Olympic rowing features races in 14 different boat classes. There are eight sculling events in which each rower has two oars - one in each hand - and six sweep-oared events in which each rower uses one oar with both hands.

The sculling events are the men’s and women’s single, double and quadruple scull with crews of one, two and four rowers respectively, as well as the lightweight double.

The sweep rowing categories include the men’s and women’s pair, four, lightweight four (men only) and the coxed eight, rowing’s blue riband, and fastest, event.

For the lightweight events (the lightweight women’s double and the lightweight men’s double and four) the average weight of a men’s crew must not exceed 70kg with the maximum weight for crew members being 72.5kg. For women the average weight of a crew must not exceed 57kg with the maximum weight for crew members being 59kg. All races cover a distance of 2,000 metres (2km).

While traditional rowing boats were wooden, the majority of modern ones are made of fibreglass or plastic. Their width ranges from 59.7 to 62.2 cm, and their length from a minimum of 8.2 m (for the single sculls category) to a maximum of 19.9 m (for the eight with coxswain boats). Their weight ranges from 14 to 96 kg respectively, while the oars have an average length of 2.98 m (in the sculls category), and 3.82 m (for sweep rowing).

Rowing races cover a distance of 2,000m on rivers, canals or lakes at competition venues with six lanes. Crews qualify through predetermined rounds, namely the preliminary round (heats), the repeat round (repechages), the semi-finals and the finals.

The "A" final determines the first six places and the runners-up "B" final determines the next six rankings, namely 7th to 12th positions. The number of rounds per event depends on the number of crews taking part.

The races take place under the supervision of umpires, who are members of the jury for every event. The jury members are placed at various locations on and off the competition course, such as the starting line, where the races begin under the supervision of the aligner and the starter; along the course of the race in the competition lanes under the supervision of umpires; the finishing line with the finish-line umpire; the identity verification stage of the crews before their embarkation onto the boats; the weighing-in of the athletes; the weighing-in of boats; and, in general, in all areas directly related to the competition, the athletes and their equipment.

OLYMPIC CATEGORIES OF BOATS

There are two categories of rowing competition boats:

SCULLING

In which the athletes hold one oar in each hand:

• Single Scull (one rower) (1x)
• Double Scull (two rowers) (2x)
• Quadruple Scull (four rowers) (4x)
• Lightweight Double Scull (L2x)

SWEEP ROWING

In which the athletes use one oar with both hands:

• Pair (2-)
• Four (4-)
• Eight (8+)
• Lightweight Men’s Four (LM4-)

ATHLETES CATEGORIES

In Rowing there are two categories of athletes:

• Open: (open to all athletes, regardless of their weight)
• Lightweight: In this category men cannot weigh more than 72.5kg and women cannot exceed 59kg, while the average weight of the crew cannot exceed 70 and 57kg respectively.

COXSWAINS

The minimum admissible weight of a coxswain, irrespective of boat or event category, is 55kg for men and 50kg for women.