After putting some thought into the development of rowing, the relevance of Gramsci became very clear. Looking at his thoughts on the importance of cultural practices in maintaining some form of hegemony and how rowing is an example of this started to piece together.
Rowing had been primarily an elitist sport all the way up until after World War II. This was largely due to the fact of the geographic and monetary needs to even begin in the sport. These were primarily held by the wealthy. However, change within rowing organizations began to occur with a more relaxed, all-inclusive nature for the sport following the war. This brings up the point of the upper class needing to constantly change and adjust to accommodate what the working class might need. As it was shown in Austria, rowing started to become more relaxed and steered towards becoming a more recreational sport. There was an interest in rowing by all classes, resulting in a push to incorporate everyone. As Gramsci might argue, rowing was and continues to be a cultural practice that conforms to, and reinforces the hegemonic structure within certain certain societies.