Rowing Today

While finishing up my case study, I realized that  I took a predominantly historical approach to the cultural impact of rowing.  So I thought about looking at rowing in a more contemporary sense.  Rowing still holds its roots in being a predominantly white elite sport for males, but there have been changes to this tradition that have been seen.  With established NCAA sports, the issue of gender equality in sports as come up.  With football being an overwhelmingly dominant sport in almost the development of crew as sport for women in college has increased a great deal.  Title 9 requires gender equality in sports and the incorporation of crew for women in many larger schools has steadily increased as a result.  This steers away from the traditions of crew and brings a new dynamic to the involvement of the sport.  After it went from being a strictly elite sport for males, this transition greatly diversified the rowing community into what it is today.  Although it has kept its competitive nature, the dynamic and availability of crew has change tremendously, reducing its past reputation of being such an elite sport.