Rowing Competitions

There are many differing sets of rules governing racing and the governing body of the sport in a particular country generally defines these. In England and Wales British Rowing governs England and Wales, Rowing Australia governs Australia and in the U.S. USRowing sets the rules. In international competition the rules are set out by the world governing body FISA. The rules may vary slightly but are generally very similar. The most notable difference between British Rowing rules and FISA rules is that coxes are not required to wear flotation devices in international events governed by FISA, whereas they are required to wear one at all times under the British Rowing rules. Rowers may take part in the sport for their leisure or they may row competitively. There are different types of competition in the sport of rowing. In the U.S. all types of races are referred to as "regattas" whereas this term is only used in the UK for head-to-head races, which take place in the summer season. Time trials occur in the UK during the winter, and are referred to as Head Races.

Rowing is unusual in the demands it places on competitors. The standard world championship race distance of 2,000 meters is long enough to have a large endurance element, but short enough (typically 5.5 to 7.5 minutes) to feel like a sprint. This means that rowers have some of the highest power outputs of athletes in any sport. At the same time the motion involved in the sport compresses the rowers' lungs, limiting the amount of oxygen available to them. This requires rowers to tailor their breathing to the stroke, typically inhaling and exhaling twice per stroke, unlike most other sports such as cycling where competitors can breathe freely.

Sprint or Side-by-Side Racing
Most races that are held in the spring and summer feature side by side racing where all the boats start at the same time from a stationary position and the winner is the boat that crosses the finish line first. Crews are given a number, which is displayed on the boat, and they are called to the start line by their number. The number of boats in a race is determined by the width of the course.

The standard length races for the Olympics and the World Rowing Championships is 2,000 m long, 1,500 m - 2,000 m for U.S. High School races and 1,000 m for Masters rowers (rowers older than 27). There are exceptions to these distances. Two traditional non-standard distance races are the annual Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge and the Harvard-Yale Boat Race, which cover courses of approximately four miles (roughly 6.5 km). The Henley Royal Regatta is also raced upon a non-standard distance at 1 mile, 550 yards (2,112 meters).

In general, multi-boat competitions are organized in a series of heats, with the fastest boats in each heat qualifying for the next heat. The losing boats from each heat may be given a second chance to qualify through a repechage. The World Rowing Championships offers multi-lane racing in heats, finals and repechages. At Henley Royal Regatta two crews compete side by side in each round, in a straightforward knockout format, with no repechages.

Head Race
Headraces are time trial/processional races that take place from autumn (fall) to early spring. Crews are given a number, which is displayed on the boat, and they are called to the start line by their number. Boats begin with a flying start, meaning that they cross the start line at race pace rather than starting from a stand still, at intervals of 10–20 seconds, and are timed over a set distance. Race courses vary in length from 2,000 m to 12,000 m, although there are longer races. A timekeeper must start timing as the boat crosses the line, noting the number of the boat. Another timekeeper performs the same operation at the finish line.

Overtaking is inevitable, and the rules state that crews being overtaken must give way to faster boats. Apart from that, most of the rules relate to marshalling of the boats before and after the race, the stipulation that all boats must shoot the designated spans of bridges, and that crews must obey the directions of umpires. There can be time penalties imposed for unsporting behavior and disqualification for serious breaches of the rules. A crew that is offended against does not receive any time advantage.

These processional races are known as 'Head Races', because, as with bumps racing, the fastest crew is awarded the title 'Head of the River' (as in 'head of the class'). It was not deemed feasible to run bumps racing on the Tideway, so a timed format was adopted and soon caught on. Time trials are sometimes used to determine who competes in an event where there are a limited number of entries, for example the qualifying races for Henley Royal Regatta, and "rowing on" and "getting on" for the Oxford and Cambridge Bumps races respectively.

Bumps Race
A third type of race is the bumps race. In these races, crews start lined up along the river at set intervals, and all start at the same time. The aim is to catch up with the boat in front, and avoid being caught by the boat behind. If a crew overtakes or makes physical contact with the crew ahead, a bump is awarded. As a result damage to boats and equipment is common during bumps racing. To avoid damage the Cox of the crew being bumped may concede the bump before contact is actually made. The next day, the bumping crew will start ahead of any crews that have been bumped. Bumps races take place over several days, and the positions at the end of the last race are used to set the positions on the first day of the races the next year.

Stake Races
The stake format was often used in early American races. Competitors line up at the start, race to a stake, moored boat, or buoy some distance away, and return. The 180° turn requires mastery of steering. These races are popular with spectators because one may watch both the start and finish. Usually only two boats would race at once to avoid collision. The Green Mountain Head Regatta continues to use the stake format but it is run as a headrace with an interval start. A similar type of racing is found in UK coastal rowing, where a number of boats race out to a given point from the coast and then return fighting rough water all the way.

The Olympic Games are held every four years, where only select boat classes are raced (14 in total):

• Men: quad scull, double scull, single scull, eight, coxless four, and coxless pair
• Lightweight Men: coxless four and double scull
• Women: quad scull, double scull, single scull, eight, and coxless pair
• Lightweight Women: double scull

At the end of each year, the FISA holds the World Rowing Championships with events in 22 different boat classes. Athletes generally consider the Olympic classes to be "premier" events and are more interested in rowing in these than at the World Championships. During Olympic years only non-Olympic boats compete at the World Championships.

Adaptive Athletes
Adaptive rowing is a special category of races for those with physical disabilities. Under FISA rules there are 5 boat classes for adaptive rowers; mixed (2 men and 2 women plus Cox) LTA (Legs, Trunk, Arms), mixed intellectual disability (2 men and 2 women plus Cox) LTA (Legs, Trunk, Arms), mixed (1 man and 1 woman) TA (Trunk and Arms), and men's and women's AS (Arms and Shoulders). Events are held at the World Rowing Championships and were also held at the 2008 Summer Paralympics.