A Glossary of Rowing

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ALIGNER - The person at the starting dock who aligns the boats evenly for a fair start.

BEDLAM - What happens when thousands of people try to park in one small lot at a regatta.

BLADE (HATCHET OR SPOON) - The face of the oar that pushes against the water.

BODY ANGLE - Leaning to the left or to the right in the boat. Ideally, a rower should sit upright for the entire stroke except a slight lean into the rigger at the catch. Improper body angle can result in bad keel.

BOW - End of the boat closest to the direction of travel. See diagram. Also can be used to refer to one-seat, or in conjunction with either four or pair. Bow-four refers to seats four through one. Bow-pair refers to seats two and one.

BUMP - A very crazy race they do only in England. It is what happens when your race course isn't wide enough for more than one lane.

CATCH - The part of the stroke where the oar enters the water. See How To Take a Stroke.

CHECK - Bad technique that slows the boat down. Essentially, the momentum of the rowers sends the boat in the opposite direction.

"CHECK IT DOWN!" - Coxswain call that makes all the rowers drag their oarblades through the water perpendicularly, effectively stopping the boat.

COURSE - A straight race course for rowers that has 4-6 lanes. In high school, the length is 1500 meters, while in college/olympic events, the length is 2000 meters.

COX BOX - A small electronic device which aids the coxswain by amplifying his voice, and giving him a readout of various information. See What the Heck is a Coxswain?

A cox box

COXSWAIN - A small (usually) unathletic person that gets to boss around and yell at big athletic people. See What the Heck is a Coxswain?

CRAB - Bad technique that has the effect of "checking it down" when the rower doesn't get his oar out in time.

CRUNCH - The sound made when a trailer full of shells overturns on Interstate 95. See TJ Crew.

DRIVE - Part of the stroke where the rower pulls the blade through the water to propel the boat. See How To Take A Stroke.

ERG (ERGO/ERGOMETER/ERG MACHINE) - Rowing machine that most closely simulates rowing in a boat. See What the Heck is an Erg?

FEATHERING - Rotating the oar in the oarlock so that the blade is parallel to the surface of the water. See How To Take a Stroke.

FINISH - Part of the stroke after the drive where the blades come out of the water. See How To Take a Stroke.

FOOT STRETCHER - Part of the boat where the shoes are attached and where the rower pushes his legs against on the drive.

HEAVYWEIGHT - Heaviest of the three major weight categories in competitive rowing.

"HOLD WATER!" - Coxswain call. Another way of saying "check it down".

KEEL - The steadiness of the boat. If the boat alternates leaning from side to side, it is a sign of bad technique.

LAYBACK - Term for how much you lean back at the finish. Too much is bad, too little is, well, bad also.

"LET IT RUN!" - Coxswain call for all rowers to stop rowing and to pause at the finish, letting the boat glide through the water and coast to a stop. Used as a drill to build balance.

LEG DRIVE - Term used for driving the legs against the foot stretchers on the drive.

LIGHTWEIGHT - Lightest of the three major weight classes in competitive rowing. In high school, the average boat weight needs to be no more than 140 lbs., and each rower needs to weigh below 145 lbs.

MIDWEIGHT - Basically those rowers that are too heavy for lightweight, and too light to be a heavyweight.

MISSING WATER - Bad technique where you aren't moving the blade through the water as much as you could. Usually caused by not getting the blade in the water soon enough at the catch. Therefore, missed water equals less movement of the boat.

NAPOLEAN COMPLEX - A psychological complex that most coxswains have. Because they are small and in a powerful position, they act like dictators. Sort of the opposite of an inferiority complex.

OARLOCK - Square latch to hold the oar and provide a fulcrum for the stroke against the rigger.

OARSMAN or OARSWOMAN - Another term for a rower.

OFFICIAL - An official regatta race administrator that follows behind the current race in a motorboat. The official makes sure all boats stay in their designated lanes.

PORT - Side of the boat to the coxswain's left and to the rowers' right. See diagram.

"POWER 10 (or 20 or 30 etc.)" - Coxswain call to take a certain number of power strokes. A power stroke is a stroke that musters all the strength you can give.

PUDDLES - A measure of your power (and of run). If your blade leaves behind little dinky ripples, then you're not pulling hard enough. If you leave tidal waves after you pull your blade out of the water, then you're pulling just right.

PYRAMID - Strength/endurance building drill where the coxswain calls an increasing series of power strokes, then a decreasing series of power strokes. e.g. Power 10 - 10 normal strokes - Power 20 - 10 normal strokes - Power 10.

RACE PACE - A stroke rating that you can hold for the entire race. Our race pace this year was a 34.

RECOVERY - Part of the stroke where the rower comes back up the slide slowly towards the catch. See How To Take a Stroke.

REGATTA - An organized crew race.

RELEASE - Another term for finish.

REPECHAGE - A race after the heats for those who didn't qualify. Basically, a second chance to make it to finals.

RIGGER - An apparatus on the side of the boat to provide a fulcrum for the lever (oar).

RIGGING - The settings for the riggers to create the perfect stroke. (i.e. pitch, inboard, outboard)

RUDDER - A little fin on the bottom of the boat that the coxswain can control to steer the boat.

RUN - The distance the boat moves after a stroke. Long run is very good. Run can be visually measured by the distance between the last puddle made by two-seat and where eight-seat's blade enters the water.

RUSHING THE SLIDE - Bad technique that causes check. Comes from coming towards the catch from the recovery too fast.

SCULLING - Opposite of sweep. Sculling is rowing with two oars (an oar on each side of the boat).

SCULLER - A rower who sculls.

SHELL - Another term for a boat. Specifically, a boat used in racing.

SKYING - Bad technique where the blade is too high off of the surface of the water at the catch.

SLIDE - The tracks in which the rolling seat rolls .

SPLIT TIME - Projected amount of time it would take to row 500 meters at this specific power at this specific pace. Calculated by erg monitors and cox boxes.

SPRINT - The last 500 meters of the race. This is the point where everyone is exhausted, and whoever has the guts to go even faster wins.

STARBOARD - Side of the boat to the coxswain's right and to the rowers' left. See diagram.

START (and STARTING CALL ) - When all the boats are aligned, the starter says "We have alignment." Sometimes they do the starting call in French. "Etes-vous pret? Partez!" In English, the call (most of the time) is "Are you ready? Row!" Sometimes there are subtle variations on that.

START SEQUENCE - A sequence of very quick (sometimes short) strokes at the very beginning of the race to shoot out into the lead. Our sequence this year was to start out taking five short strokes, then a power 20, and then a 10 to settle down to race pace.

STARTING DOCK - Dock at the strating line where all the boats are aligned.

STERN -End of the boat farthest fromthe direction of travel. See diagram. Also can be used in conjunction with either four or pair. Stern-four refers to seats eight through five. Stern-pair refers to seats eight and seven.

STROKE - One full motion to move a boat. Consists of the catch, drive, finish, and recovery. See How To Take a Stroke. Can also be used to refer to eight-seat.

STROKE RATE - How fast a stroke is being taken. In terms of strokes per minute.

SWEEP - Opposite of scull. Rowing with one oar on one side of the boat.

WAKE - Waves that motorboats leave behind. "Getting waked" in a race means you're behind a boat, either another shell or an official. Getting waked by an official is very bad. It means you've either got a bad official or you're really far behind in a race.

WASHING OUT - Similar to missing water except it means taking the blade out of the water too soon at the finish.

"WEIGH-ENOUGH!" - Coxswain call to have all rowers stop rowing. Call actually sounds like "way-nuff".