2026 World Rowing Virtual Indoor Championships, presented by Concept2 kick off with a bang

The 2026 World Rowing Virtual Indoor Championships, presented by Concept2 began today, with the Heats in the 1-minute and 1000m events. Racing from their own homes or clubs around the world, competitors were all connected virtually through their Concept2 indoor rowing machines.

To progress from today’s heats to next weekend’s finals, competitors had to place in the top 6 in their age category, across the Men’s, Women’s, Lightweight Men’s, and Lightweight Women’s categories.

In the Adaptive Rowing categories, placing in the top 10 moves you onto the Finals. World Rowing is trialing new Adaptive categories at the event.

World Records galore

With the finals yet to come, many rowers were not afraid to show that their training has paid off and they are ready to race. Several new age category World Record were set, pending official confirmation from Concept2.

Kenneth McDonald of Ireland added a new record to his collection, the Lightweight Men’s 50-54 1-minute, which he finished with 368 metres. Jorma Lehtinen from Finland also added another record to his collection, finishing the Lightweight Men’s 70-74 1-minute with 340 metres. Sharon Anne Jones says she surprised herself: “dropped the stroke rate and concentrated on power – it worked”, and came away with a new Women’s 65-69 1-minute record – 318 metres.

Inaugural World Champion titles await

2026 marks the first time that World Rowing has featured the 1000m, 5000m, and 1minute races as official World Rowing Indoor Championship events. With the inaugural World Rowing Indoor Champion title in the new distances on the line, qualifiers for the Finals will surely be all engines go next Saturday, 28 February.

The Women’s 1-minute started out with a 366 metre race from Stefanie Preiksa of Australia to match the overall women’s World Record. Unfortunately, Preiksa will not contest the Final following a disqualification due to the fact she was strapped to her indoor rowing machine during the race, a practice that is not allowed within the World Rowing Rules of Racing. Var Guriardottir Hansen, who holds that 366 metre record, will be one to keep an eye on. She pulled 364 metres in her Heat.

In the Men’s 23-39 1000m, it was Andrea Panizza who posted the fastest time overall, coming from behind Dane Thomas Vinther in the last 75 metres to pull ahead and finish in  2:40.9. But it was the Dane who posted the best time in the 1-minute, edging out Panizza by 6 metres and posting a new Concept2 age category (M 19-29) record of 434 metres.

Crossfit athlete Adelle Ader of Estonia came out on top of the Women’s 1000m, leading the field by over 30 metres going into the finish. She finished in 3:10.7.

It was Giovanni Ficarra of Italy, who has World Classic, Indoor, and Coastal titles, finished first in the Lightweight Men’s 1000m in 3:01.4. Martyna Radosz of Poland, multiple time medallist at the World Rowing Cups, finished first on the women’s side in a time of 3:25.1.

Racing continues tomorrow, Sunday, 22 February, with the Heats in the 5000m and relay races. With several World Record performances already on the board, the 5000m Heats tomorrow could set the tone for a historic Finals weekend.

Learn more from the 2026 World Rowing Virtual Indoor Championships, presented by Concept2 event page.