Thehistory of rowing as a sport has prevailed it as one of the oldest traditions in the world. What began as a method of transport andwarfare eventually became a sport with a wide following, and a part of the cultural identity of the English speaking world. Rowing in its modern form developed in England in the 1700s.[1]
Today rowing is an amateur sport and an Olympic event. When Pierre de Coubertin created the Modern Olympics, he modelled theInternational Olympic Committee on the Henley Stewards. The stewards organise theHenley Royal Regatta, one ofrowing's most prestigious events.
Even since the earliest recorded references to rowing, the sporting element has been present. An Egyptian funerary inscription of 1430 BC records that the warriorAmenhotep (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.[2]
In the 13th century,Venetian festivals calledregata included boat races among others. Nowadays, rowing competitions are still calledregattas (with a second 't' added).[3]
The first known 'modern' rowing races, began from competition among the professional watermen that provided ferry and taxi service on theRiver Thames in London. Prizes for wager races were often offered by the LondonGuilds andLivery Companies or wealthy owners of riverside houses. (ref, The Brilliants p14). During the 19th 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.[4] Prize matches amongst professionals similarly became popular on other rivers throughout Great Britain in the 19th 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.[5]
Amateur competition in England began towards the end of the 18th century. Documentary evidence from this period is sparse, but it is known that the Monarch Boat Club ofEton College and the Isis Club ofWestminster 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.[6]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.[7]
In America, there is also a sizable rowing community. Ports such asBoston,New York, andPhiladelphia required the building of many small rowing boats, and competition was inevitable. The first American race took place on theSchuylkill 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 19th century as other professional sports are today. In 1824, ferrymen from the Whitehall Landing at Manhattan's Battery raced a crew from the British frigateHMSHussar for $1,000. Thousands bet on the event and the Americans won. In 1838, six men formed the Narragansett Boat Club in Providence and today Narragansett Boat Club is the oldest rowing club, and the oldest athletic club in America. In 1843, the first American college rowing club was formed atYale University. TheHarvard–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 twoNew Englandboarding schools:Phillips Exeter Academy inExeter, New Hampshire, andPhillips Academy Andover inAndover, Massachusetts. The oldest continuous rowing club in America is theNarragansett Boat Club, in Providence, Rhode Island, founded in 1838.
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 25 June 1892. It is the oldest international sports federation in the Olympic movement.[8]
FISA first organised aEuropean Rowing Championships in 1893. An annualWorld Rowing Championships was introduced in 1962. Rowing has also been conducted at the Olympic Games since 1900 (canceled at the first modern Games in1896 due to bad weather).
Strong rowing nations include Great Britain, the United States,Italy,Netherlands, France,Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, andRomania. Well-known rowers of recent years include SirSteve Redgrave (UK), who won Olympic golds in five successive Olympics; SirMatthew Pinsent (UK), who won golds in four successive Olympics;James Tomkins (Australia), three times Olympic gold medalist;Rob Waddell (New Zealand) andXeno Müller (Switzerland), opponents in the single sculls.[9]
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 inAthens, it was not until the1976 Summer Olympics inMontreal that women were allowed to participate – well after their fellow athletes in similar sports such as swimming,athletics,cycling, andcanoeing.
Women have competed in rowing events as far back as the fifteenth century. WhenBeatrice d'Este visitedVenice in 1493, aregatta was held in which fifty peasant women competed.[10] There were professional women rowers, referred to asRoddarmadam, managing and dominating the water ferry in the archipelago of the Swedish capital of Stockholm from the 15th century up until the late 19th century.[11]Women's rowing in modern times can be traced back to the early 19th century, and an image of a women's double scull race made the cover ofHarper's Weekly in 1870[citation needed].St Hugh's College, Oxford owned a boat for use by its women students as early as 1891; it was stored at theRiver Cherwell and students "who can swim 50 feet" were permitted to use it.[12] In 1892 four young women (Zulette Lamb and Lena, Agnes, and Caroline Polhamus) startedZLAC Rowing Club in San Diego, California when they borrowed a boat and began rowing on San Diego Bay.[13] The club considers itself the oldest all-women's rowing club in continuous existence in the world.Newnham College Boat Club was formed the following year in Cambridge, England. In 1927, the firstWomen's Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge universities 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 theEuropean Rowing Championships. In 1988, the firstHenley Women's Regatta was held. On 27 April 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 byUK Sport and qualified Leander to receive a £1.5 million grant for refurbishment from the Lottery Sports Fund.[14] In 2015, the Women's Boat Race was combined with the men's race on the River Thames in London.[15][16]
At international level, women's rowing was dominated by Eastern European countries, such asRomania,Russia, andBulgaria, until the collapse of the communism. Since then the most successful rowing nations have included Germany,Netherlands,Canada, Great Britain[17] and New Zealand: countries that have rivers and lakes suitable for rowing on. 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'scollegiate rowing, and the establishment of theNCAA Rowing Championships for women.
Well-known rowers of recent years includeEkaterina Karsten (Belarus) in women's single sculls;Kathrin Boron (Germany) in women's double sculls and quadruples.[18]