How to Watch Rowing at the Olympics

Rowing is easy to follow once you know a few basics. This is a short guide to making sense of an Olympic regatta, whether you watch on TV, stream it, or stand on the bank. It covers the format, the boats, how to read the screen, what to look for in a race and how to turn your viewing into something you can try yourself.

The basics

Crews race 2,000 metres in six lanes. The first across the line wins. The rowers face backwards, so the person you can see steering, if there is one, is usually the cox, who sits facing forward. See Olympic rowing distances for more.

Know the boats

• Single (1x): one sculler with two oars.
• Double (2x) and quad (4x): scullers in a double or quad.
• Pair (2-) and four (4-): rowers with one oar each, no cox.
• Eight (8+): eight rowers and a cox.

Our guide to what Olympic rowing boats are called goes into more detail. The number in the boat code tells you how many rowers are in it, and a plus sign means there is also a cox.

How a regatta runs

Races run in rounds: heats, repechages, semi-finals and finals. Winning a heat can take a crew straight to the next round, while the others have to go through the repechage. A typical regatta lasts about a week, and the finals come at the end. See Olympic rowing rules.

How to read the screen

Television graphics usually show the same few things.

• Lane and country: each crew has a lane and a coloured marker.
• Position: the order at each 500 metre mark.
• Gap: how far ahead or behind each crew is, often in seconds.
• Stroke rate: the number of strokes per minute, written as s/m or spm.
• Split: the time for 500 metres.

Stroke rate is useful but not decisive. A crew rowing at 36 that is moving no faster than a rival at 34 is working harder for less speed. A longer, more powerful stroke at a lower rate often means better technique. Our guide to stroke rate helps you read the numbers on the screen.

What to look for

• The start: a fast sprint for the first 250 metres, then a settle.
• The middle 1,000: crews hold their rhythm. A good crew looks smooth and relaxed.
• The push: a rise in rate for the final 500 metres. Watch the stroke rate shown on screen.
• Technique: blades go in together and come out together, and the boat runs level.

A race tends to follow a pattern. Early leaders often settle back as stronger crews work through the middle. The third 500 metres is often where races are decided, because fatigue builds and weaker crews fall away. In the last 500 metres, crews go for a sprint, and the order may change again in the final strokes.

Pace sums for the screen

Splits can be turned into a finishing time. A crew splitting 1:40 per 500 metres is heading for 6:40 over 2,000 metres. A crew at 1:30 is heading for 6:00. Speed helps with gaps too. A crew splitting 1:40 covers 5 metres every second, so a one-second gap at that pace is 5 metres of water.

Why crews look different

The single scull is a tidy, individual sport where balance matters. In an eight, nine people have to move as one, and the cox calls the race. Crews in sweep boats row in a different style from scullers, because each rower pulls a single oar. These differences are why a single can look more fluid and an eight more explosive.

Where and how to watch

Broadcasters vary by country, and rights change from one Games to the next, so check your local listings. If you can get to a regatta in person, a course like the one at Henley is a fine place to start. See the history of Henley Royal Regatta. Between Games, World Rowing offers a live race tracker and audio on its website, with live video from many events. Its “How to Follow” post for each event gives the details.

Try it yourself

The best way to enjoy rowing is to try it. A 2,000 metre erg test is a good way to understand the effort. See how to do a 2k erg test, or the Olympic rowing hub for more.