About the Sport of Rowing

Rowing, often referred to as crew, is a sport with origins back to Ancient Egyptian times. It is based on propelling a boat (racing shell) on water using oars. By pushing against the water with an oar, a force is generated to move the boat. Contrary to common perception, the speed of the boat relies not on the arms and shoulders, but on the force generated by the legs.

The sport can be either recreational – focusing on learning the technique of rowing, or competitive – where athletes race against each other in boats. There are a number of different boat classes in which athletes compete, ranging from an individual shell (called a single scull) to an eight person shell with coxswain (called an eight).

Rowing is one of the original Olympic sports of the modern games. Crews of between one and eight rowers compete in a variety of events, with the large eight boats drawing the largest crowds. Rocket City Rowing has two former members competing at the senior and elite level, Mary Jones Nabel, (Grissom High School 2007/ University of Tennessee, 2011) daughter of masters rower Elysa Jones) and Kathryn Schiro, (Grissom High School / Oklahoma City University, 2014)