Mondo Knows Facts
The sliding seat transformed rowing speed
It let rowers use their legs, adding power that fixed seats could not The sliding seat was developed in the 1850s and 1860s, and by the end of the century it had replaced the fixed seat in racing boats. Rowers could now drive with the legs as well as the back and arms, which raised boat speeds sharply. It is one of the few equipment changes that altered the technique of a whole sport. It sits in Mondo's sports collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.
Where this comes from
Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.
Go further
More facts like this
A rowing eight carries a coxswainThe cox steers, calls the rhythm and is the only person facing forwardOlympic rowing is raced over 2000 metresThe distance was standardised in 1912 and has been used ever sinceThe Boat Race was first rowed in 1829Oxford and Cambridge met at Henley in a challenge between two friendsA table tennis ball is 40 millimetres acrossThe size went up from 38 millimetres in 2000 to slow the game slightlyTable tennis bats have two different rubber surfacesPlayers flip the bat to hide which side is about to strike the ballSnooker players chalk the cue for spinChalk roughens the tip so it grips the ball off centre without slipping
๐
Sportsfact 121 of 200
โ โ to keep reading, or swipe
Tags: rowing, equipment, history
The sliding seat transformed rowing speed: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- It let rowers use their legs, adding power that fixed seats could not. The figure is taken from World Rowing, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a sports fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Sports shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.