Every sport has a vocabulary all its own and rowing is no different.  Thanks very much to Lew Cuyler, a longtime member of both the AOSA and IROW, for the following Glossary that is excerpted with permission from his spirited biography of Ernestine Bayer, the mother of US women’s rowing.  As there are two schools of thought regarding the name of the point at which one’s oars enter the water, we have chosen to include both “catch”  and “entry” in this glossary.  The word “entry” is used at the Florida Rowing Center in Wellington, Florida for good reason – while the word “catch” is used by many other experienced rowers in our community.

BOW:    The forward section of the shell and the first part to cross the finish line.  Most rowing shells have “bow balls” to prevent injury should someone be struck by the sharp bow end of the shell.

BUTTON:  A wide collar on the oar that keeps it from slipping through the oarlocks.

CATCH:  The beginning of the stroke, when the oar “catches” the water.

COXSWAIN:  Usually a smaller person whose job is to sit in the stern section of the shell or lie in the bow section and steer the shell.  Coxswains also keep track of position during races and generally direct the race plan, including when to call for power strokes.  Small people with “attitude” make the best candidates.

CRAB:  The name given when a rower’s oar becomes stuck in the water just before its extraction at the end of the stroke.  It usually happens when the rower begins to turn the oar before extracting the blade from the water.  The surface water then combines with the momentum of the shell to push the oar down as if a crab had grabbed its blade.  When a shell is traveling fast, the crab can almost stop the motion as if brakes were suddenly applied. Even worse, it can create leverage on the shaft that can lift the rower out of the shell and dump him or her unceremoniously into the water.

DECK: The part of the shell at the bow and stern that is covered with fiberglass cloth or thin plastic.

DOUBLE:  Shell designed for two rowers, each with two oars.  Full name is double sculls.

EIGHTS:  The glory shells containing eight sweep rowers and a coxswain. These are the fastest shells on the water. (Picture)

ENTRY: The beginning of the stroke, when the oar enters the water.

FEATHER:  When the oar blade is in its nonstroking flat position above the surface of the water during the recovery from the stroke while the rower prepares for the next sequence.

FOOT-STRETCHER or STRETCHER:  Where the rower’s feet go.  The stretcher consists of two inclined footrests that hold the rower’s shoes.  The shoes are bolted onto the footrests.

FOURS:  Four oared shells, two on the port side, two on the starboard.  Most fours have coxswains, who either sit in the rear section of the shell or are semi prone on the forward section.

METRIC:  The distance of rowing courses is measured in meters, not feet.  One meter is 39.37 inches.  One thousand meters is .621 miles.  Two thousand meters is 1.242 miles.

OARLOCK GATE:  The small bar across the top of the oarlock that keeps the oar from popping out.

OARLOCKS:  Contain and keep the oar in place.

OARS:  Used to drive the shell forward.  Rowers do not use paddles.  Modern oar blades are mostly hatchet shaped.  The oar plants itself in the water, the oarlock is the fulcrum, and the oar shaft becomes the lever to push the shell forward.

PAIR:  Shell designed for two sweep rowers, one port, one starboard.  Occasionally, you will see a “pair with,” meaning there will be a coxswain’s seat in the stern or bow section of the shell.

PORT:  The left side of the shell if looking toward the bow.

QUAD:  A four with scullers, meaning that it is driven by eight sculling oars.  The bow rower steers and generally directs the effort of the crew.

QUAD WITH:  A quad with a coxswain.

RIGGERS: As in outriggers.  These protrude from the sides of the shell to give the oar shafts their maximum leverage.  There are “wing” riggers that are single units that go across the two gunwales of the shells and triangular-shaped riggers that are bolted onto each side of the shell.

RUN:  Run is the distance the shell moves during one stroke.  You can identify a run by the distance between the puddles made by the same oar.  Rowers seek to achieve a maximum run by using smooth, as opposed to choppy, strokes.

SCULLER:  Name given to rowers who use two oars.

SCULLS:  The oars scullers use.

SEATS:  In the team boats, seats are counted down from the bow, which is No. 1 seat.

SHELL:  All sliding-seat boats are called shells.  However, as on a beach, there are many different kinds of shells.

SINGLE:  Shell designed for single rower only with two oars.

SKEG:  Also called fin.  The small keel in the stern section of most rowing shells that keeps the shell on track.  Without the skeg or fin, the shell can “wig-wag” in the water with each stroke.

SQUARE:  When the oar blade is perpendicular to the water, about to make a stroke, or its position when in the water during the stroke.

STARBOARD:  The right side of the shell if looking toward the bow.

STERN:  The rear of the boat.  The direction the rowers face.

STRAIGHT FOUR:  A four without a coxswain.  In that case the bow rower steers with his or her foot-plate, which has cables that run through pulleys and then attach to the rudder.

STRETCHER or FOOT-STRETCHER:  Where the rower’s feet go.  The stretcher consists of two inclined footrests that hold the rower’s shoes.  The shoes are bolted onto the footrests.

STROKE:  The rower closest to the coxswain or to the stern in noncoxed shells is called the stroke.  Strokes have the responsibility of establishing the pace by determining the strokes per minute.  All the other rowers can see the stroke oar and be so guided.

STROKE RATE: This refers to the number of strokes per minute.  Twenty strokes per minute is slow; forty strokes is fast.  The body of most races is between twenty-six and thirty-two for singles, twenty-eight and thirty-eight for the team shells.

SWEEP:  Name given to rowers who use only one oar.  In this case there must be at least two rowers in the shell, one for each side of the boat.  The oars are also called sweeps.

SWEEP OARS:  Oars used by sweep rowers.

SWING:  The elusive, hard-to-define feeling when near-perfect synchronization of motion occurs in the shell, enhancing performance and speed.  The rower feels almost weightless.  Once they feel the swing, rowers spend many hours trying to recapture the experience.

WHERRY:  A small, wider, heavier single or double rowing shell, with pointed bow and stern.  Regarded as a single scull for novices.