Rowing at the 1908 Summer Olympics

The 1908 Olympic rowing events were held at Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, long the site of the famous Henley Royal Regatta. Henley would also serve as the site of the 1948 Olympic rowing competition. Because of the set-up of the Henley course, only two crews or sculls usually competed at any one time, although in a few cases in 1948, three crews competed in one race. The rowers started at either Berks (Berkshire) Station or Bucks (Buckinghamshire) Station, referring to whether the boat began on the Berkshire (south) or Buckinghamshire (north) side of Temple Island, an island just downstream (north) of Henley-on-Thames. The 2012 Olympic rowing competition could not be held at Henley because FISA (Fédération Internationale des Sociétés d’Aviron) now requires the rowing events to be held on a still-water lake, with no current, and able to accommodate a field of six boats at one time.

There were only four rowing events in 1908 – single sculls, coxless pairs, coxless fours, and coxed eights. Eight nations competed but Great Britain won all four events, and won 8 of the 16 available medals.