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(right at 50 feet each) and 2000 meters long (about a mile and a quarter). On land, regatta participants need plenty of parking spaces. The largest regattas require the use of up to 60 equipment trailers, each of which is approximately 63 feet long, about the size of an 18-wheeler trailer. Those requirements can be daunting for many potential host communities, but USRowing began last year to partner with an existing headrace regatta for an event that has less demanding course and venue requirements. These are usually head race regattas that are already established where USRowing can "bring an extra element to a race that's already doing well and looking to take the next step." "This allows us to bring a national championship event to a lot of cities that simply don't have sufficient facilities to host our other ones," said Dominique. "For a head race, you just need three miles of water. It can be curvy or straight. It just needs to be wide enough to have a separate travel lane and a separate racing lane." This fall's USRowing headrace will be in Oklahoma City. Now through the next few months is the time to put in a bid to host future rowing events. USRowing tries to host events in widely dispersed sites around the nation, but Dominique said the majority are in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions where the heaviest concentrations of rowing populations are. Regattas require a partnership between a local rowing club and the area's sports commission or convention and visitors bureau. USRowing uses a third-party housing company to manage the housing blocks for regatta competitors and spectators. "How much the local hotels work with our housing company is a factor in our decision on choosing host event locations," Dominique said. The rowing season begins in the spring. Regional championships run late spring, and national championships are held in June. Summer camps follow, and USRowing-sanctioned headrace regattas are in the fall. ■ ▲ SPORT REPORT Rowing Basics There are two primary rowing disciplines: sweep rowing and sculling. Scullers have one oar in each hand; sweep rowers have only one. Within each of those disciplines are lightweight and open weight categories, based upon the weight of the rower. Sweep rowboats sometimes have a coxswain (pronounced coxin) to steer and be the on-the-water coach. Otherwise, one of the rowers steers by moving the rudder with his or her foot. All rowing boats can be called shells. Most are made of America Rows: A Reflection Of A Diverse Country honeycombed carbon fiber. The smallest scull is approximately 27 feet long and as narrow as 10 inches Richard Butler "America Rows rowing programs can be found in many of America's poorest and most dangerous cities," said Richard Butler, USRowing inclusion manager. "We recruit the traditionally under-resourced and underrepresented ethnic and racial minorities, not because it's the right thing to do, but because if we want our sport to be relevant in the future we will need to ensure that our membership is a reflection of the diversity of America. In the next couple of years, America Rows will be the #1 program in America producing the minority and economically disadvantage college rowers." ■ www.sportseventsmagazine.com across. On the other end of the spectrum, an eight-person sweep boat is about 58 feet long. Rowing oars are typically made of the same material as the boats and feature a hatchet-styled blade. ■ Source: www.usrowing.org/About/ Rowing101/ViewersGuide.aspx June 2013 17