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2023 World Rowing Championships, Belgrade, Serbia © Detlev Seyb / MyRowingPhoto.com

Rowing and Para-Rowing

What is Elite Rowing?

Becoming an elite rower takes years of hard training and it is usually the athletes with longer experience who achieve the best results. Rowing’s most successful Olympic medallist, Elisabeta Lipa (ROU), obtained eight Olympic medals throughout her career.

An elite rower can start competing as a Under 19 rower (18 years of age and under) at national and international championships. To become a U19 World Champion, a U19 rower must win a gold medal in his/her boat class at the World Rowing Under 19 Championships.

The next step is the World Rowing Under 23 Championships which acts as a stepping stone to the senior elite ranks.

The senior World Rowing Championships are held every year at the end of the international rowing season and World Champions are crowned in 14 Olympic boat classes – seven for men and seven for women and six International boat classes all for lightweight rowers. Para-rowers compete in nine boat classes, five are Paralympic boat classes. During an Olympic and Paralympic year the World Rowing Championships include only International boat classes.

The Olympic Regatta is held every four years during the Olympic Games.

 

Boat Classes

Scull Boats

Single Scull

Single Sculls (1x)

1
+
Double Scull

Double Sculls (2x)

2
+
Quadruple Scull

Quadruple Sculls (4x)

4
+

Sweep Boats

Coxless Pair

Pair (2-)

2
+
Coxed Pair

Coxed Pair (2+)

2
+
Four

Four (4-)

4
+
Coxed Four

Coxed Four (4+)

4
+
Eight

Eight (8+)

8
+

Para-Rowing

Para-rowing is rowing or sculling open to both men and women rowers with a disability who meet the criteria set out in the Para-rowing Classification Regulations and Bye-Laws. Para-rowing was formerly called adaptive rowing and was first raced at the 2002 World Rowing Championships in Seville.

It was introduced into the Paralympic programme in 2005 and at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games it was held for the first time. The Rio 2016 Paralympic Games had 26 countries competing in para-rowing for 12 medals in four boat classes. There was a total of 48 boats and 96 rowers. The medals were spread among seven countries with Great Britain winning the most medals.

Para-rowing is uniquely integrated with the World Rowing, and para-rowers participate alongside able-bodied athletes at some of the World Rowing Cups and the World Rowing Championships each year.  With several new event added in 2017, para-rowing is currently divided into nine boat classes:

PR3 : mixed coxed four, mixed double sculls, men’s pair, women’s pair
PR2 : mixed double sculls, men’s single sculls, women’s single sculls
PR1 : men’s single sculls, women’s single sculls

Starting in 2017, the race distance changed from 1000m to 2000m for all events.

Boat Classes

Scull Boats

Single Scull

PR1 Single Sculls (PR1 1x)

1
+
Single Scull

PR2 Single Sculls (PR2 1x)

1
+
Double Scull

PR2 Mixed Double Sculls (PR2 Mix2x)

2
+
Double Scull

PR3 Mixed Double Sculls (PR3 Mix2x)

2
+

Sweep Boats

Coxless Pair

PR3 Coxless Pair (PR3 2-)

2
+
Coxed Four

PR3 Mixed Coxed Four

4
+

Partners