this rowing event is a quadruple scull event, meaning that each boat is propelled by four rowers. the "scull" portion means that each rower uses two oars, one on each side of the boat; this contrasts with sweep rowing in which each rower has one oar and rows on only one side. the competition consisted of multiple rounds. finals were held to determine the placing of each boat; these finals were given letters with those nearer to the beginning of the alphabet meaning a better ranking. semifinals were named based on which finals they fed, with each semifinal having two possible finals.