Glossary of Rowing Terms - Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous

Betting shirts

In collegiate competition, crews sometimes "bet" their shirts on the race, and the loser must render a racing shirt with their logo on it to the winner. Traditionally, this was done as the boats were pulled together right after the race ended and shirts were exchanged, but it is now usually done off the water. While there has been questions in regards to the legality of this practice after women's collegiate crew joined the NCAA, the tradition of betting shirts is upheld by the NCAA Operating Bylaws, Section 10.3.1.1. The term can refer to either the practice or the shirt itself; some crews have shirts made specifically for betting so as to keep their racing jerseys should they lose a race.

Egg beater

A race where the crews are drawn randomly from a hat, so that boats are made up of members from different teams and often the lineups include coxswains as rowers and vice versa. Also known as scratch race.

Scratch Crew

A crew which has not rowed with each other before.

Masters (or Veteran - Scotland)

Rowers 27 years of age or greater.

Open water race

Competition on unsheltered water exposed to current, tide, wind and requiring navigation skills as well as strength, endurance, and technique. Generally uses a mass start and includes a mix of human-powered boats. Typical race distances are 6 to 26 miles.

Pot

A tankard awarded as a prize to each member of a winning crew.

Seat race

A method to compare two rowers in fours or eights. Two boats race against each other once. One rower from each boat switch positions, and the two boats race again. Relative performance in the two races is used to compare the abilities of the two rowers.