shells, but not vice versa. Boats with each
person having two oars are called sculls and
rowers who use two oars are called scullers.
Some rowers use one oar and they are called
sweep rowers.
Originally made of wood, the newer competition
boats are made of carbon fiber or honeycombed
fiberglass. Singles are 27 feet long and may
weigh as little as 14 lb. Competitive singles
are as narrow as 10 inches across and the oars
are thinner and lighter than sweep oars.
The single scull is known as the single. It is
one person with two oars. An Olympic single
sculler is capable of rowing approximately 10.6
mph.
Of the 14 events in the Olympic Games, eight
are in the sweep rowing discipline. Sweep
rowing differs from sculling because the sweep
rowers use only one oar. Generally, rowers sit
in configurations that have the oars on
alternating, port and starboard, sides along
the boat. Occasionally, a coach may rig a boat
so that two consecutive rowers are on the same
side in order to accommodate crews and equalize
the athletes' power.
The oars used by the sweep rowers are similar
in shape to those the scullers use; however,
sweep rowers' oars are longer (12-13 fee) than
scullers' oars (9 1/2 - 10 feet). The standard
Swimming oar design was symmetrical in shape, but a new
Table Tennis oar was developed a few years ago which is
Taekwondo exclusively used at the international level. It
Team Handball is the big blade commonly called the "hatchet")
Tennis and it differs from the traditional oar in that
Track and Field it is shaped asymmetrically with a greater
surface area and shorter length. The thought is
Triathlon that with a greater surface area and shorter
Volleyball span, the forces working to move the boat will
Water Polo be more efficient.
Water Skiing
Weightlifting Sweeps rowers come in pairs, fours and eights,
Wrestling and may or may not carry along a coxswain
(pronounced cox-n), who is the on-the-water
coach and navigator. In the boats without
coxswains, also known as "straight" boats, one
of the four rowers works the rudder with his
foot while rowing.