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Admin
 
uncwcrew
601 S. College Rd UNCW Station CB# 20656
Wilmington, North Carolina
28407
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What Is CREW
The UNCW crew team is a coed Intercollegiate Athletic Club that was established in 1986. The club is student run and operated. The club is designed to introduce, promote, and encourage the growth of the sport of rowing at UNCW. No prior rowing experience is needed to join our team. We welcome anyone who loves water, athletics, competition, and FUN! We participates at regattas (competitions) throughout the Eastern United States against as many as 75 other universities nations wide. Crew has two seasons: Fall (Distance Rowing) and Spring (Sprint Rowing). Our team is made up of hard working individuals who love the sport of rowing and having fun. We work together to make our team the best it can be.*~
What is Crew?
*Rowing is a total body workout. Rowing only looks like an upper body sport. Although upper body strength is important, the strength of the stroke comes from the legs. Rowing is one of the few athletic activities that involves all of the body's major muscle groups. It is a great aerobic workout and is a low-impact sport on the joints.*
*Rowers are probably the world's best athletes. Rowing looks graceful, elegant, and sometimes effortless when it is done well. Don't be fooled. Rowers haven't been called the world's most physically fit athletes for nothing. The sport demands endurance, strength, balance, mental discipline, and an ability to continue on when your body is demanding that you stop.*
*There are two basic types of rowing: sweep and sculling. In sweep rowing, athletes hold one oar with both hands. The team rows sweep style. In sculling, the athletes have two oars, one in each hand.*
*The boat: Although apectators will see hundreds of different races at a rowing event, there are only six basic boat configurations. Sweep rowers come in pairs (2s), fours (4s), and eights (8s). Scullers row in singles (1x), doubles (2x), and quads (4x). Sweep rowers may or may not carry a coxswain (the person who steers the boat and serves as the on-the-water coach). All eights have coxswains, but pairs and fours may or may not. In all sculling boats and sweep boats without coxswains, a rower steers the boat by using a rudder moved with the foot.*
*The categories: Rowers are categorized by sex, age, and weight. Events are offered for men and women, as well as for mixed crews containing an equal number of men and women. There are junior events for rowers 18 or under or who spent the previous year in high school, and ther are masters events for rowers 27 and older. There are two weight categories: lightweight and open weight. Men's lightweight can average no more than 155 lbs, with no individual weighing more than 160 lbs. Women's lightweight can have no rower who weighs more than 130 lbs. The coxswain is not counted in the weight of the boat for both men's and women's.*
*The equipment: The boats are called shells and are made of lightweight carbon fiber. The smallest shell on the water is the single scull, which is only 27-30 feet long, a foot wide, and approximately 30 lbs. Eights are the largest shells at 60 feet and a little over 200 lbs. Rowers use oars to propel their shells. Sweep oars are longer than sculling oars, typically with carbon fiber handles and rubber grips (although some still have wooden handles). Sculling oars are almost never wood.*
*The crew: Athletes are identigied by their position in the boat. The athlete sitting in the bow (front) is the bow seat or 1 seat. The person in front of the bow is 2, then 3, and so on. The rower closest to the stern that crosses the finishe line last is known as the stroke. The stroke must be a strong rower with excellent technique, as the stroke is the person who sets the rhythm of the boat for the rest of the rowers. The coxswain can sit in either the bow or the stern, but usually the stern.*
*Rowers speak in terms of strokes per minute (SPM), literally the number of strokes the boat completes in a minute. The stroke rate at the start is high- 38-45- and then settles to a race cadence typically in the 30s. Crews sprint to the finish, taking the rate up once again. Crews may call for "Power 10's" during the race- a demand for the crew's most intense 10 strokes.*
*Watching: The crew tha makes rowing look easy is most likely the one that's doing the best job. When watching a race, look for a continuous, fluid motion from the rowers; synchronization in the boat; clean catches (oars entering the water at the same time), little splash; and the boat with the most consistent speed.*
*Teamwork is number one! Rowing isn't a great sport for athletes looking for MVP status. It is, however, teamwork's best teacher. The athlete trying to stand out in an eight will only make the boat slower. The crew made up of individuals willing to saacrigice their personal goals for the team will be on the medal stand. Winning teammates successfully match their desire, talent, and bladework with one another.*
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