Rowing Safety Checklist

The Golden Rules of Rowing Safety are simple:

  1. Learn to swim before you learn to row. If you want to row and don’t know how to swim, learn to swim first. Then you can row.
  2. Wear a PFD on cold water. If the water temps are below 50f/10c put on a life-jacket or PFD. If the weather conditions look questionable, do the same.
  3. Hold on to your boat! If you capsize and can’t get back into your boat, hold on to it. Don’t let go.
  4. Check the weather. Prepare for the worst conditions in the forecast or don’t go out. Too many rowers have died because of sudden changes in the weather.
  5. Row with others. This makes rowing safer and more enjoyable.
  6. Carry a whistle if you’re rowing alone. Three one-second blasts are widely recognized as a distress call.

USRowing’s Safety Expectations provides a more extensive checklist for all rowers, but these are the basics. They’re very simple and very important.

For rowing clubs there are several additional rules that might be regarded  as the Ten Commandments for Scholastic Club Rowing Safety:

  1. Coaches must have First Aid, CPR, and Boating Safety certifications. All coaches have legal responsibilities regarding the care of minors and must provide appropriate safety equipment. They should also be experienced rowers.
  2. Scholastic rowers must pass a swim test and be able to swim. If for any reason — such as an injury — a rower cannot swim well, they must wear a life-jacket.
  3. Rowers under the age of 18 must wear life-jackets on water temperatures below 50f/10c
  4. Rowers under the age of 18 must be supervised on the water at all times;
  5. Coaching launches must be properly registered and equipped with a first aid kit, PFDs for all rowers, tool kit, vhf radios or cell phones in waterproof containers, and a flashlight;
  6. Everyone on coaching launches MUST WEAR USCG approved life-jackets; drivers must wear engine kill-switch cords;
  7. Boats must not launch and should head for shelter immediately in the presence of whitecaps or winds over 12 knots (13.8 mph); fog (visibility to shore less than 100 yards); electrical storms.
  8. A map of local water traffic patterns and known hazards must be posted along with current water and air temperatures: water temperatures below 50 F and wind speeds above 10 mph should be highlighted with red warning symbols;
  9. A written accident report must be submitted to the head coach and chairperson of the safety committee for any incident in which: a) a  boat swamps, capsizes or requires assistance for on-water repairs, or b) a rower is  injured and requires medical attention.
  10. SAFETY RULES MUST BE ENFORCED for scholastic rowers.

Note: “racing” shells are designed for speed, not safety. They are fast, elegant, and inherently unstable. On cold water, rough water, or changing weather conditions, take appropriate safety precautions.

© 2025 RowSafeUSA.Org