Rowing

Rowing involves two or more people, each rower having one oar. It is believed that rowing contests belonged to early Greek festivals, such as the Isthmian and Panathenaean Games.

Archaeology Wing in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. By yoav dothan 

One of the earliest descriptions of rowing is included by Virgil who, in The Aeneid (completed in 19 BC), vividly pictured boat-races as part of the funeral games arranged by Aeneas for his father Anchises.

Another tradition tells how Ulysses, on his return to Ithaca, was entertained by the islanders' taking part in a spectacular boat race.

In the 13th century, Venetian festivals called regata included boat races among others.

The Doggett's Coat and Badge race is the oldest continuous rowing race in the world. It was founded in 1715 by Thomas Doggett, an Irish actor, in honor of the accession of King George I to the British throne. The race is open to apprentice watermen and lightermen in the first year of their freedom, which means competitors face the tough challenge of studying for their licence while training for the race. Competitors may enter a total of four times (or until they win!)

The Doggett's Coat and Badge race is rowed on the River Thames upstream from London Bridge to Cadogan Pier in Chelsea, passing under a total of eleven bridges. Originally, it was raced every August 1 against the outgoing (falling or ebb) tide, in the boats used by watermen to ferry passengers across the Thames. However, since 1873 the race has been rowed with the tide.

The finish of the Doggett's Coat and Badge. Painting by Thomas Rowlandson.

The famous Boat Race between Oxford University and Cambridge University first took place in 1829,

Rowing races which take place annually on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England were inaugurated in 1839. The course has varied over the years, but is now approximately 2 km 112 m / 1 mile 550 yd. It is as much an elegant social occasion for the public as a sporting one.

It was in the early years of the nineteenth century that rowing became a popular sport in America. The sport experienced a temporary decline when betting and suspicion of foul play gave it a bad name.

The establishment of the New York Castle Garden Boat Club in 1834 was the real beginning of amateur rowing in the USA.

Competition between American universities dates back to 1852, when the Harvard-Yale race was first rowed, on Lake Winnepeasaukee, New Hampshire. It is the oldest intercollegiate athletic contest of any type in the United States.

Lewis Carroll told Alice Liddell and her sisters a story in a rowing boat on the River Thames from Oxford to Godstow in 1862. The tale would eventually form the basis for his book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

The Australian sculler Bobby Pearce once stopped during a rowing race in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics to allow a family of ducks pass. His opponent ended up with a 5 length lead. In the final 1,000 meters Pearce pulled ahead by 30 seconds, not only winning the gold but setting a Games record.

Every year, a regatta is held in Alice Springs, Australia. Due to the lack of water in Central Australia, contestants have to carry bottomless "boats" trough a dried-out river. When the river did carry water in 1993, the regatta became "the only regatta ever cancelled because of wet weather".

Source Europress Encyclopedia