Rowing is not popular. That’s not particularly contentious to say.
It exists to the British as a stalwart supply of honours and decorations once every four years, at the Olympic Games. This pattern hails from the 1996 games in Atlanta, where the coxless pair of Matthew Pinsent and Steve Redgrave collected Britain’s only gold medal. Media popularisation inevitably ensued and their status as household names was solidified – even a documentary series was filmed, namely “Gold Fever”, which followed the exploits of the GB men’s four leading up to Sydney 2000.
Increased popularity could bring greater benefits for everyone involved: newcomers to the sport may gravitate to the smaller clubs, continuing to drive the base standard of racing upwards, alongside introducing people to a dedicated community in a lesser-known sport. Yet, it seems the demise of every other sport is currently necessary for rowing to hold more than five minutes in the spotlight.
But why does rowing fail to capture the admiration of the British public outside of an Olympic context?
A variety of presumptions (which are widely found to be true) based around a lack of diversity, both in social class and ethnicity, are perhaps the most obvious reasons. When the only major event annually televised is the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race, a contest between two institutions often regarded as elitist, it is no wonder that rowing has a ‘posh problem’.
Further, the Amateur Rowing Association, the predecessor of British Rowing, prohibited the membership of labourers, artisans, mechanics or anyone “engaged in any menial duty” due to nuance in their definition of ‘amateur’ (i.e. any non-paid participation) status. This effectively excluded the working class, injecting elitism into the DNA of the sport. Although such rules are no longer in effect, they set the blueprints for the wider reputation of rowing and the stark lack of diversity present today. This is before taking into account the typically lofty monetary costs of involvement in the sport.
To leave behind the discriminatory attitudes, a new audience of athletes and spectators needs to break into the sport.
A major barrier to rowing’s popularity is that it struggles to engage casual viewers. The racing calendar is incredibly difficult to follow as an outsider, and emerging formats could be capitalised upon to change this.
The Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games will see the change to a 1500m racing format, and if nothing else, this shorter distance (as opposed to the standard of 2000m) has the potential to bring faster paced, explosive, and most importantly, exciting racing. Adopting an idea from a previous article by Sam Sheppard, a points-based League system between the top clubs could embrace this newer take on the racing distance, bringing a standard league to rowing that so many other sports benefit from.
Even delving into shorter fixtures might prove successful, such as the Power8 Sprints, an unpredictable and thrilling format that aimed to attract a new audience through being televised, yet has not been raced since its inaugural event in 2018 due to financial pressures.
I touched earlier on the series “Gold Fever” as a testament to the media’s involvement in rowing’s popularity. People knew the athletes as individuals and then followed the sport. Such an interactive aspect is absent in the current setup. Bringing together new race formats and leagues, alongside investing in greater media coverage, could bring an entirely new audience to the sport, in turn breaking down its elitist image. Rowing has no issue retaining its participants, and it has the potential to take hold of a fresh wave of spectators.
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