Rowing Facts
Rowing is one of the original sports in the modern Olympic Games.
Women's rowing became an Olympic sport in 1979.
Rowers were the third largest U.S. delegation (48 athletes) to the Olympic Games in 2000.
Eight-oared shells are about 60-feet long - that’s 20 yards on a football field.
Rowing was the first intercollegiate sport contested in the United States. The first rowing race was between Harvard and Yale in 1852.
An eight, which carries more than three-quarters of a ton (1,750 pounds), may weigh as little as 200 pounds. The boats are made of fiberglass composite material.
Singles may be as narrow as 10 inches across, weigh only 23 pounds, and stretch nearly 27-feet long.
The first rowing club in the U.S. was the Detroit Boat Club, founded in 1839.
Yale College founded the first collegiate boat club in the U.S. in 1843.
Physiologists claim that rowing a 2,000-meter race - equivalent to 1.25 miles - is equal to playing back-to-back basketball games.
