ANCIENT ORIGINS

MESSING ABOUT ON THE RIVER GIVES RISE TO "ATHLETE OF THE CENTURY"

Barge races on the Nile and longboat races down the Yangste 4,500 years ago provide evidence of man's ancient passion for ploughing the waves not just in search of fare and warfare but fun too.

The Phoenicians, the ancient Greeks and the Romans used rowing and sailing chiefly as a weapon of war, and vehicle for transporting and increasing the wealth. While the Romans are known to have appreciated the more pleasant side of boating, they were also responsible for introducing the agonies of the galleys where prisoners stroked to the beat of a drum and the stimulus of a whip.

Rowing took of as a sport in the 18th century when rivermen on the Thames raced their ferries one against the other for money. Thomas Doggett, an Irish actor, instituted an annual race for prizes from London Bridge to Chelsea in 1715; the Doggett's Coat and Badge Race is still staged annually today.

The idea soon spread far and wide and records show that boat races were staged throughout Europe and the United States in the 19th century. The first Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge universities was staged in 1829 and has become a national institution. Yale and Harvard universities in the United States held their first water fight in 1852.

Since then, rowing has become one of the toughest of sports, and crews from Oxford and Cambridge stand little chance of competing with the best in the world. The best in the world, however, happens to be close to home; Steve Redgrave, of Great Britain, whose four successive Olympic victories have helped to earn him the title of "athlete of the century", will attempt to win an unprecedented fifth gold medal in Sydney.