Race Distances
Today all races are raced over a 2000 m course, but this did not become standard before the Stockholm Olympics in 1912. Before this it was raced over various distances. In Paris in 1900 (1750 m), in St. Louis in 1904 (3218 m), in London in 1908 (2412 m), and again in London in 1948 (1850 m). The 1908 and 1948 were held over the Henley Royal Regatta course.
Women's races were raced over 1,000 meters until 1988 when they were changed to 2,000 meters.
Early games featured match races between two or three boats (in 1952, between four or five boats).
The modern six boat side-by-side format was first adopted at the 1936 Olympic Games, and has been the standard since the 1956 Olympic Games.
Read more about this topic: Rowing At The Summer Olympics
Famous quotes containing the words race and/or distances:
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—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)
“We then entered another swamp, at a necessarily slow pace, where the walking was worse than ever, not only on account of the water, but the fallen timber, which often obliterated the indistinct trail entirely. The fallen trees were so numerous, that for long distances the route was through a succession of small yards, where we climbed over fences as high as our heads, down into water often up to our knees, and then over another fence into a second yard, and so on.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)