First Year by Cole Parker

[Cole Parker]

You can't wear life jackets and row properly. Good thing there were people around to save them. In cold water, you can't keep treading water very long.

C

[colinian]

There are new life vests and flotation swimsuits from companies like Body Glove that are thin and lightweight and I think would let you row crew properly with them on. They are being used for water sports like rowing kayaks, water skiing, wakeboarding, riding jet skis, and so on. And swimming, too.

Colin

[ChrisR]

I suspect that short of a regulatory body making them mandatory the schools will balk at the idea. Aside from the violation of "tradition" they'd be sure to claim it puts their team at a disadvantage. Of course after 5 or 10 kids drown and the lawsuits get settled the idea will catch on.

[Nick Deverill]

In my dinghy sailing days, we always wore a canoeing life jacket as wearing the proper thing made it nigh on impossible to right a capsize. True you could be clobbered and knocked out by the rigging, but it's rather unlikely if you are sailing single handed.

[Cole Parker]

The reason crew members don't wear life jackets is that rowing is very grueling work and the rowers would get way too overheated with vests on. Perhaps light-weight ones would work, but they'd still prevent cool air from reaching sweating bodies, and there is tradition to think of, also. I guess most schools and clubs demand their participants know how to swim.

C

[Nigel Gordon]

The reason crew members don't wear life jackets is that rowing is very grueling work and the rowers would get way too overheated with vests on. Perhaps light-weight ones would work, but they'd still prevent cool air from reaching sweating bodies, and there is tradition to think of, also. I guess most schools and clubs demand their participants know how to swim.

C

Also a lot of the purpose built rowing venues, at least in Europe, are very shallow. That is less than one metre.

[Cole Parker]

Here, in the East where most crew events are held, rivers and lakes are the common venues. I don't imagine rowing is nearly the sport here that it is in England.

C

[Nigel Gordon]

Well both university here in Leicester use the canalised stretch of the river Stour for practice. That is just over one and a half metres in depth. I know from experience falling overboard on it some years ago and being able to walk to the bank and climb out.

Most racing events around here take place at the National Watersport Centre at Nottingham. I believe the purpose built rowing lake there is 90cm deep.

[ChrisR]

I've heard the saying "it's a tough row to hoe" but never before "it's a tough boat to row!" With thanks to the Oxford v Cambridge ladies for nice timing, here's the downside to these boat races!

http://www.bbc.com/sport/rowing/35907714

[Nigel Gordon]

I've heard the saying "it's a tough row to hoe" but never before "it's a tough boat to row!" With thanks to the Oxford v Cambridge ladies for nice timing, here's the downside to these boat races!

http://www.bbc.com/sport/rowing/35907714

You have to remember that 'The Boat Race' is regarded as one of the hardest events in rowing and completely untypical of normal competition rowing. For a start the longest rowing event in the Olympics is 2K, Oxford and Cambridge race is 6.8K over three times the distance. Also with normal rowing events rough water means the event is postponed till conditions are suitable for rowing. Not normally done for the Boat Race, I think it was postponed in 1929 but that was for Fog!

I must say that allowing them to have pumps in the boats has spoiled the race for me. I can remember watching rowers trying to row and bail at the same time.

[Rutabaga]

Had to read this again.

R