No boat is bigger – highlighting the men’s eight

The men’s eight event is steeped in tradition and for many years it has been the highlighted final race at the Rowing World Cup, the World Rowing Championships and the Olympic Regatta. It is one of the four events that make up World Rowing’s Blue Riband events.

The men’s eight is the fastest boat in rowing. It travels at speeds of nearly 22 km/hr over the standard 2000m distance with the best eights finishing in about five and a half minutes.

A rowing eight shell weighs in at about 96kg and fits eight rowers, each with an oar and a coxswain. This light 96kg frame attracts the ‘big boys’ of the rowing world and must support a large amount of weight. At the elite level it is not uncommon for each athlete to weigh up to 100kg and be over 190cm tall. The winning eight in this year’s Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race, Cambridge University, had a crew average of 95kg with the average height being 193cm.

The eight is not only for big boys, it is itself big in size. It stretches out to 20 metres long and thus for transporting purposes boat builders have designed it so a piece of the eight can be removed.

Currently in regattas around the world some of the most popular and attended events are for men’s eight racing. The Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race in Great Britain attracts huge media interest and a television audience of millions. The E.ON Hanse Canal Cup in Rendsburg, Germany, attracts crowds of over 100,000 people to the small town. The Eights Head of the River Race in Great Britain has over 400 eights lining up to compete.

At the third stage of the 2010 Rowing World Cup to commence in Lucerne, Switzerland, on 9 July, the men’s eight will feature 12 countries with last year’s World Champions, Germany, back after a win last month at the second stage of the Rowing World Cup. Germany has long prioritised and taken pride in their men’s eight. They have a saying that if the men’s eight is doing well then everything is fine.

At the other end of the scale the small nation of Estonia, population 1.3 million, has been a regular competitor in the eight. The majority of this crew came together in 2005 at the World Rowing Under 23 Championships and word has it that they have set their sights on the 2012 Olympic Games. Last year at the European Championships Estonia finished fourth.

The Chinese are recent arrivals amongst the leading men’s eight countries. At the second stage of the Rowing World Cup the Chinese finished second behind Germany and they have retained the same crew for the third stage of the Rowing World Cup in Lucerne.

Canada and the United States have long been at the top of the men’s eight pool and long been fierce rivals. Canada won the 2008 Olympic Games and the United States won in 2004. A strong university rowing system that focuses on the eight feeds into the United States’ national team eight. This American university system has also nurtured many of the rowers that have gone on to make the Canadian team.

The final of the men’s eight finishes the World Cup programme and takes place at 14:48 (CET) on Sunday 11 July. Watch it live on www.worldrowing.com. 

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