Shells, Snags and Sprints

blade: cool way of saying oar. Also a way to refer to the painted part of the oar.

callouses: only way to identify a real rower. The blades leave raw spots on your hands which turn into brown, scaly callouses.

coxswain (cox): the little person in the rear of the shell. He or she stears the shell, keeps the rowers informed of their progress in the race and controls the pace of the shell by calling for power strokes and the sprint at the end.

crab: put the blade in the water at other than a 90 degree angle. This causes the blade to dive into the water which in turn destroys the rower's rhythm and at worse flips him or her out of the shell.

double: a shell with two sculler.

eight: the most common shell in intercollegiate rowing. An eight has eight sweep oarsmen and a cox.

four: a shell with four sweeps and a cox.

freeboard: the three inches of the shell above the surface of the water. Shells are notoriously easy to swamp with such little protection from rough water or the wakes of passing motorboats.

lightweight: a shell with a specific weight limit. For men, the boat must average 150 pounds per oarsmen. For women, the average must be 129.5 pounds.

novice: freshmen can row women's varsity crew. Those that are inexperienced are grouped together as novices.

pair: a shell with two sweeps.

port: a starboard sweep rows with his or her left hand on the end of the oar handle.

power: a series of all-out strokes that a shell uses to try to surge ahead of its opponents. Listen for coxswains calling for power during the Head.

scull: to row with two blades. This is as opposed to sweeping, which is with one blade per person. Sculling can be an individual sport. A shell with just one sculler is called a single.

seat racing: the ultimate and most brutal test for an individual sweep. Two fours are lined up and raced, two rowers switch boats and the race is repeated. The stronger rower is determined by the relative results of the two races.

shell: the proper name for a thin boat, which holds one, two, four and eight rowers and perhaps a coxswain.

single: a shell with a single sculler.

sprint: the final portion of the race. Many races are decided during this crucial stretch.

starboard: a port sweep rows with his or her right hand on the end of the oar handle.

sweep: to row with only one blade.

tank: a shallow pool with a cement strip, slides and oarlocks set in the center. A tank allows a crew to practice as a unit during the winter.

tetanus shot: what yyou need to get after you get thrown or fall into the Charles.

t-shirt: traditional bet on the outcome of intercollegiate crew races. The members of each winning boat collect the shirts of their opponents. At the sprints, the winning crew will pick up 14 shirts after the final race.

tradition: what Harvard is famous for. Harvard has history galore.