Rowing at the 2012 Summer Olympics
The rowing competitions at the 2012 Olympic Games in London were held from 28 July to 4 August 2012, at Dorney Lake which, for the purposes of the Games venue, was officially termed Eton Dorney. Fourteen medal events were contested by 550 athletes, 353 men and 197 women.
Aerial view of the venue at Dorney Lake, also known as Eton Dorney.
The starting line at Eton Dorney.
Lightweight double sculls gold medalists Mads Rasmussen and Rasmus Quist Hansen.
Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is divided into two disciplines: sculling and sweep rowing. In sculling, each rower holds two oars, one in each hand, while in sweep rowing each rower holds one oar with both hands. There are several boat classes in which athletes may compete, ranging from single sculls, occupied by one person, to shells with eight rowers and a coxswain, called eights. There are a wide variety of course types and formats of racing, but most elite and championship level racing is conducted on calm water courses 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) long with several lanes marked using buoys.
Image: Harvard Rowing Crew at Henley 2004 2
Image: Aviron 2015 World Championships 11
A rowing competition is recounted in the Aeneid, illustrated in this sixteenth-century plaque
The finish of the Doggett's Coat and Badge. Painting by Thomas Rowlandson.