Rowing
Rowing participation overview
19,400 women row at least once a week, making rowing the 21st most popular activity for women.
One in four female rowers is a student, compared with one in nine male rowers.
Rowing is most popular among 16-19 year-olds and they make up 29% of all rowers.
The profile of female rowers is much younger than women who take part in other water sports like sailing and canoeing.
Celebrating Silver, Going for Gold
Celebrating Silver, Going for Gold marks WSFF's 25th birthday with a look back at a quarter century of records from women's sport.
From Tessa Sanderson winning Olympic gold in 1984, to the IOC's decision in 2009 to add women's boxing to the London 2012 programme, the report charts both administrative and athletic milestones. Its pages are brought to life through a striking spread of photography and montage of memories from leading figures in sport.
In the report you will find both stories of WSFF and the past 25 years of women’s sport – presented in a way which we hope fulfils two objectives; firstly, to explain who we are, where we came from and where we are heading and secondly, to give you goose bumps.
We want you to feel the same shiver which travelled down our spines when we relived moments like Tessa Sanderson standing proudly atop the medal podium at the 1984 Olympic Games, Dame Kelly Holmes’ wide eyed shock at winning the second of her two gold medals in Athens, and the moment when England midfielder Jill Scott rose above a crowd of defenders to send England into the final of a major championship for the first time in 25 years.
While looking back fills us with joy, it is looking forward which really excites us. We are now operating in a time when more doors are being opened for women in sport and the amount of people working towards that same goal is growing. So while we’re proud to be celebrating our 25th birthday this year, we are already planning for the years ahead which we hope will bring even more reasons to be proud and of course, more goose bumps.
