The "scull" portion means that the 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 (not feasible for singles events).

The winning boat in each heat advanced to the semifinals, while all others were relegated to the repechages.

The repechages were rounds which offered rowers a chance to qualify for the semi-final.

Placing in the repechages determined which semifinal the boat would race in.

For example, a second-place finish in an A/B semifinal would result in advancement to the A final.