Rowing

In rowing athletes sit with their backs to the direction of travel and drive the boat with oars; the Olympic distance is 2,000 metres. Boats range from the single scull to the eight, and larger crews are steered by a coxswain.

History

Modern rowing developed in England in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; the famous Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge has been held since 1829. The international federation, World Rowing, was founded in 1892. Rowing was called off at the 1896 Games because of bad weather and has featured at every Olympics since 1900.

Major competitions

The Olympic Games, the World Championships, the World Cup series, the European Championships, Henley Royal Regatta and the Oxford–Cambridge Boat Race.

Rowing in the Turkic world

The Kura Olympic Training Centre in Mingachevir, Azerbaijan, hosts international rowing and canoe events. Istanbul's Golden Horn and Bosphorus, and the rivers and lakes of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Hungary, are also training waters for rowers.