rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...

there are not world records due to the huge variability that weather conditions can have on times. Instead there are world best times, which are set over the international rowing distance of 2000 m.

On water records

Rowing times are strongly affected by

weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmosphere, the ...

conditions, and to a lesser extent by water temperature – the majority of these times were set in warm water with a strong tailwind. World best rowing times have also decreased because of improvements in technology to both the

boats A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on inl ...

and the

oars An oar is an implement used for water-borne propulsion. Oars have a flat blade at one end. Rowers grasp the oar at the other end. The difference between oars and paddles is that oars are used exclusively for rowing. In rowing the oar is connecte ...

, along with improvements in the conditioning of the rowers. Because environmental conditions have a strong impact on boat speed,

FISA The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 ("FISA" , ) is a United States federal law that establishes procedures for the physical and electronic surveillance and the collection of "foreign intelligence information" between "foreign pow ...

recognizes world best times instead of world records. A world best time is one recorded on a regatta course that has previously held the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

, or

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

since 1980. A number of record times were set at the 2005 World Rowing Championships held on the

Nagara River The has its source in the city of Gujō, Gifu Prefecture, and its mouth in the city of Kuwana, Mie Prefecture, Japan. Along with the Kiso River and Ibi River, the Nagara River is one of the Kiso Three Rivers of the Nōbi Plain. Previously, ...

Kaizu Kiso Sansen Park Center is a city located in Gifu, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 34,960, and a population density of 310 persons per km2, in 12,167 households. The total area of the city was . Most of the city is located at sea ...

Gifu Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,991,390 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture to the northwest, F ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, but due to a fast

current Currents, Current or The Current may refer to: Science and technology * Current (fluid), the flow of a liquid or a gas ** Air current, a flow of air ** Ocean current, a current in the ocean *** Rip current, a kind of water current ** Current (stre ...

caused by heavy rainfall from the remnants of

Typhoon Mawar Typhoon Mawar, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Betty, was one of the strongest Northern Hemisphere tropical cyclones on record in the month of May, and the strongest tropical cyclone Tropical cyclones in 2023, worldwide in 2023. The ...

, FISA declared that the race results were not eligible to be considered as world best times. There is a category for lightweight rowing. For men, the crew average, wearing racing kit, cannot exceed and no rower may be over . For women, the limits are and .

Hamish Bond Hamish Bryon Bond (born 13 February 1986) is a retired New Zealand rower and former road cyclist. He is a three-time Olympic gold medallist at the 2012 London Olympic Games, the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, and at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic ...

and Eric Murray hold the record for most consecutive wins with 69.

Men

The greatest distance rowed in 24 hours is 342 km (212.5 miles) by Hannes Obreno, Pierre de Loof, Tim Brys, Mathieu Foucaud, Thijs Obreno, Giel Vanschoenbeek, Arjan van Belle and Thibaut Schollaert (all Belgians) on the Watersportbaan in Ghent, Belgium on 2–3 October 2014. All eight participants were members of a student rowing club called VSR (''Vlaamse Studentenvereniging der Roeiers'', translates to Flanders Student Rowing Club). The greatest distance rowed in 1 hour is 17,555 m (10.91 miles) by the Delftse Studenten Roeiverening Proteus-Eretes during the Hour boat race on 17 December 2017.

Women

Indoor records

These results are based on a standard distance of 2,000 meters.
:SIR - Static Indoor Rower (Indoor Rower) :IRwS - Indoor Rower with Slides (Slides) :DIR - Dynamic Indoor Rower (Dynamic) *Lwt Men: maximum weight *Lwt Women: maximum weight Note: the standard machine for indoor records is the

Concept2 Concept2, Inc. is an American manufacturer of rowing equipment and exercise machines that is based in Morrisville, Vermont. It is best known for its air resistance indoor rowing machines (known as "ergometers" or "ergs"), which are considered ...

indoor rower An indoor rower, or rowing machine, is a machine used to simulate the action of watercraft rowing for the purpose of exercise or training for rowing. Modern indoor rowers are often known as ergometers (colloquially erg or ergo) because they m ...

. "Split" refers to the average time to complete 500 m (i.e. the 2000 m time divided by 4).

References

External links

FISA - Best TimesConcept2 - World RecordsConcept2 - British RecordsConcept2 - Other Records
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowing

Rec REC or Rec is a shortening of Recording, the process of capturing data onto a storage medium. REC may also refer to: Educational institutes * Regional Engineering College, colleges of engineering and technology education in India * Rajalakshmi ...

Sports world records