The whirr of 7700 indoor rowing machines for the World Rowing Virtual Indoor Sprints

The fastest time was recorded in the men’s openweight category when last year’s winner Maciej Maciejewski from Poland once again posted the top time. Maciejewski finished in 2:41.5 and set a new World Record in the men’s 40-49 category. In second place was Jason Marshall from Canada who recorded 2:45.0 and in third was British competitor Cameron Buchan who was just 0.6 seconds slower than Marshall.

In the women’s openweight category Maike Diekman from Namibia took the top spot with her finishing time of 3:17.6. Diekman recently qualified for the Olympic Games in the women’s single sculls. Finishing just 0.2 seconds behind her was Jordan Falcone from the United States and in third was Nina Tholking of Switzerland.

American Isaiah Harrison was at it once again in the junior men’s category when he smashed the record in a finishing time of 2:45.3. Harrison is just 16 years old. He was one of 1182 junior rowers who took part in the event, many of whom competed at organised events through their high school and university rowing clubs.

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One such event was planned as a part of the Student Rowing League in Russia. The Student Rowing League is organised by Robert Glukhov from the St. Petersburg Mining University. They set up a platform to host indoor rowing events across universities in Russia.

“My goal is to popularise rowing in universities,” Glukhov says. “I try to make rowing accessible to all students of the Mining University and continue to get into the international arena.”

Glukhov says they participate in the virtual sprints annually trying to win a rowing machine to help more of their students have access to rowing.

Their university competition put Russia on the list of top ten participating nations with 245 competitors. The United States took the top spot on the list with 2389 competitors. The rivalry between France and the United Kingdom to top the leader board fell short with the United Kingdom listing 750 participants and France with 686.

The competition stretched from Russia to South Africa to French Polynesia to India. The Athlecross gym in India hosted the event for their female participants and said on Instagram, “The ladies hit the rowers hard and almost all of our players gave their personal best! This is the beauty of competition; it brings out the best in you

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As a part of the competition, clubs with 10 or more participants are entered in a draw to win a rowing machine. The two winners this year were the Mic Mac AAC Rowing, Nova Scotia, Canada and the Cape Fear River Rowing Club, North Carolina, USA.

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Allison Potter of Cape Fear River Rowing Club; “Winning a new Concept2 rowing machine is such a wonderful surprise for our little rowing club! Our members look forward to the World Rowing Virtual Indoor Sprints as a team-building experience and an opportunity for their next PR. It’s exciting to know that our club is part of a world-wide event when we compete for our best times. Thank you World Rowing and Concept2!”

For full results from the event, click here: https://log.concept2.com/challenges/indoor-sprints/2020/male/hwt/overall

For more information, click here: http://www.worldrowing.com/events/2020-world-rowing-virtual-indoor-sprints/event-information