The year that was… indoor rowing

Here are some of the highlights of the year.

Indoor Rowing Championships in Seta, Japan

The first international indoor rowing championships of 2017 took place in Japan early January with nearly 800 competitors racing. The youngest participant was 7 years old and the oldest 70. Olympians from Denmark and the United States also competed and won all four open events.

2000m winners:
Open men’s category… Mark Hartsteen (DEN) in 6:02.9
Lightweight men’s category… Joshua Konieczny (USA) in 06:17.5
Open women’s category… Frida Nielsen (DEN), in 07:01.0
Lightweight women’s category… Mathilde Persson (DEN) in 07:14.9
More information… here.
Video… here. 

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CRASH-B Indoor Rowing Championships

Where and when… 12 February 2017, Boston (USA)
Number of entries… more than 2000
Largest number of entries … junior women’s heavyweight category with 282 participants
Number of para-rowing categories… 26
New world record over 2000m… Pavel Shurmei (BLR) set a new world record in the 40-49 age category for men at 5:47.8
Winner over 2000m in open men’s category… Bartosz Zablocki (POL) in 05:45.8
Winner over 2000m in open women’s category… Olena Buryak (UKR) in 06:33
Race report… here.  
Detailed results… here.  

World Games indoor rowing

When and where… Wroclaw (POL), 26-27 July 2017
Qualification system… The first-ranking male and female athlete from each National Federation with scores entered into a Concept2 online logbook.
Number of countries… 31 nations
Number of athletes… 70
Number of events… seven: four 2000m events (open men, lightweight men, open women, lightweight women), two 500m events (open men, open women), and one mixed event (4 x 500m mixed relay race).
New World Records…. Ukraine’s Olena Buryak re-set her previous 2000m world record in the 19-29 age category from 2015 to 6:22.8, a huge two-and-a-half seconds faster. On the next day of competition, Buryak set a new world record over the 500m distance at 01:24.5.
What Buryak said… “I wanted a record that no one else could beat. I was happy to be part of this, so I didn’t care about my [current] injury. I don’ think [my record] will be broken next year. Maybe in the next five or ten years.”
Winner lightweight women over 2000m… Anna Berger (AUT), 07:12.7
Winner open men over 2000m… Oliver Zeidler (GER), 05:42.0
Winner lightweight men over 2,000m… Artur Mikolajczewski (POL), 06:08.2
Detailed race report for 2000m race… here.
Detailed race report for 500m race… here. 
Detailed results… here. 

World Rowing Indoor Sprints

When and where… 10-12 March 2017, anywhere in the world
Race distance… 1000m
Number of entries… over 4000
How it worked… results were recorded in the Concept2 Online Logbook
Next event… March 2018
More details from the 2017 edition… here. 

Athlete of the Month workouts

Starting in September 2017, World Rowing and LiveRowing teamed up to offer monthly indoor rowing workouts designed by the Athlete of the Month featured on www.worldrowing.com. For more information on how to benefit from these training tips, click here.

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British Rowing Indoor Championships

When and where… 2012 Olympic venue Lee Valley VeloPark, in London, Great Britain.
Number of competitors… more than 2000
Race distances…. 500m to 4000m
Number of races… 72
Race categories… ranged from 11 to 94 years old
British records broken … Mike Hurley in the 80-84 age category at 07:39 over 2000m. Sarah Springman in the 60-64 age category at 07:33.7 over 2000m. Mark Roberson in the 50-55 age category at 1:17.7 over 500m. Sean Gaffney in the para-rowing PR3 2000m men’s category, at 06:43.3.
Highlight of the event… Five-time Olympic Champion and Tour de France winner, cyclist Bradley Wiggins, competing in the open men’s category. He placed 21^st.
More information… here. 

European Rowing Indoor Championships

When and where… Amsterdam (NED), December 2017
Winners over the 2000m distance:
Under-23 lightweight women… Marieke Keijser (NED), improving her personal best to 07:04.8
Open men… Jacob van de Kerkhof (NED), 05:57.5
Lightweight men… Matthais Taborsky (AUT), 06:09.1
Open women… Lisanne Brandsma (NED), 06:42.6
Lightweight women… Ilse Paulis (NED), 07:11.8
More information… here. 
Results… here.