The Lunatic Fringe
While for some, rowing is a serene Zen-like experience, for others,
rowing is a socially-acceptable form of insanity. At least that's the
best way to describe some of these links.
Bumps Races
In deepest, darkest England, Oxford University and Cambridge
University are two of the last institutions to engage in
bumps racing,
a primal form of racing where the goal is for your boat to
hit the boat in front of you. Boats typically start out with a
length
and a half between each boat, and the course is approximately
2000m. While
coxswains are supposed to conceed when it is clear that their boat
will be hit, serious carnage sometimes ensues such as when
boats break when they hit the bank. While most serious accidents
happen with less experienced crews, sometimes even reaces with
experienced rowers can be interesting, such as when
the Wadham College women's first 8 completely blocked the river
after failing to conceed and causing a re-row, when
St. Anne's College had to limp home with four rowers after
snapping off their bow in a collision, or when the
Oriel College Men's first 8 (currently the best crew at Oxford
University) lost
their rudder-string in the middle of the race, forcing their
cowswain to reach back and steer the rudder by hand. Of course, even
when no serious accidents result, coxswains who conceed late are
likely to at least get a
tap in the
back from the bow-man of the bumping boat. And you thought those
life jackets were to keep the cox afloat if the boat overturned...
The Jockey Ad Campaign
The US Men's rowing team recently
posed for
Jockey
Underwear to try and raise a bit of money for themselves.
While most people will consider the
original ad
to be rather tasteful (well, at least as tasteful as an underwear ad
can be), it has been highly publicized within the rowing community.
As a result, several clubs have created their own parodies of the ad,
which include the
tasteful (Dartmouth Rowing Club), the
very, very
distasteful (Twickenham RC: ) and the
bizarre(Wadham
College Boat Club).
The Trireme Trust
For those of you who've always wanted to be galley slaves, fear not
for you still have a chance to fulfill your fantasy.
The Trireme
Trust, has recreated an ancient
Greek Trireme, the
Olympias
which is a commissioned vessel in the Greek Navy.
One of the most bizarre boats ever invented, the triremes
were ancient Greek fighting ships, and one of the primary causes of
Greek Naval dominance. In 1982, several British rowing and history
enthusiasts got together to try and build one. The Olympias is
the result. She boasts a typical trireme rowing configuration, 170
oarsmen (and women) rowing on three decks. Note the unusual oar
configuration with the
top oars crossing the bottom oars.
Every summer, the Olympias gets a new set of slaves who
volunteer to row her for a week or so. Of course the up-side is that
the Olympias is in Greece, and you typically only row for a
half day, so the rest of the time you can spend swimming in the
Mediterranean and getting the most enviable tan. And if you get in the
crew now, there's a chance you may be invited to row in it if/when she
rows in the opening ceremony for the 2004 Olympics. Maybe Greek
galley slaves didn't have it so bad after all...
Do you have more tales from the lunatic fringe of rowing? If so,
please contact
Old Capitol Rowing Club.
Last updated:
24 September 2002