First introduced into the World Championships in 1974 for male athletes and 1985 for female athletes, lightweight rowing did not enter the Olympics until 1996. Though the category was introduced to make competition fairer for smaller, lighter athletes, the continuation of its existence – particularly on a smaller scale – is now somewhat uncertain.
At the Olympic level, the only event that still offers a lightweight category for male and female athletes is the double sculls. The lightweight men’s fours event was lost after the IOC removed it from the continuing programme in February 2017. Though former International Olympic Committee president Jean-Christophe Rolland cited gender equality as the major factor in replacing this event with a women’s coxless four, it does mean that lightweight rowers face mounting pressure to race in open-weight events.
It is a double-edged sword. Whilst some countries, especially those in South-east Asia and South America, rely on the category to ensure fair representation on the international stage, a lack of competitive entries into lightweight categories could see an increase in smaller athletes choosing to enter open-weight events for a better racing experience, though this is not necessarily enough to justify abolishing the class altogether. Currently, it seems that the biggest threat facing lightweight rowing at the Olympics is coastal rowing, a discipline whose popularity has increased hugely in recent years, and though the IOC has stated that lightweight events will be included on the programme for Paris 2024, there is no guarantee that it will continue after this.
Aside from the Olympics, various high-profile events also still include lightweight categories. The Cambridge-Oxford Boat Race has seen increasingly good performances from lightweight competitors in recent years, after changing to follow the same course as the open-weight event on the Thames in 2019, whilst BUCS races also offer events for lightweights – though they too have scrapped the lightweight eights category. One race in which the balance between open- and lightweight categories is much more even is Henley Women’s Regatta, which has held four lightweight events across its championship and aspirational categories since 2018.
Lightweight rowers are something of an elusive breed in the UK; even those within reach of target weights often choose to row in open-weight events due to a lack of competition, reducing the advantages lightweight racing theoretically holds in terms of success. With this in mind, it seems that lightweight rowing at the university level will also have to adapt to the times. In an episode of ‘The End of the Island’ podcast, John Laurenson, former lightweight and Chair of Bath University’s Boat Club, predicts that lightweight rowing at British universities is likely to ‘gradually decline’ as lightweight events become rarer. However, Laurenson remains a proponent of lightweight rowing, believing that ‘as long as it’s still competitive…there’s no reason to take it out’ – indeed, it can help with ‘widening the participation in the sport’ at the university level, and ‘opens it up to people who might not be able to perform at as high a level as heavyweights’.
In my experience of rowing as a lightweight at university, it can be easy to lose sight of the advantages of going lightweight when there is such a lack of dedicated events. Not only is it always hit or miss as to whether competition will be fierce enough to warrant months of reduced caloric intake, but it is also common for reaching weight to impact performance negatively. Despite naturally only sitting a few kilos over race weight, I found that shortly before hitting the holy grail of 57kg, it was virtually impossible to finish a UT2 session without my legs emptying halfway through, and when on weight, the pervasive physical and mental tiredness only got worse.
Unless you belong to a designated lightweight squad and are therefore surrounded by people equally and willingly as hungry as you, it becomes harder and harder to remember why you decided to put yourself through this in the first place – especially when you’re snacking on rice cakes whilst your crewmates order a Maccies! If all that wasn’t enough, as a university student, there is always the small matter of successfully completing a degree, requiring a certain amount of brainpower which you’re unlikely to be able to provide if you are constantly hungry. Despite this, the standards required by many university performance programmes don’t account for rowers who will never truly be heavyweights but may not be within the comfortable range of going lightweight. Though is it true that ‘the best lightweights are still competitive as heavyweights’, for many lightweights, it will always take just a bit more effort and determination to pull the same ergs as their heavier counterparts.
Suppose lightweight rowing is, therefore, abolished on a university scale. In that case, the lack of fair competition could reduce the number of lighter athletes choosing to row at university altogether. On a personal level, there is no correct answer; it’s simply a case of finding what works best and deciding whether it’s all worth it – though if this is no longer a decision which needs to be made, university rowing programmes could be faced with an entirely new set of problems!
That’s all for now. If you’re hungry for more, check out any of our other pieces from The Catch, listen to the latest podcast episode, or flick through our race previews.
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Cover image by Fergus Mainland
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