Light Weight Rowing in recent years

Lightweight rowing came to light when it was added to the world championships in 1974 for men and 1985 for women. It is a category whereby limits are places on the maximum weight of competitors and according to the International Rowing Federation (FISA) this weight category was introduced, “to encourage more universality in the sport especially among nations with less statuesque people”. Lightweight rowing (abbreviated to Ltw or Lt) was then introduced to the Olympics in 1996 and is largest in America at a university level. The current regulations are:

• Men: Crew average 70 kg (154.3 lb / 11 st 0.3 lb) – no rower over 72.5 kg (159.8 lb / 11 st 5.8 lb)
• Women: Crew average 57 kg (125.6 lb / 8 st 13 lb) – no rower over 59 kg (130.0 lb / 9 st 4 lb)

Light weight rowing doesn’t have equal opportunities for racing, for example in England, races such as Henley Women’s does have a large number of Lightweight boat classes but Henley Royal doesn’t contain any ability to compete in such classes, so overall it does vary hugely between events. In recent years lightweight rowing has been raised as a debate as to whether their is risk involved with some open/heavy weight rowers drastically cutting body mass before races; this is why British Rowing does not allow any light weight competitions at a junior level. Despite this, lightweight rowing is still a massive part of rowing around the world and is an exciting and unique boat class which can produce some of the most elite rowing on all global stages.

The Oxford Cambridge Lightweight Boat Race has been at the forefront of lightweight rowing and in recent years, moved from the Henley-on-Thames course to the tideway (Putney to Mortlake) increasing it’s exposure and bringing it equal to the Open Weight Boat Race. This addition to the historic and prestigious varsity rivalry has built on the more recent expansion of light weight rowing globally and has given more opportunities to these top athletes. The competition between these two boat clubs (Oxford and Cambridge) has been established since 1829 with the first boat race although the light weight boat race was only founded in 1975 by Richard Bates (Jesus college, Cambridge). Freya Sutcliff, a lightweight rower who rowed for Cambridge on the 15th March 2020 said, “It was very, very special. It felt like a real step on for lightweight rowing.” Light weight rowing is unique in that both crews weigh, for men 70kg and for women 59kg which intern makes them very balanced competitors and increases the focus on technicality within the crews and can lead to invigoratingly close races. Top lightweight crew teams can go faster than heavyweight teams. For example, at the 2010 Head of the Charles Regatta, the winner of the lightweight men’s eights race (Princeton University) would have placed fifth in the Championship Eights men’s race, ahead of Deutscher Ruder Verband (U-23 German team). This impressively shows the importance of a cohesive crew and precise technicality, this has huge importance building the foundation, of which you can apply power in order to hit high boat speeds.

The unique nature and prestige of lightweight rowing never fails to deliver exciting and competitive racing at all levels and is an integral part of rowing globally. This distinctive weight restricted boat class requires elite technicality and efficient application of power and can prove threatening even against top level open weight crews. This is an incredibly special area of the sport and in my opinion should be preserved and even expanded while still considering the athletes but I wholly agree that at a junior level light weight rowing shouldn’t be integrated. Weight restricted rowing is guaranteed to deliver elite rowing and thrilling racing at all levels and is a key part the sport which should be celebrated.