Jean-Christophe Rolland re-elected World Rowing President for a fourth term

The 2025 World Rowing Ordinary Congress took place today in Shanghai, China, following the highly successful World Rowing Championships. Over eight days of competition, the Championships showcased extraordinary performances on the water and a vibrant celebration of Rowing off the water, highlighting Shanghai’s growing legacy as a hub for international sport. 55 Member Federations were represented.

Jean-Christophe Rolland was re-elected as President of World Rowing for a fourth four-year term. Rolland, an Olympic Champion from France and long-time leader of the organisation, was the sole candidate and received 115 of the 115 valid votes.

“I am deeply honoured to be re-elected to serve as President of World Rowing,” said Rolland. “Serving our sport is my only ambition, and it is a privilege to lead our organisation for another four years, working with our members, athletes, and partners to continue shaping the future of Rowing. I am proud of what we have achieved, and I look forward to building on this momentum together, with continuing to strictly respect the values of Olympism and our Sport.”

The Congress also elected a new Vice-President. Annamarie Phelps of Great Britain was voted into the role, succeeding long-serving Tricia Smith of Canada, who has been Vice President since 2014 – and was elected as a Honorary Council Member. Phelps was elected over Lenka Dienstbach-Wech of Germany. Gerritjan Eggenkamp of the Netherlands will continue in his role as Treasurer of World Rowing.

Delegates also elected Lenka Dienstbach-Wech (GER), Eva Szanto (HUN) and Matthias Binder (SUI) as members of the World Rowing Executive Committee, and Michael Wilkinson of Canada as Chair of World Rowing’s Sports Medicine Commission, replacing Dr Juergen Steinacker of Germany.

Delegates confirmed that the 2028 World Rowing Senior, U23 & U19 Championships will be staged in Sarasota, United States. Sarasota previously hosted the World Rowing Championships in 2017 and will once again welcome the world’s best rowers in 2028, a few weeks after the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games Rowing regatta.

The Congress was presented with updates about the 2025 World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals in Antalya, Türkiye; the 2026 World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam, the Netherlands; the 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal;  the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The delegates also decided to follow the Executive Committee’s recommendation to expel the Bahamas Rowing Federation.

The afternoon session was dedicated to updates from the different Council members regarding the strategic ongoing projects at World Rowing, including the Strategic Calendar and Event Review and the ranking system associated to it, the Shanghai legacy initiatives, the Healthy Waters Alliance, amongst others.

Re-watch the 2025 World Rowing Ordinary Congress here.