Rowing

Rowing is an ancient means of transport and also one of the oldest Olympic sports. Athletes sit in a boat facing backwards, and use oars or sculls to propel the boat down a straight course.

At the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games there will be single sculls and pairs events for both junior men and junior women which will be raced over a 1,000m course.

Qualification

The 2009 World Rowing Junior Championships were the performance-based qualification for the 2010 Youth Olympic Games.

The boats with the following rankings at the 2009 World Rowing Junior Championships directly qualified their National Olympic Committee for the respective event:

Junior Men & Junior Women: 1x (Single Scull)
Top 6 places in 1x (Single)
Top 3 places in 2x (Double)
Top 3 places in 4x (Quad)

Junior Men & Junior Women: 2- (Pair)
Top 5 place in 2- (Pair)
Top 3 places in 4- (Four)
Top 3 places in 8+ (Eight)

Should any of the boats qualified be declined by the relevant NOC, these places will be offered to NOCs based on their boats’ rankings from the 2009 World Rowing Junior Championships. The places will be allocated to the next highest ranked boat that has not yet qualified in the following boat classes in this specific order:

a. For the 1x (Junior Men & Junior Women): 2x, 4x, 1x; and
b. For the 2- (Junior Men & Junior Women): 4-, 8+, 2-;

This is provided that the respective NOCs have not already qualified a Junior Men or Junior Women’s boat in the relevant category and that the boats display adequate technical proficiency as assessed by FISA.

Australia will send two junior men and two junior women to compete in the Pair events at the Singapore Youth Olympic Games.

Age Group

Athletes competing in this sport must be born between 1/1/92 and 31/12/93.

Competition Format 

There will be several phases/rounds depending on the number of boats entered in a particular event. The race course is 1,000m (six lanes not less than 12.5m and not more than 13.5m wide).

Competition will start with the heats round, from which crews will qualify directly to the semi-finals A/B round. The first three crews in each of the two semi-finals A/B will qualify to the final A which will determine medals and places 4-6. Crews ranking 4-6 in the two semi-finals A/B will compete in the final B to determine places 7-12. (In an event with less than 13 crews there is no semi-final round. In this case, crews would proceed directly from the heats and repechages to the finals.)

Crews in the heats which do not progress directly to the semi-finals will compete in the repechage round, which offers a second chance to qualify to the semi-final A/B round. In the junior single sculls events, where there are 22 crews, unsuccessful crews from the repechages will continue competition in the semi-final C/D, from where they will qualify to the finals C/D, depending on their result, to determine places 13-18 (Final C) or 19-24 (Final D).

Up to half of the number of rowers in a crew may be replaced. A crew which has already raced in the heat of its event may not make changes in the crew, except in the case of a serious illness or injury. For the Single Sculls events, a rower who is entered may only be replaced before a heat in case of illness or injury. No replacements may be made in the Single Sculls event after a heat has been rowed.

Differences with the World Junior Championships

There are four events at the Youth Olympic Games while the World Rowing Junior Championships comprises 13 events; additional events in the World Rowing Junior Championships are as follows: JM2x, JM4x, JM4-, JM8+, JM4+, JW2x, JW4x, JW4-, JW8+. The World Rowing Junior Championships is raced over a 2,000m course while the 2010 Youth Olympic Games rowing competition is raced over a 1,000m course.

Venue – Marina Reservoir

The newly-created Marina Reservoir will host the canoe-kayak and rowing events. The area includes a one-kilometre straight race course for canoeing and rowing activities. The Singapore Canoe Marathon 2009 was staged at the Marina Reservoir in January 2009. The on-land staging of canoeing and rowing competitions is along a portion of Gardens by the Bay – a new 32-hectare park next to the Marina Reservoir. With an extensive water frontage along the Marina Reservoir, the Gardens will provide an excellent vantage point.
The facilities at the reservoir during Singapore 2010 include a boat-storage shed for up to 200 boats, a boat-washing area, toilets and showers, and a doping-control station. A seating gallery for approximately 1,000 spectators will be constructed.

Australia and Olympic Rowing

Australia has won 32 medals (10 gold) at the Olympic Games in rowing making it one of the country’s most successful Olympic sports. First competing in Stockholm 1912, Australia has forged a rich history in Olympic rowing, particularly in sculling events. The legendary Henry ‘Bobby’ Pearce won the single sculls in Amsterdam in 1928 and Los Angeles 1932. Australia’s first medal by a sweep-oared boat came with the eights in Helsinki.
The famous “Oarsome Foursome” won the coxless fours in Barcelona in 1992 and Atlanta 1996, thereby becoming the first Australian sweep-oared crew to win an Olympic title. Australia’s women rowers’ first medal, a bronze, was won at Los Angeles 1984 by the coxed four. Megan Still and Kate Slatter won a gold medal in the coxless pairs in Atlanta 1996 and Slatter joined with Rachael Taylor to finish second in the same event in 2000.