Rowing Enters a New Era with Key Innovations for the Classic Rowing Discipline

World Rowing is taking a major step forward in the evolution of the sport of Rowing, with three critical decisions confirmed at the recent World Rowing Quadrennial Congress : the approval of a new World Championship programme, and the introduction of a new progression system and of a mixed boat event in the overall World Rowing event programme.

These landmark decisions mark a pivotal moment for the future of Rowing, and the Classic Rowing discipline. The approved changes are designed not only for rapid implementation at World Rowing events but also with a clear trajectory towards Los Angeles 2028 and future Olympic Games, pending IOC acceptance, ensuring the sport remains relevant and compelling on the world’s biggest stage.

As the global sports landscape continues to evolve, World Rowing is committed to ensuring that Classic Rowing remains dynamic, competitive, and attractive to a broad audience. The newly adopted progression system is designed to enhance competition fairness and efficiency, optimising the racing schedule while ensuring the best crews advance in a streamlined format.

By eliminating the repechages, the system aims to make events more dynamic and engaging for broadcasters, spectators, and rowing fans worldwide.This new progression system will be enforced for all World and European Rowing events from 2025.

World Rowing has also refined the World Championship programme, ensuring a more competitive field of events. As part of this evolution, certain boat classes that have seen low participation in recent years are eliminated, making way for a more engaging and widely supported racing schedule.

This strategic update ensures that the Championships remain a showcase of the highest levels of competition while aligning with the interests of athletes, spectators, and broadcasters alike.

Mixed Eight

Further underscoring its commitment to innovation, World Rowing made the proposal to its 160 Member Federations to introduce a mixed boat category in the Olympic and World Championship event programmes —the Mixed Eight.

This addition made to the iconic and highly popular ‘eight’ boat class provides an exciting new opportunity for rowers to compete on the biggest stage while maintaining gender equality within athlete quotas. World Rowing is positioning this new event as a strong contender for inclusion in the next Olympic Games, reinforcing its commitment to gender balance and innovation in the sport.

The Mixed Eight will be officially introduced at the 2025 World Rowing Championships in Shanghai, China, after being offered as a test race at both World Rowing Cups in 2025. It will be featured at all World Rowing Championships and World Cups in the following years. In addition, the World Rowing Council has the authority to add other mixed boat classes into the World Championship event programme.

“These changes represent a significant evolution in Classic Rowing,” said Jean-Christophe Rolland, World Rowing President. “By updating the progression system and introducing a mixed eight event, we are ensuring that our sport remains relevant and competitive, while also making it more exciting and accessible to fans around the world.”

The updates, approved at the Congress, are expected to enhance both the competitive structure and the global appeal of World Rowing events.