Sports Fund. [cite web |url=http://www.regatta.rowing.org.uk/99-leander.html |title=Leander voted for women |accessdate=2006-12-23 |format=html |work=REGATTA OnLine ]

At international level, women’s rowing traditionally has been dominated by Eastern European countries, such as Romania, Russia, and Bulgaria, although other countries such as Germany, Netherlands, Canada, and New Zealand often field competitive teams. The United States also has often had very competitive crews, and in recent years these crews have become even more competitive given the surge in women’s collegiate rowing, and the establishment of the NCAA Rowing Championships for women.

ee also

*Rowing (sport)
*Henley Royal Regatta
*The Boat Race

References

External links

* [http://www.rowinghistory.net/ Friends of rowing history]
* [http://www.augustarowingclub.org/History%20of%20Rowing/history.html A Brief History of Rowing]