Rowing 2026

About Rowing

Competitive rowing is governed by World Rowing (formerly FISA, the Fédération Internationale des Sociétés d'Aviron), founded on 25 June 1892 and headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. Rowing debuted as an Olympic sport at the 1900 Paris Games and has featured at every Summer Olympics since (excepting wartime cancellations in 1916, 1940, and 1944). The 2024 Olympic rowing took place at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium; the 2028 Games will move to Marine Stadium in Long Beach, California.

Olympic rowing features 14 medal events across seven boat classes for men and women: single sculls (1x), double sculls (2x), lightweight double sculls (LW2x), coxless pair (2-), quadruple sculls (4x), coxless four (4-), and eight (8+). World Championships add lightweight, mixed, and para-rowing categories for a total of 23 events.

The 2026 Season

The Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge is the oldest event on the calendar, first held in 1829. The 2026 edition, the 171st men's race and the 80th women's race, took place on Saturday 4 April over the 4.2-mile (6.8 km) Championship Course from Putney to Mortlake on the River Thames.

Henley Royal Regatta, established in 1839, runs six days from 30 June to 5 July 2026 on a 2,112-metre straight course at Henley-on-Thames. Over 300 races take place across the week, drawing crews from universities, clubs, and national teams worldwide. The World Rowing Cup series visits Seville (May), Plovdiv (June), and Lucerne (June) before the European Rowing Championships in Varese, Italy.

The 2026 World Rowing Championships will be held at the Bosbaan in Amsterdam, Netherlands, from 24 to 30 August. The Bosbaan, a purpose-built 2,200-metre course in the Amsterdamse Bos, will host 23 event categories including Olympic, lightweight, mixed, and para-rowing classes. The season closes with the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston on 16-18 October, a downstream time-trial format on the Charles River first held in 1965.

What time do rowing events start? European regattas typically run heats from 09:00 local time, with finals in the afternoon. A 14:00 CEST final in Amsterdam translates to 12:00 GMT in London, 08:00 EDT in New York, and 21:00 JST in Tokyo. All times on this page auto-convert to your local timezone.