Description
2022 Red Team No Splash – Women’s Rowing
Commemorates women’s rowing
History the stamp represents: Rowing (or crew) has been a popular competitive sport since the early 17th century. It began in London with regattas (races) on the River Thames carried out by professional watermen. This soon led to the establishment of boat clubs at British schools and colleges. The sport quickly spread to America, Germany, and beyond.
The first American college rowing team was established at Yale in 1843. The sport entered the Summer Olympic program a few decades later in 1896, though the first race did not occur until 1900. Women’s rowing was not an Olympic event until 1976. Today, there are 14 rowing classes in the Olympics, seven for men and seven for women. These events may feature one, two, four, or eight rowers. For sculling events, each rower holds two oars, while in sweep events, each athlete uses only one oar. In events with eight rowers per team, the boat may or may not be steered by a person known as a coxswain.
Rowing is one of the most demanding sports out there. Athletes utilize every major muscle group and must have high levels of endurance and cardiovascular fitness. Rowers must practice hard to achieve the ideal rowing form. At the highest level, a crew of eight can reach speeds of 14 miles per hour. Rowing truly is an impressive showing of what the human body can do.
5 Sheets of 100 First-Class Forever® USPS postage stamps. *The slash over “Forever” in the image is to protect it from being used to produce counterfeit postage. Actual stamps will not have this.