Rowing will feature 14 events on the Olympic program, with each race covering a distance of 2000 metres.  Boats can feature crews of one, two, four or eight oarsmen.  The eights are the only event in which the boat also includes a coxswain.  

Rowing events are either scull or sweep events.  In sculling, each rower pulls two oars.  Men and women will each compete in four sculling events:

• Single Sculls        • Lightweight Double Sculls

• Double Sculls      • Quadruple Sculls

In sweep rowing, each rower pulls one oar.  There are four men's sweep events and two women's sweep events:
 
• Pairs            • Fours (men only)

• Eights         • Lightweight Fours (men only)

In London 2012 rowing will be held at the Eton Dorney Rowing Centre, located near Windsor Castle.  The venue played host to the 2006 World Championships but has since been fully upgraded in anticipation of the Games.

London 2012 Storylines:
Canadian coxswain Lesley Thompson-Willie is poised to break several Olympic records.  She will become the first rower to compete in seven Olympic Games.  She looks to become the first Canadian athlete to win medals in five different Olympic Games.  One more medal would give her five in her career, tying her for most all-time by a Canadian summer Olympian.  She would also become the oldest female coxswain to win an Olympic medal.

Norwegian single sculler Olaf Tufte is going for his third straight Olympic gold medal.  He would be the first single sculler to accomplish this feat since Finland's Pertti Karpinnen took three straight from 1976 to 1984.

The British men's eight which won silver in Beijing 2008 has welcomed back Greg Searle after a 10-year retirement.  He helped the team take silver at the 2010 World Championships and will be 40-years-old in London 2012 when he hopes to win gold 20 years after he last stood atop the Olympic podium in Barcelona 1992.

Canada's Outlook:
Canadian rowers collected four medals in Beijing 2008, the most by a single sport at the Games, and are looking for similar success in London.

The men's eight are the defending Olympic Champions, but after falling to seventh at the 2010 World Championships, coxswain Brian Price has returned to the stern of the boat with the aim of getting back on top of the podium.  The switch paid off as the team officially earned an Olympic berth at the 2011 World Rowing Championships in Bled, Slovenia where they took home the bronze.  They will be joined in London by the women's eight team who will be looking to forget their agonizing fourth place finish in Beijing 2008.  Coxed by four-time Olympic medallist Lesley Thompson-Willie, the crew won silver at the 2010 World Championships.

Tracy Cameron has asserted herself as one of the world's top lightweight rowers.  After winning bronze in the lightweight double sculls with Melanie Kok in Beijing 2008, she joined forces with Lindsay Jennerich to win the World title in 2010.  While a rib injury forced Cameron to withdraw from the 2011 Worlds, undaunted Jennerich partnered with Patricia Obee to claim silver and officially secure an Olympic berth for Canada at London 2012.

The men's pair of Dave Calder and Scott Frandsen won silver in Beijing 2008 that happened to be Canada's very first medal of the Games.  After a brief separation, they're back with the goal of coming home with Olympic gold.  The early results are promising as they earned themselves an Olympic berth via a fifth place finish at the Worlds.    

Cam Sylvester and Doug Vandor are much improved since finishing 12th in their Olympic debut in the lightweight doubles sculls in Beijing, recording several World Cup medals and a fourth place finish at the 2010 World Championships. 

Canada has also earned Olympic quota places for boats in the men's four and the mens' double sculls.

Other International Athletes to Follow:

MEN

Mahe Drysdale – New Zealand (single sculls)

• A five-time world champion (2005-07, 2009, 2011), he also won silver at the 2010 World Championships
• Won bronze in Beijing 2008 despite suffering from a severe gastrointestinal infection.

Ondrej Synek – Czech Republic (single sculls)

• Has won six world championship medals, including gold at the 2010 World Championships
• Won silver at the 2008 Olympic Games

Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter – Great Britain (lightweight double sculls)

• Capped a dominating 2008 season in which they won all three World Cup events with gold at the Olympic Games
• Won bronze in their first world championship together in 2007 and won their first World title in 2010
• Won gold at 2011 World Championships

WOMEN

Ekaterina Karsten – Belarus (single sculls)

• Has won five Olympic medals, tied for third-most among all rowers; the last four (two gold, one silver, one bronze) have all come in single sculls
• Continues to be a medal contender despite the fact that she will be 40-years-old in London 2012; won silver at the 2011 World Championships to go with her six World titles

United States – Eights

• Will head to London 2012 as the defending Olympic Champions
• Have been dominant in the big events in recent years, winning five straight World titles (2006-07, 2009-11)