World Rowing Virtual Indoor Sprints conclude their ninth year

A staple in the Indoor Rowing world since 2016, the ninth edition of the World Rowing Virtual Indoor Sprints took place from 6 to 10 March, 2024.

Participants could take part by completing a 1000m piece on a Concept 2 indoor Rowing machine (models A-E), and posting their time to Concept 2’s online logbook.

A total of 6931 participants from 94 nations logged their scores during the event window. Highlights include the fastest man and woman – Joonas Kuivalainen of Finland with a time of 2:47.4, and Canada’s Lina Belanger with a time of 3:16.5. Both Kuivalainen and Belanger are fresh out of the 2024 World Rowing Indoor Championships, presented by Concept 2 – Kulvalainen with the title in the Men’s 23-39 500m, and Belanger as a participant of the World Rowing Versa Challenge.

The eldest competitor was Valerie Coleman of Great Britain at 95 years old and with a time of 5:24.00, who has been an indoor rower for many years and hold many World Records in the upper age categories.

The youngest competitors were both four years old – Shion of Japan (21:17.00) and Mary Elizabeth of the United States (9:54.07).

“It’s great to see the success of the 2024 World Rowing Virtual Indoor Sprints.  Bringing together rowers of all levels from across the world, this event embodies the determination, camaraderie and excellence that defines the rowing community.  Congratulations to the record number of participants on their achievements.  We look forward to collaborating with World Rowing on many more future events.”  said Alex Dunne, Managing Director for Concept2, of the virtual event.