rowing

19 Stories

Paralympian Dies Trying to Row Across Pacific Ocean

Angela Madsen was attempting to set world record

(Newser) - A spinal cord injury during her time in the Marines left Angela Madsen a paraplegic, but it didn't slow her down. She went to the Paralympics three times, including a 2012 trip during which she won bronze in the shot put event, and won several gold medals at the...

Holy Cross Rower Dies Weeks After Setting Record

Grace Rett killed in crash day after 20th birthday

(Newser) - Grace Rett, a College of the Holy Cross rower who set a world record for her age group just a few weeks ago, was killed in a van crash in Florida Wednesday morning—the day after her 20th birthday. Police say a van carrying students from the Massachusetts college, who...

6 Men Cross World's Most Perilous Passage in Rowboat

They made it across Drake Passage in 13 days

(Newser) - As freezing water thrashed their rowboat in some of the most treacherous waters in the world, six men fought for 13 days to make history, becoming the first people to traverse the infamous Drake Passage with nothing other than sheer manpower. They dodged icebergs, held their breaths as giant whales...

Student Ignored Her Sore Throat. 2 Weeks Later, She Was Dead

Kansas State's Samantha Scott thought she had tonsillitis, died of a rare bacterial infection

(Newser) - A top rower for Kansas State University hadn't been feeling well and suspected she had tonsillitis. But Samantha Scott put off getting medical treatment for too long, and by the time she went to the hospital two weeks later, it was too late, per People : The 23-year-old architectural engineering...

Missing Olympic Rower Surrenders After 18 Months

Harold Backer's back, but his clients' money isn't

(Newser) - Missing Olympian rower Harold Backer walked into a police station in Canada last week, ending a 528-day mystery—but the remaining mysteries include his whereabouts during all that time, and the whereabouts of the millions of dollars that clients of his investment business say he stole from them. Backer, who...

What WWII Bomb? UK Keeps Calm, Race Carries on

Oxford-Cambridge boat race is still happening after unexploded bomb found in Thames

(Newser) - British police say the hotly contested annual Oxford-Cambridge boat race is likely to proceed as planned despite the discovery of what police suspect is an unexploded World War II-era bomb near the start of the race on the River Thames. The suspected bomb was discovered by a member of the...

Brothers Rowing the Atlantic Wearing Only a Smile

Brothers say rowing in the buff cuts down on blisters

(Newser) - Two brothers are rowing across the Atlantic Ocean—in the buff. John and Kurt Schwartz began their 3,000-mile journey this week, telling Mashable that manning the oars nude cuts down on blisters, sores, and other problems that pesky clothing causes. "It's kind of a running joke in...

Doping Gets Another Russian Team Booted From Olympics

Rower's urine sample had banned substance in it

(Newser) - World rowing's ruling body says that the Russian men's quadruple sculls team has been disqualified from the Rio de Janeiro Olympics for a doping violation, and will be replaced at the games by New Zealand, the AP reports. The World Rowing Federation says that trimetazidine, a banned substance,...

70-Year-Old Rower Sets Off on Record-Breaking Quest

Norwegian Stein Hoff thinks you waste too much time watching 'Game of Thrones'

(Newser) - Norwegian doctor Stein Hoff is no stranger to challenges. The avid rower crossed the Atlantic with a partner in 1997, and in 2002 he rowed solo and unsupported from Lisbon, Portugal, to the coast of the South American country of Guyana. But now the 70-year-old who says people "spend...

Rower Begins 6K-Mile Quest to Cross Pacific

American Sonya Baumstein would be first woman to pull off the feat

(Newser) - The best part of being on the ocean for weeks at a time, says Sonya Baumstein, is the stars. The worst? Being wet, all the time. Baumstein, a 29-year-old from Orlando, waited for weeks to set out in her custom-designed rowboat from Choshi, a port east of Tokyo, headed for...

Brazil Pulls 50 Tons of Dead Fish From Lagoon

Olympic athletes advised not to fall out of canoes

(Newser) - Vast numbers of dead fish have been hauled out of the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon in Rio de Janeiro over the last couple of weeks, and authorities are pretty sure they haven't died of excitement about the Olympic rowing and canoeing events to be held there next year. Dozens...

Tech Power Couple to Row From California to Hawaii

Triathlete and marathon runner plan 60-day journey

(Newser) - The co-founder of real-estate website Trulia and his wife, a former software product manager, are preparing for an extreme couples challenge: They aim to row from Monterey, Calif., to Hawaii. Others have made the rowing journey across the Pacific, but Sami Inkinen, 38, and Meredith Loring, 34, would be the...

Woman Makes History: Rows Across Pacific Alone

She completes solo 150-day voyage from Japan to Alaska

(Newser) - After 150 days of rowing punctuated by storms, close encounters with sharks and cargo ships, exhaustion-induced hallucinations, and an engagement, Sarah Outen is back on dry land. The British adventurer has arrived in the Aleutian Islands, having become the first woman to row the 4,315 miles from Japan to...

Rowers Find Enormous Head in Hudson

Styrofoam structure looks like ancient sculpture

(Newser) - Today's mystery: What was a seven-foot-tall head doing floating in the Hudson River? Marist College crew members found the enormous noggin, made of Styrofoam and fiberglass and reminiscent of a Greek or Roman sculpture, while on the river on Tuesday, Newsday reports. It "looked like something out of...

Britain Finally Grabs a Gold
 Britain Finally Grabs a Gold 
olympics
Aug 1, 2012 6:51 AM CDT

Britain Finally Grabs a Gold

5 days into games, women win top rowing honors

(Newser) - The egg-on-face potential has been eliminated: Olympic host Britain has finally captured its first gold medal of the London Games. Helen Glover and Heather Stanning won the final of the women's pair at the Olympic rowing regatta on today, after establishing a big lead early in the race and...

Charity Rower Pushes on in Wake of Sex Assault

Continuing 1,500-mile trek on Lake Michigan

(Newser) - A 27-year-old woman rowing 1,500 miles around Lake Michigan for charity says she will continue her journey despite being sexually assaulted on Sunday, reports the Chicago Tribune . Jenn Gibbons was attacked while sleeping in her rowboat by a man who was apparently following her journey online. "Every single...

Yank, 22, Crosses Atlantic in Rowboat

Katie Spotz becomes youngest to make trek solo

(Newser) - Katie Spotz isn't the first to cross the Atlantic, but even Christopher Columbus didn't have to row his boat. The 22-year-old Ohio native yesterday landed in Guyana, reports the New York Times , becoming the youngest person to make the 2,817-mile rowboat trip solo—an odyssey that took her 70...

In China, All That Matters Is Gold
In China, All That Matters Is Gold
Jun 1, 2008 12:34 PM CDT

In China, All That Matters Is Gold

Beijing recruits foreign coaches, targets medal-rich sports in quest to win, win, win

(Newser) - China wants to impress the world during this summer's Olympics, and not just by hosting a seamless Games. Determined to finish with more gold medals than any other nation, the country is bringing in foreign coaches like Igor Grinko, reports the New York Times. “Silver? It means nothing here;...

Britain Seeks 'Giant' Steps at 2012 Olympics

Heightened emphasis for London Games has yielded taller jocks

(Newser) - A, ahem, heightened push to make Britain's sports teams more competitive by the time London hosts the 2012 Olympics has added 52 new athletes to the country’s handball, rowing, and volleyball squads, the Telegraph reports. The “Sporting Giants” program sought tall applicants—over 6-foot-3 for men and 5-11...

19 Stories