A Women's Eight

"A Women's Eight."  What?  There are two ways to move a boat across the water.  A rower can possess one oar, a "sweep" to move the boat, or the rower can possess two oars, as in "sculling."  This is the basic difference between the two types of rowing.  The one difference that’s worth noting between the two types of rowing is the coxswain.  A coxswain is the person in the sweep boat who never possesses an oar, yet is the pace-setter, race strategist and steers the boat…hopefully straight!  So if you count the number of women in this boat, you will find that it is an eight.  All eights have coxswains, so they are not mentioned in this class of boat.  There is a lot of training going on in Hempstead Harbor, and on this day there were two eights and two fours, one each of men and women.  It is a beautiful thing to watch, and to photograph.  The coach is in the motorboat traveling behind and to the side and on a quiet day you can hear the coach calling out instructions to each of the boats.