Juniper Rowing Club

Rowing Terms

You're standing there, holding a boat above you, and the coxswain is shouting things at you and you don't have a clue what the coxswain wants. Or you're peacefully sitting on the boat in the middle of the canal and the coxswain is shouting more stuff at you. And you still don't know what the coxswain wants. Rowing has just as much jargon as any other activity, and to get any benefit out of rowing, you have to learn the jargon so you can understand what is required of you. Here's a short selection of terms and what they mean.

• At The Catch If the coxswain directs you to start "At The Catch", move as far forward as you can, oar as far back as you can, oar square in the water, ready to pull back with a stroke. This is the position in normal rowing where you catch, where you drop the oar in the water and are ready to start hauling back.
• At The Finish If the coxswain directs you to start "At The Finish", sit back, legs flat, oar tucked into your belly. This is the position at the end of the normal stroke.
• Back Water The coxswain yells this when she wants some members of the crew to row backwards. This is done when the boat is being turned around, or steered away from immediate disaster. The coxswain will indicate which rowers are to back water, and will usually direct the speed of the stroke. If you are directed to do this, reverse the oar, drop it in the water, and push away from you. Sometimes it helps to hold the oar the normal way and not reverse it. This creates less drag and the oar is less liable to be dragged down and cause problems.
• Bow The nautical term for the front of the boat. This is the end that goes forward. The coxswain looks toward the bow. The rowers look away from the bow.
• Bow or Bowman The rower in the seat closest to the front of the boat, therefore the last seat, but counts as the first seat. First to count off with "Bow" and not "One".
• Catch This is the position/act when the oar goes into the water at the start of the stroke. The aim is for all rowers to catch at the same time.
• Chase Boat The small boat which chases the shells, in case they flip or sink and the rowers need rescuing. Also carries spare rowers who can be switched into a boat during the session.
• Check or Check it down or Check the boat The boat is moving, the rowers have stopped, and the coxswain wants the boat to come to a stop and doesn't want to wait for the boat to slow down normally. Often when the boat is about to hit the dock or a bridge or a tree stump. So the coxswain directs the rowers to Check It Down. Drop your oar in the water, on the square, and use considerable force to keep it there in position. This acts as a brake on the boat. Be careful. If the boat is moving really fast, you're going to need a lot of force to keep the oar steady.
• Cox or Coxswain The driver of the boat. This is the small and loud person who sits at the stern, facing the direction the boat goes in, and gives commands.
• Coxbox A small device carried by coxswains. The coxbox sits in a holder at the stern of the boat, and when batteries and cabling permit, it allows the coxswain to relay her amplified commands to the rowers.
• Crab This happens to a rower when the oar blade is not properly removed from the water and feathered. The oar gets stuck in the water and is forced down, the oar handle is forced into the chest of the rower and can hurl the rower out of the boat. If this happens, lean backwards rapidly, let the oar pass over you, then try and bring it under control and out of the water and resume rowing. Other rowers should ignore the crab the best they can and continue rowing, unless the coxswain calls for a stop.
• Drive The part of the stroke when the blades are in the water. Arms are straight and you push back with the legs. A controlled explosive burst with the legs.
• Eight A boat with room for eight rowers. And the coxswain.
• Fast Hands Away When you have finished your stroke, and you start the recovery, this is the first thing you must do. You must get your hands, and the oar handle, rapidly in front of you. You must get the oar handle past your knees before you start to roll up. If you don't, your knees will nudge the oar handle up, the blade will dip down and you stand a good chance of crabbing.
• Feather What you are supposed to do with the oar when it comes out of the water. As the oar comes out, you rotate it so that it's parallel to the water. This action is controlled by the inside hand, the hand closest to the oar blade. If you don't correctly feather you can crab.
• Finish The end of the stroke when the blade is removed from the water.
• Four A boat with room for four rowers. And the coxswain. Although the four can be taken our coxless.
• Glide A call to put the oar handle on the gunwale, leaving the oar blade sticking up in the air. Usually done when rowing stops and the boat slides slowly to a halt. The trick is keeping the boat set.
• Gunwale The edge of the boat. This is the bit that you grip when you are getting in and out of the boat.
• Handle The part of the oar that you hold.
• Hands On The coxswain will call this when it's time to manhandle the boat. You grasp the gunwale, or one of the struts and wait for the command to lift.
• Head Race Boats and crews racing against time. The course is set, all the boats are staggered, and crews race to achieve the best times. You don't get the adrenaline pumping thrill of racing against other boats. You don't know who has won till all boats have completed the course, and handicaps are added in and fiddles are made. Courses are usually 5,000 meters.
• Hold Water The coxswain calls this when she wants to slow or stop the motion of the boat. She will usually direct which rowers are to hold water. Sometimes it's all rowers, especially when the boat is rushing toward the dock. The oar is held with the blade vertical, and placed in the water and held still. This slows and stops the boat.
• Hull The outermost part of the boat which touches water. The skin. The hull is fragile. Do not stand on it, as you will go through it and the boat will sink. Stand on the struts and cross-pieces instead as they are built for this purpose.
• Launch The small boat which carries the coach, spare parts, safety equipment and spare rowers.
• Oarlock This is the square looking thing at the top of the rigging. Each rower unscrews it, inserts the oar and then screws it back down. This holds the oar in place. Keep the oar jammed up against the oarlock by exerting a little pressure by your outside hand along the oar.
• Port The nautical term for left. Opposite of starboard. But this is in relation to the boat. As the rowers sit facing the back of the boat, port is to their right.
• Power Ten A piece of ten strokes at full power. The rate does not increase, just the power exerted by the legs for ten strokes.
• Power Twenty A longer version of a Power Ten.
• Pyramids An escalating series of power sets, followed by an equal series of decreasing power sets. Like this: 10 normal strokes, Power 10, 10 normal strokes, Power 20, 20 normal strokes, Power 30, 20 normal strokes, Power 20, 10 normal strokes, Power 10, 10 normal strokes. Could go up to power 60 or even higher, depending on the mood of the coxswain. Good conditioning pieces to do.
• Race Start A technique for getting the boat moving quickly at the start of the race. There are a number of different race starts. They each have a name, based on the strokes involved. The one we usually use is Half-Half-Three-Quarter-Full-Full. Which means we do two half strokes, a three-quarter stroke, and two full strokes. Rowers start half way up the slide, oar buried more deeply than usual. When the order is given to row, rowers take the half-stroke, slide forward halfway and take another half stroke, then slide forward three-quarter way and take a three-quarter stroke, and then take two full strokes and by this time the boat is near top speed so the rowers continue rowing at normal race pace. Another race start we've tried is Three-Quarter-Half-Three-Quarter-Full. There are others. Most clubs have a favourite race start. The important thing to watch is your hands. It's easy to crab during a race start.
• Recovery The part of the stroke when the blades are out of the water. This is after the drive, and you are allowing the momentum of the boat to slide you forward to the catch position. This is where you recover your breath, move forward to the catch and get ready to drive again.
• Regatta Races - boat against boat, crew against crew. Usually set events like 2,000 meter races. One club will hold the regatta, other clubs come along and race, and then they all party.
• Rest Easy or Rest Position When you're on the water and the coxswain is training some rowers and wants other rowers to do nothing. The rowers who are to do nothing are to rest easy. Slide forward so that you are half way along the track. Tuck the oar handle into the hollow below your kneecap. This lets you control it. Rest the blade so it skims along the surface of the water. This helps stabilise the boat. Stay alert.
• Rhythm When all the rowers are rowing precisely together, the boat has rhythm. It moves efficiently, and it's a pleasure to row.
• Seat The tiny plastic or wooden seat which rests on two tracks. The rower balances on this and slides back and forth during the rowing motion.
• Set The set of the boat is the balance of the boat. Keeping the boat set means keeping the boat balanced. If the boat slumps to port, the port rowers should raise their hands slightly to move the boat back on level. If the boat slumps to starboard, then starboard rowers should raise their hands slightly to move the boat back to a balanced state. It sounds strange, but there are exercises to help you know what to do with your oar to keep the boat set.
• Square When the coxswain wants you to square the oar blade, you hold it vertical to the water. Usually, this is just before you drop the oar in the water and pull.
• Starboard The nautical term for right. Opposite of port. But this is in relation to the boat. As the rowers sit facing the back of the boat, starboard is to their left.
• Stern The nautical term for the back of the boat. Where the coxswain sits. The part that the rowers look towards.
• Stroke The rower in the sternmost position. The first rower. The rower who sets the pace. The rower that the other rowers watch. Last rower to count off. In an eight, it's rower 8. In a four, it's rower 4.
• Walking the Gunwales Switching rowers on the water without the help of the chase boat. The switching rowers straddle the other rowers and make their way along the boat with hands and feet on the gunwales. The other rowers lie back and let the switchers pass over them. If the trip is a long one, you might find the switcher stops and has a rest on your chest. It's clumsy and it's flippy, but sometimes it's necessary.
• Way Enough or Way Up When the coxswain calls this, she wants you to stop what you're doing. If you're rowing, you finish your stroke, remove the oar from the water, move to rest position and let the boat coast. If you're staggering under the weight of the boat on land, you stop walking and hold the boat and suffer.

Rower Positions