What to expect from the 2024 World Rowing Versa Challenge

For the second year running at the World Indoor Rowing Championships, the World Rowing Versa Challenge will run alongside the classic 500m, 2000m, and relay races. This year, 10 men and 10 women have qualified to compete in the Versa Challenge, and they will be joined by 4 ‘wildcard’ (2 men, 2 women) entries.

The Versa Challenge was devised to test athletes’ abilities across a variety of distances and events to find the world’s best indoor rower.

This year’s challenges begin, as in 2023, with ‘Beep’ – a test familiar to many from school or work fitness assessments, but given a rowing tweak. The athletes will row eight rounds of 1150m for men and 950m for women within a set block of time, which reduces from five minutes and 40 seconds for the first block to three minutes and 20 seconds in the last. The faster an athlete rows the distance, the longer they have to rest, and the quickest total time will win the challenge.

The second challenge, ‘Elimination’, is a test lasting 22 minutes. Every two minutes, the competitor who has rowed the shortest distance will be eliminated, and the competitor who rows the furthest in the last two minutes will win.

The third challenge, ‘Sprint Pyramid’ is a knockout event, with the distance increasing over each round starting at 200m and finishing over 800m in the final.

The fourth challenge, ‘Power and Pace’, includes audience participation. The athletes will row for 20 minutes with the stroke rate changing each minute – with the audience voting on whether the rate increases or decreases. Competitors will be scored on their consistency of pace, as well as on the further metres rowed in a chosen minute of the piece; but there will be penalties for those who do not stick to the stroke rate.

The champions will be decided after the fifth and final challenge, which will be revealed at the championships.

2023 champions Joel Naukkarinen of Finland and the USA’s Elizabeth Gilmore are back to defend their titles, against a strong international line-up.

On the men’s side, Polish bronze medallist Maciej Zawojski and the USA’s Zach Fowle also return, alongside seven new competitors including proven ergometer performers Cameron Buchan of Great Britain and Kiwi Andy Tomlinson.

Another five women are returning to see if they can beat Gilmore this year, including 2023 silver and bronze medallists Anna Muehle of Germany and Briton Charlotte Dixon. The list of newcomers includes Canada’s Lina Bélanger, who was second in qualification behind Gilmore.