About the JAMCO World Rowers Database
worldrowers.org and jamcoworldrowers.com
This database and the search techniques for discovering the elite level biographies of rowers throughout the World have been under development since 1965 by the founder of JAMCO, known previously for its innovations since 1968 in computer based real time on-line graphic representations of in-progress crew races. For the years 1956 and every year between 1960 and 2023, the competitor's names, events, finishing places and relative performances have been compiled for men's open weight rowers and coxswains from every FISA nation which has competed in Olympic, World Championship and European Championship regattas, for whichever one of those regattas was the pre-eminent international elite competition in each of those years. Each competitor's name, team members, outcomes and the countries they represented are now ascertainable by searching this database.
The mission of this project is to focus on individual competitors, whether or not medalist, A-finalists, well known or obscure. For each person who reaches this elite level of competition, achieving that objective is a signal accomplishment in that person's life which deserves recognition, and is now possible by searching this database.
Initially, names were recorded as they appear in start lists and regatta race bulletins. Since then names, years, events and countries' entries have been compared to make those first and last names consistent from year to year to match their most common spellings. This makes more comprehensive search results identifying repeat appearances possible.
Before 1991 when multi-level finals for all competitors were instituted, e.g. before FA to FE finals, many crews were eliminated in repechage or semi-final races, and thus have no official finishing places to report. In those cases, JAMCO has ranked those unranked crews relative to each other by their finishing times at the race level at which they were eliminated, noting those placings by either (r) for repechage or (s) for their semi-final eliminations.
Data for open weight women is collected from 1973 to 2023 and for lightweight men and women from 1993 to 2023. The reasons for these start dates for each class is that 1973 was the year that open women were informed they would be admitted to compete in the 1976 Olympics and 1993 was the year that lightweights were informed they would be admitted to compete in the 1996 Olympics, first time Olympic competition possibilities for each class. In both classes the prospect of potential Olympic Games competition may possibly have heightened the competitive goals of these women and lightweights above competition possibilities previously available to them.
The contents, search parameters and options, enhancements and extensions of the database remain under development with annual updates accessible on-line via worldrowers.org.
Your comments emailed to info@worldrowers.org are welcomed.