World Rowing Launches New Global Beach Sprint Series

Building towards the LA28 Olympic Games and the future of Beach Sprint Rowing, Türkiye and China will host the first events in the new World Rowing Beach Sprint Series in 2027 and 2028, laying the foundation for an expanded global series from 2029 onwards.

Following the conclusion of the 2026 World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam, World Rowing has announced the launch of a new Beach Sprint Series, creating a new international competition platform for one of rowing’s fastest-growing disciplines.

The two-event series will form the foundation phase of an intended global series, with multiple stages planned from 2029 onwards. Each event will feature 16 national teams, with travel, accommodation, food and local logistics covered for participating teams, while the top eight athletes in an event will receive direct prize money. The competition format will also include the Mixed Team Relay as World Rowing continues to develop the discipline’s international racing programme.

Beach Sprints have seen rapid growth in recent years, driven by a dynamic format designed for spectators and broadcast, as well as its potential to bring rowing to new countries, coastlines and communities.

As the discipline continues its strategic development towards LA28 – including its appearance at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games – and future Olympic Games, World Rowing is focused on creating more high-level competition opportunities, increasing global participation and establishing a stronger international calendar for Beach Sprints.

Antalya and Yangjiang Launch Beach Sprint Series

The inaugural event in the World Rowing Beach Sprint Series will take place in Antalya, Türkiye, from 26–28 March 2027, at Sorgun Çamiçi Beach on the Mediterranean coast.

Türkiye is already an established host for international Beach Sprint competitions, having hosted the 2025 World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals and having been awarded the 2027 European Games in Istanbul, and Antalya again for the 2028 edition of the Finals.

The 2025 World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals saw USA’s Chris Bak and New Zealand’s Emma Twigg crowned World Champions in the men’s and women’s solo events.

Bak welcomed the launch of the new Series:

“Beach Sprints are growing quickly, and having a dedicated international series is a huge step forward for the athletes and for the sport. More racing at this level means more opportunities to compete, more countries getting involved and more chances for Beach Sprints to build its own identity. Starting in Antalya, a place that already has such a strong connection with the discipline, feels like a great way to begin.”

From Antalya, the Series will travel to Yangjiang, China, later in 2027, with the event expected to take place in April or May. Exact dates are being finalised with consideration given to tides and other coastal conditions.

Yangjiang’s Luozhou Seaside Park in Daijao Bay is a new venue for World Rowing’s international Beach Sprint calendar but has already hosted Beach Sprint competitions in China, including events connected to the 2025 National Games of China. The event also reflects China’s growing investment in rowing and water sports.

For Emma Twigg, developing a global Beach Sprint Series represents an opportunity to take rowing into new environments and reach new participants.

“What is exciting about Beach Sprints is that they can take rowing to places where a traditional 2,000m course simply isn’t possible. A global series gives athletes more opportunities to race, while also allowing more countries and more people to experience rowing in a completely different way. That can only be good for the growth of our sport.”

Twigg, who comes from a classic rowing background, has seen the development of Beach Sprints first-hand as the discipline has expanded beyond traditional rowing venues. The growth of the discipline is opening new opportunities for athletes who may not come through the conventional pathway of classic rowing.

“I think we will increasingly see athletes who identify specifically as Beach Sprint rowers. That is a really exciting development. It gives rowing another pathway and another group of athletes who can see themselves represented in the sport.”

Competition Format

The Series will use the three Beach Sprint events that will be contested at the LA28 Olympics – Men’s Solo, Women’s Solo, Mixed Double – plus the Mixed Relay. The Beach Sprint Series will be the international debut of this Mixed Relay event.

16 Competing Teams – How Countries Qualify

Each Beach Sprints series event will feature 16 national teams, qualifying via the following:

• 7 teams qualified from the previous World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals
• 5 teams qualified through the continents — one from each continent, where possible
• 1 guaranteed host-nation team
• 3 wild cards

Six rowers will comprise each national team: four athletes plus two support/spare rowers

A building block for more races in more places

The World Rowing Beach Sprint Series is designed to complement, rather than compete with, the growing number of Beach Sprint competitions around the world.

World Rowing will continue to work with third-party regattas, national and continental events and multi-sport competitions, including the Youth Olympic Games, Pan American Games and Mediterranean Games, while maintaining the annual World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals as a key event in the international calendar.

The ambition is for the new Series to develop into a multi-stage global competition from 2029, potentially bringing high-level Beach Sprint racing to more locations worldwide.

“This is the beginning of something we believe can become a major international series for Beach Sprints. We are starting with a focused foundation phase in Türkiye and China, learning from these events and building towards a larger global series from 2029,” and said World Rowing Executive Director Vincent Gaillard. “Our ambition is to create more races for athletes, more opportunities for countries to participate and more opportunities for audiences to discover rowing.”

For World Rowing President Jean-Christophe Rolland, the development of Beach Sprints is part of the organisation’s wider ambition to expand the reach of rowing.

“Beach Sprints are helping us imagine rowing in new ways. They bring the sport closer to spectators, open opportunities in places without traditional rowing courses and have the potential to attract new athletes and new audiences. The launch of this Series is an important step as we build the future of Beach Sprints and continue to grow rowing around the world and at the Olympic Games.”