Back splash
Spray kicked up toward the bow of a boat, created as the oar enters the water while still travelling toward the bow on the recovery.

Blade
The flattened, or spoon-shaped, part of an oar that touches the water during rowing.

Bow
The forward section of a boat.

Bowball
A rubber ball attached to the bow tip of a shell to protect against damage and injury in case of a collision.

Bowman
The oarsman who sits nearest the bow of a boat.

Button
A collar around the shaft of the oar that keeps the oar from slipping through the oarlock and can be adjusted up and down the oar to increase or decrease leverage.

Canvas
The narrowing part of a boat between the bowman and the actual bow of the boat or between the coxswain and the stern, originally covered in canvas.

Catch
The act of the oar initially engaging the water during rowing.

Catch a crab
To make a faulty stroke, such as one where the blade either enters the water at a wrong angle and sinks too deep or is held at the wrong angle and fails to enter the water at all.

Check
An abrupt change in the rate of deceleration caused by pressure on the foot plate where the oarsmen's feet are fixed without simultaneous pressure on the metal rod where the oarlock is mounted.

Check it down
An emergency command to stop the boat by jamming the oars into the water to create massive drag.

Course
The competition area in the water for rowing.

Cox
Short for "coxswain", the person who steers the boat.

Cox box
Aan electronic device used by the coxswain to amplify his or her voice and broadcast it through speakers located throughout the shell.

Coxswain
The helmsman of a racing shell.

Deck
The areas of a shell at the bow and stern.

Dig deep
To put an oar deep into the water, resulting in a loss of power; also called "knife in".

Double
A sculling boat for two rowers.

Drive
The part of the rowing action between the catch and the release when the oar is moving through the water with force.

Eight
A sweep-oar boat with eight rowers and a coxswain.

Feather
To rotate the blade of an oar while rowing so the blade is parallel to the surface of the water.

Finish
The final part of the drive before the oar is taken out of the water. Four
A sweep-oar boat for four rowers, with or without a coxswain.

Full pressure
The top level of exertion an oarsman can produce; also called "full paddle".

Gate
A bar across the oarlock to prevent the oar from popping out.

Gunwale
A horizontal strip of wood running the length of a shell, to which the ribs and other parts traditionally are attached.

Handle
The part of an oar held by an oarsman.

Heat
A single division of a race, with the top finishers advancing to the finals or semifinals of a competition.

Hold water
A command by a coxswain for the oarsmen to place their blades horizontally in the water to stop the shell quickly; similar to "check it down", but usually less dramatic.

Inside hand
The rower's hand nearest the oarlock (left hand for starboards, right hand for ports).

Keel
The body of the shell that runs from box to stern.

Layback
The amount of backward lean of an oarsman's body toward the bow at the end of a stroke.

Lightweight
A weight division in some events for women weighing 59 kilograms or less and men weighing 72.5 or less.

Oar
A lever used to propel and steer a boat through water, consisting of a long shaft of wood with a blade at one end.

Oarlock
A U-shaped device on a boat's gunwale where the oar rests and swings; also called a "rowlock".

Oarsman
A rower

Outside hand
The rower's hand furthest from the oarlock.

Paddle
To row with minimal pressure.

Port
The left side of a boat when facing the bow.

Power 10
A series of 10 strokes where a crew supplies additional power to advance on another crew.

Puddle
A whirl left in the water from the blade slipping as the rower pulls.

Quadruple
Involving a four-person crew.

Racing start
The first 20 or 40 strokes of a race, usually at a higher cadence than those for the rest of the race because shorter strokes usually are needed to overcome the shell's inertia.

Rating
The number of strokes a crew rows per minute.

Recovery
The part of the rowing action between the release and the catch in which an oar is positioned for the next stroke.

Regatta
A boat race.

Release
The part of the rowing action when the oar is removed from the water after driving through it.

Rib
A U-shaped piece of fabricated wood, aluminium or carbon fibre that supports the hull by fitting inside the shell between the keel and the gunwale.

Rigger
A framework attached to the shell and used to support the oarlock; also called an "outrigger".

Rudder
A device under the shell of a boat used to steer it.

Run
The distance a boat travels during one stroke.

Scull
1. one of two short oars worked from side to side over the stern of a boat as a means of propulsion. 2. a race where rowers work with two oars, one in each hand.

Set
The balance of a boat.

Shell
A rowing boat.

Single
A sculling boat for one rower.

Skeg
A small, flat piece of wood or plastic attached perpendicularly to the bottom of the shell to help the shell stay on a true course; also known as a "fin".

Sleeve
The plastic jacket on the shaft of the oar upon which is mounted a button, used to secure the blade to the oarlock.

Square
To rotate the blade of an oar so it is at a right angle to the surface of the water.

Starboard
The right side of a boat when facing the bow.

Stern
The back part of a boat.

Stroke
1. a complete rowing motion, made up of a catch, drive, finish, release, feather and recovery. 2. the rower nearest the stern who sets the rhythm and cadence for the crew.

Sweep-oar rowing
Rowing with one oar held by both hands.

Swing
A state of balance and speed that many oarsmen strive to achieve when rowing.

Wash out
To bring the blade out of the water during the drive and before the finish, causing a loss of power.