* an octuple is a scull rowed by 8 rowers with 2 oars, as opposed to a sweep 8. Find more information about this scull here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octuple_scull
Photo credit @maxsivyi
Octuple rowing BILAC 2016
In the course of our work at Rowing the World, we have come across some super cool sites, a few of which have a staggering amount of compelling writing, images, information or humor that appeals especially to recreational and Masters rowers. At least we think they do. Let’s face it. Information on rowing events, training and technique is wonderful, but we are not solely rowing machines. Okay, some of you are machines. But, we can all appreciate art, history, poetry, inspiration, different rowing modes—like coastal or oar boarding—and even bloopers of a sport we all love. Get your tentacles on some of these and let us know on Twitter or Facebook using #rowingsites of other places you’ve come across and think our friends will enjoy too.
Credit – Girl On The River blog
Patricia Carswell is a writer based in the U.K. Her personal award-winning blog is beautifully curated and full of fascinating tidbits on the rowing life from coxing to humor and reviews on rowing paraphernalia.
She explains her blog best.
“Girl on the River is a little bit different from most sports and fitness blogs. You won’t find any #fitspo here – there aren’t any shots of my butt looking perky in lycra or of my rippling abs in a super-filtered gym selfie – but I hope you’ll find it inspiring to follow my journey through the ups and downs of a tough sport. And although it’s about rowing, you won’t find commentaries on events or even many race reports – it’s more personal than that.”
An article that captures the spirit of Carswell and her sense of humor is a hilariously illustrated piece on what not to wear on the river. Enjoy What Not to Wear (the dos and don’ts of river fashion)
Credit: Hear The Boat Sing blog
As stated on its site, Hear The Boat Sing covers all aspects of the rich history of rowing, as a sport, culture phenomena, a life style, and a necessary element to keep your wit and stay sane.
Aside from being ingeniously titled, Hear the Boat Sing has all kinds of fantastic tidbits from poetry to humor to beer notes and a word cloud so you can select what you’d like to read about: women rowing, wooden boats, rowing magazines and many other options, including haiku.
seriously, where?
where else can you find haiku
haiku for rowers
Don’t mind us. We just had an inkling for a little haiku of our own.
Where were we? Yes, here’s a recent post titled Thames on the Thames which features a superb 11-minute silent film from the 1920s showing the Thames crew rowing and appearances by famous coach Steve Fairbairn. Göran R Buckhorn, founder of Hear the Boat Sing and writer of Thames on the Thames, found the old film of the crew on the Huntley Film Archives on YouTube. The crew from the Thames Rowing Club won the 1923 Grand Challenge Cup.
The film is scratchy and you half-expect Buster Keaton to be coxing but, hey, 1920s! “Rhythm, smoothness, balance and watermanship” abound in this gem of a clip. Which is what will abound when you join us on Rowing the World’s Classic River Thames trip August 13th to 20th.
Photo credit-Matt-McClain-The-Washington-Post
- Washington Post
Washington Post isn’t a great rowing website, surprise, surprise. But, we didn’t want you to miss this. In April, they posted an inspiring piece by Alice Reid on something you may already know: women find strength and camaraderie in rowing. Featured here is insight on why older women are getting into the sport. A quote from the piece “Women find strength and camaraderie in rowing as they age” follows.
“In the past five years, rowing has grown in popularity for every age group. USRowing, the sport’s governing body, says that its membership of 23,000 grew by 22 percent between 2015 and 2016. About 14 percent of its members are 50 or older. At the 2016 Head of the Charles Regatta, almost a quarter of the competitors were older than 50.”
While we are talking women and rowing, you may want to check out Facebook group Women Rowers Professional Network. It connects women rowers professionally for career networking and development.
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Although there haven’t been any recent postings on this channel, Crashes, Collisions, Brushes, Crabs & Sinkings is worth a look if you like watching others screw up. And who among us doesn’t? The 25 videos on this playlist show not only a range of minimal to dramatic rowing fails, but great rowing footage in between the mishaps from cameras anchored to the sculls. Watch Cox Gets Launched and tell us you didn’t crack a smile. We can’t guarantee that no rowers were harmed in the making of these films. In fact, we can probably guarantee rowers were harmed.
Rowing Vagabonds is a Facebook group that posts about training camps, regattas, rowing events of any size, description or location, for fun or for hard training. But there are also thought-provoking articles, rowing travel locales, images, rowing partner-seeking group shares and other random but relevant material. You need permission to join this small group but once in, you’ll learn about other websites, Facebook groups and events you might not otherwise hear about.
As the main FISA website, it is focussed on competition, and has all things related to competitions for the sport of rowing in the world. We would be remiss to leave it out because this is the most comprehensive site for the sport. You will find information about everything from coastal rowing, para-rowing, Masters, Juniors, and Elite rowing around the world.
While FISA’s World Rowing Tour is its highlight rowing travel event, the site has a directory of rowing tours organized by individuals, clubs and National Rowing Federations on oceans, lakes, rivers and canals in Austria, Australia, Canada and other countries around the world. Tours are conducted in boats ranging from traditional boats with fixed seats to C class touring boats to modern coastal rowing boats.
While the name of the site clearly shows its racing focus (although for Masters rowers maybe there should be a Row1k.com site?), it is jam-packed with great rowing content. This is absolutely the best place to look for rowing news of all types. Yes, there are plenty of photos of races and training sites, but many images feature beautiful bits of water for rowing that make you wonder what it would be like to row on them on your own time, without buoyed lanes and a coxswain screaming at you. You’ll recognize the signs here: 9 Signs That You Get What Rowing Travel Is, One can enjoy both racing and rowing travel. They are not mutually exclusive.
- Rowing the World
Rowing the Thames
We connect rowers who love to travel, and, for that, we believe Rowing the World is inspiring and unusual among rowing sites.
Our site promises more exciting rowing tales, travel tips and, most important, exceptional rowing experiences around the world. If you are keen to test out the concept, join us on a quick weekend jaunt on the Lot River in Southwest France.
Note to clubs and federations: Rowing the World has a separate arm called Building Rowing Tourism, that, as rowing travel evangelists, build rowing tourism worldwide by offering a suite of services to clubs, federations and individuals for developing, selling and running their own world-class rowing experiences.
Please keep in touch via our Rowing the World blog and social channels.
If you liked this post on rowing sites, let us know. Don’t forget to tell us about your favourite rowing sites by using the hashtag #rowingsites or #rowing_the_world so we catch it. Of course, we’d love to hear about your #rowingfashionfails too. I erg you to get browsing.
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