From Masters to Youth: Paying It Forward in Rowing

At the World Rowing Masters Regatta, thousands of rowers come together to race, reconnect and celebrate a sport they have carried with them throughout their lives.

But Masters rowers are also helping shape rowing’s future.

For more than 25 years, the World Rowing Masters Regatta has supported youth rowing through the Masters-to-Youth Rowing Initiative. For every seat entered at the regatta, €1 is contributed to youth development, with a focus on aspiring athletes and developing rowing nations seeking to reach the World Rowing U19 Championships.

It is a simple idea: one generation helping the next.

At the 2026 World Rowing Masters Regatta in Bled, that impact will be seen at next year’s U19 Championships, set to return to Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

A chance to see what is possible

For Ugandan athlete Marcel Otim, competing at the World Rowing U19 Championships was about more than racing.

“It feels exhilarating. The atmosphere is amazing. It’s a great opportunity,” said Otim during the 2026 U19 Worlds in Plovdiv. “It really shows me the levels of competition and what I can aspire to be.”

The experience of racing internationally has given him new motivation.

“As soon as I get home, I’m even more motivated to keep on training,” he says. “Just getting as much race experience as possible, especially on an international level, is really helpful.”

For Uganda, where rowing programmes are largely self-funded, that opportunity is significant.

U19 coach Batenga Nakizozi says the support helps athletes experience international competition while giving the programme something to build towards.

“We are more or less self-funded, so being at something like this and getting support, full support, is awesome for us,” he says.

But the impact does not stop when the athletes return home.

From an Athlete, to Many More Opportunities

Nakizozi points to a school that has started a rowing programme after seeing Marcel’s progress.

“This year, we had a school come on board because of what they’ve seen with Marcel,” he says. “So they’re starting a rowing programme, and it’s the first school to do that.”

The school plans to purchase boats and work with the existing programme to establish its own junior programme.

That is the ripple effect the initiative is designed to create: an opportunity for one athlete becoming an opportunity for many more.

The visibility of Ugandan athletes competing internationally is also helping attract young people to rowing.

“Just the publicity that I get from rowing here has really brought a lot of youth into the sport and made them more interested in the sport,” says Nakizozi.

In addition to Uganda, the Masters-to-Youth Rowing Initiative also supported Honduras to compete at the 2026 World Rowing Under 19 Championships.

 

Building More Than a Team

For more than two decades, the initiative has supported youth programmes around the world, particularly in developing rowing nations and countries participating in a World Rowing Championship for the first time.

Support has included coaches, youth programmes and athletes travelling to the World Rowing U19 Championships. Supported coaches can also attend the annual World Rowing Youth Coaches Conference, building their knowledge and international coaching networks.

The goal is not simply to get a boat to a championship. It is to help build the people and programmes that allow rowing to grow long after the championship is over.

There are numerous examples. Uruguay’s Ruben Scarpati received support in 2006 and is now Head Coach at Clube de Regatas do Flamengo in Rio de Janeiro and a World Rowing development expert. Tunisia’s Chokri Ben-Miled, supported in 2002, went on to become a national team head coach and World Rowing development coach. Paraguay’s Rocio Rivarola received support in 2011 and later returned to international competition before working with the Paraguayan Olympic Committee.

In each case, support for an individual became part of a much longer rowing story.

Paying it Forward

The initiative is particularly fitting at a Masters regatta.

Many of the rowers racing in Bled have spent decades in the sport. They know the value of competition, community and the opportunities rowing can create.

Now they are helping create those opportunities for someone else.

“It’s really great that they’re paying it forward,” says Nakizozi. “You know, it’s the Masters to the youth.”

For Marcel, the possibilities already extend beyond the U19 World Championships.

“I’ve seen stories of rowers who’ve gotten support here and they’ve gone on to go to the Olympics,” he says. “So, who knows? We might be at the Olympics in 2032.”

That is the promise of the Masters-to-Youth Rowing Initiative.

A seat entered by a Masters rower in Bled can help put a young athlete on the start line at a World Rowing U19 Championships. That athlete can inspire another young person to pick up an oar. A school can start a rowing programme. A coach can build a career.

And one day, perhaps, one of those young athletes can find themselves on an Olympic start line.

Today’s Masters were once the next generation. Tomorrow’s Olympians may be racing in Plovdiv next July.

That’s #RowingForLife.