Heats conclude at the 2026 World Rowing Virtual Indoor Championships, presented by Concept2

Day two of the 2026 World Rowing Virtual Indoor Championships, presented by Concept2 saw more records fall as athletes took on the 5000m and relay race heats. Racing from their own homes or clubs around the world, competitors were all connected virtually through their Concept2 indoor rowing machines.

5000m Heats

Richard Tomlinson of New Zealand came away with a new age category record, beating his previous time by 2.5 seconds to set a new standard of 16:48.0 in the men’s 60-64 5000m. Nancy Cook accomplished a similar feat in the women’s 60-64 5000m, posting a new age category record time of 19:21.6.

Benjamin Reuter of Germany posted the fastest men’s 5000m time, with 15:54.6. Lina Belanger of Canada posted the fastest women’s 5000m time, with 18:34.3.

Relays

Relays kicked off with races in two distances: Teams of 2 for the 1000m, or teams of 4 for the 5000m, have to complete the relay distance by rowing one at a time on the indoor rowing machine. Teams can strategise how long each team member will row, and how often they will switch, but each person has to row at least twice in the given distance.

Var Guriardottir Hansen and Loic Schalbetter of team “2.7kW” came away with the fastest time in the Mixed 1000m Relay in 2:39.8. Finland’s Kuivalainen/Salonen and Naukkarinen/Karpatskij finished second and third in 2:45.8 and 2:48.8 respectively. Naukkarinen and Karpatskijm, along with Kesti and Kuoppola, then finished first in the Mixed 5000m relay, in a time of 14:13.6.

The Finals will take place on Saturday, 28 February, starting at  UTC. Find the whole schedule and list of qualified athletes on the 2026 World Rowing Virtual Indoor Championships, presented by Concept2 event page.