British Rowing, formerly the Amateur Rowing Association (ARA), is the

national governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ge ...

for the sport of

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...

(both indoor and on-water rowing). It is responsible for the training and selection of individual rowers and crews representing

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and England, and for participation in and the development of rowing in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Scottish Rowing Scottish Rowing (SR), formerly the Scottish Amateur Rowing Association, is the governing body for the sport of rowing in Scotland. It is responsible for promoting the sport in Scotland and also for selecting crews to send to the Home Internatio ...

(formerly SARA) and

Welsh Rowing Welsh Rowing (formally known as the Welsh Amateur Rowing Association) ( cy, Rhwyfo Cymru) is the governing body for the sport of rowing in Wales. It is responsible for promoting the sport in Wales, choosing crews to send to the Home Countries In ...

(formerly WARA) oversee governance in their respective countries, organise their own teams for the

Home International Regatta The Home International Regatta is a rowing regatta held every year for the countries of the British Isles - England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Events are held for both men and women at junior (under 18) and senior levels, including Para-rowi ...

and input to the GB team organisation. British Rowing is a member of the

British Olympic Association The British Olympic Association (BOA) is the National Olympic Committee for the United Kingdom. It is responsible for organising and overseeing the participation of athletes from the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team, at both ...

and the

World Rowing Federation World Rowing, also known as the World Rowing Federation (former abbreviation FISA; french: Fédération internationale des sociétés d'aviron), is the international governing body for rowing. Its current president is Jean-Christophe Rolland who ...

, also known as FISA.

History

The ARA (as the predecessor of British Rowing) had it roots in the desire to form crews drawn from the leading English clubs 'for the purpose of defeating the foreign or colonial invader' although in fact this aim was not fulfilled until much later. A series of meetings were held in

Putney Putney () is a district of southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ancient paris ...

from 1877 culminating in the formation of the

Metropolitan Rowing Association Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

in 1879 by

Cambridge University Boat Club The Cambridge University Boat Club (CUBC) is the rowing club of the University of Cambridge, England. The club was founded in 1828 and has been located at the Goldie Boathouse on the River Cam, Cambridge since 1882. Nowadays, training primarily ...

Dublin University Boat Club Dublin University Boat Club (DUBC) is the Rowing club of Trinity College Dublin. The club operates from its boat house at the Irish National War Memorial Gardens, Islandbridge, on the South Bank of the River Liffey. The club colours are black an ...

Kingston Rowing Club Kingston Rowing Club (KRC) is a rowing club in England founded in 1858 and a member club of British Rowing. The club is located on the River Thames at Kingston upon Thames, downstream and north-east of Kingston Bridge and Kingston Railway Bri ...

Leander Club Leander Club, founded in 1818, is one of the oldest rowing clubs in the world, and the oldest non-academic club. It is based in Remenham in Berkshire, England and adjoins Henley-on-Thames. Only three other surviving clubs were founded prior to ...

London Rowing Club London Rowing Club (LRC, or colloquially, 'London') is the second-oldest of the non-academic active rowing clubs on the Thames in London, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1856 by members of the long-disbanded Argonauts Club wishing to compete at ...

Oxford University Boat Club Oxford University Boat Club (OUBC) is the rowing club for male, heavyweight oarsman of the University of Oxford, England, located on the River Thames at Oxford. The club was founded in the early 19th century. The Boat Race The club races agai ...

Royal Chester Rowing Club Royal Chester Rowing Club is a rowing club based on the Groves in Chester. It rows on the River Dee with both men's and women's squads and members ranging from juniors of 14 upwards to Veteran oarsmen and women. History Founded in 1838, the c ...

Thames Rowing Club The Thames Rowing Club (TRC) is a rowing club based on the tidal Thames as it flows through the western suburbs of London. The TRC clubhouse stands on Putney Embankment. The club was founded in 1860. As at July 2022, Thames had won events at He ...

and

Twickenham Rowing Club Twickenham Rowing Club was founded on 26 July 1860 so is jointly with Thames Rowing Club the third oldest rowing club on the Thames. The club is on Eel Pie Island in Twickenham, south-west London. Its boat code is TWK. Club colours The club col ...

Molesey Boat Club Molesey Boat Club is a rowing club between Molesey Lock and Sunbury Lock on the River Thames in England. The club was founded in 1866 where its boathouse stands with hardstanding next to the Thames Path. Molesey has been the organising or su ...

joined soon afterward. In 1882 the Metropolitan Rowing Association changed its name to the Amateur Rowing Association, having gained additional member clubs from outside London, and began its evolution into the governing body of rowing. In 1886 the ARA issued General Rules for

Regatta Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wate ...

s. The ARA adopted

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It differs from the thre ...

's restrictive definition of "amateur" which not only excluded those who made their living as profession oarsmen but also anyone "who is or has been by trade or employment for wages a mechanic, artisan or labourer." Moreover, the new rules stated that only clubs affiliated to the ARA could compete in regattas held under ARA rules, and that ARA affiliated clubs could not compete under any other rules, nor against crews not affiliated to the ARA. This ruling was extremely socially divisive, effectively excluding any club with a socially mixed membership. It resulted in the formation of a breakaway organisation in 1890, the

National Amateur Rowing Association The National Amateur Rowing Association (NARA) was founded in 1890 to cater for the large number of working-class men who were prevented from joining the Amateur Rowing Association (ARA) by virtue of their manual occupations. (According to the i ...

, whose clubs could draw their membership from all social classes and occupations. The schism in English rowing was to remain for over half a century as a regular cause of controversy and bad feeling. Change only came after the Australian national eight, preparing for the Berlin Olympics in 1936, was excluded from the

Grand Challenge Cup The Grand Challenge Cup is a rowing competition for men's eights. It is the oldest and best-known event at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male crews from all eligible rowing cl ...

at Henley because the crew, who were all policemen, were deemed to be 'manual workers'. The embarrassment caused persuaded the ARA and the Stewards of Henley Royal Regatta of the need for change, and on 9 June 1937, the offending references to manual labourers, mechanics, artisans and menial duties were deleted from the ARA rules, with Henley following suit the following day. The ARA and NARA finally amalgamated in 1956.

David Lunn-Rockliffe David Lunn-Rockliffe (28 December 1924 – 23 August 2011) was a British businessman, rowing supporter, and co-founder of the River and Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames, England. Lunn-Rockliffe was the youngest son of an English father, a doc ...

, Executive Secretary of the ARA from 1976 to 1987 and later co-founder of the

River and Rowing Museum The River & Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England, is located on a site at Mill Meadows by the River Thames. It has three main themes represented by major permanent galleries, the non-tidal River Thames, the international s ...

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, west of Maidenhead, southeast of Oxford and west of London (by road), near the tripoint of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buc ...

, oversaw the transition to a more professional organization. In 1998, the ARA followed

FISA The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 ("FISA" , ) is a United States federal law that establishes procedures for the physical and electronic surveillance and the collection of "foreign intelligence information" between "foreign pow ...

in removing all references to amateurism from its rules. Professional rowers are now permitted. The name Amateur Rowing Association remained because of its heritage and because no agreement could be reached on alternatives. In 2009, a decision was taken to rename the organisation as 'British Rowing'. Five English rowing clubs retained the right to appoint representatives directly to the Council of British Rowing. They were:

and

. This right was, however, removed from the five clubs in September 2012. Sir Steve Redgrave, multiple Olympic Gold medallist in rowing, was the Honorary President of British Rowing from 2001 until 2013. Dame Di Ellis, former chairman of British Rowing, succeeded him as Honorary President.

Points system

British Rowing operates a points system to allow rowers to compete with those of a similar standard. Competitors gain points in both rowing and sculling by winning a qualifying race (a regatta race with more than 2 entries). When first joining British Rowing, all members begin at zero points. Points are increased by members winning qualifying regattas. The current status levels are (high to low) Elite (ELI), Senior (SEN), Intermediate 1 (IM1), Intermediate 2 (IM2), Intermediate 3 (IM3), Novice (NV). Each crew members' points are added up and this determines the status of the crew. The crew is only allowed to race at this level or higher (e.g. an IM1 crew can only race at IM1, SEN or ELI). The table below indicates the maximum number of points that may be held by a crew at each status level. Anyone who has competed for the Senior, Lightweight or U23 international squads will be given 12 points (the maximum possible). Those representing GB at the

World Rowing Junior Championships The World Rowing Junior Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). A rower or coxswain shall be classified as a Junior until 31 December of the year in which he reaches the age of 1 ...

have their points topped up to 6.

Juniors

There are a number of junior categories (J12, J13, J14, J15, J16, J17 and J18). The number represents the age competitors must be younger than, before the first day of September preceding the event. Sweep oar rowing is only allowed at J15 and older for both boys and for girls, due to possible issues of asymmetric muscle development (coxswains excepted).

Coaching awards

British Rowing has an awards scheme for coaching that up until 2005 consisted of the Instructor's Award, Bronze Award, Silver Award and finally the Gold Award. These were overhauled in 2006 as qualifications were brought in line with the Sportscoach UK system that many other sports in the UK have adopted. British Rowing now offers the Level 2 (Session Coach and Club Coach), Level 3 (Senior Club Coach) and Level 4 (Advanced Coach) coaching awards and other related workshops and training courses.

Nautilus Rowing Club

British Rowing occasionally fields boats under the name of the Nautilus Rowing Club (boat code NAU).

References

External links

British Rowing Homepage

Scottish Rowing

Welsh Amateur Rowing Association
{{Authority control

Rowing in the United Kingdom

Rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...

1882 establishments in the United Kingdom