Olympic Rowing Record Times

Rowing is not like running. Times vary with wind, water, stream and temperature, so rowing has “World Best Times” rather than strict world records. Best times change, so this page explains the idea rather than listing every class.

World Best Time versus Olympic Best

A World Best Time is the fastest recorded time for a boat class over 2,000 metres. An Olympic Best is the fastest time at an Olympic Games. Both depend on conditions. A strong tailwind or a stream helps a crew, so a time from one lake is not directly comparable with a time from another. Rowing therefore uses “best” times rather than records.

Why not a plain record? On a lake or river course, a tailwind can add speed over 2,000 metres, whereas a headwind slows crews down. Water temperature and depth also play a part, and so does the stream on river courses. Two crews of identical ability could post times many seconds apart on different days.

An example: the men’s single scull

The men’s single sculls World Best Time is held by New Zealand’s Robbie Manson, who rowed 6:30.74 at World Rowing Cup II in Poznań, Poland, in June 2017.

You can turn that into a pace. 6:30.74 is 390.74 seconds, so each 500 metres took about 97.7 seconds, or 1:37.7. That is a boat speed of about 5.1 metres per second. A club rower who completes 2,000 metres on the erg in 8:00 averages 2:00 per 500 metres, or about 4.2 metres per second. The elite sculler is therefore around a fifth faster. These two numbers are not strictly comparable, because boats and ergs work differently, but the sums give a sense of scale.

For more on Manson and his return to racing, see world’s fastest sculler.

Why boat class matters

Bigger boats go faster: an eight, with eight rowers and a cox, is much faster than a single. Each rower in a big boat moves a smaller share of the total boat weight, and the boat spends less time slowed by drag per rower. Lightweight boats are slower than heavyweight crews of the same size, because the rowers are smaller. Always compare like with like.

Men’s and women’s times also differ, as the average rower in the men’s events is larger. Within each class, times are compared separately.

What makes a time fast

• Conditions: a tailwind, warm water and flat surface favour fast times. Many World Best Times were set in good weather, sometimes at venues known for fast courses.
• Equipment: carbon-fibre hulls, lightweight oars and improvements to riggers and blades have made boats more efficient over time.
• Training: professional squads train year-round, with many hours at low intensity and a smaller block of high-intensity work.
• Competition: the best crews push each other. Fast times often come in finals or heats with several strong crews, not when a lone crew races alone.

How records change

Records and best times change as boat design, oar design and training improve. They also change when the sport changes its rules or course standards, or when events are added or removed. For instance, the lightweight events have changed over the years. Our look at emerging trends in Olympic rowing covers the latest programme changes. World Rowing’s own list is the place to find the current figures.

Where to check

World Rowing publishes the current World Best Times and Olympic Bests for each boat class on worldrowing.com. Olympedia and the International Olympic Committee also list Olympic results.

What it means for you

You do not need Olympic times to measure progress. A repeatable 2,000 metre erg test tells you more about your own fitness. Our 2k erg test guide explains how, and 5k and 10k erg benchmarks give a rough guide to the longer distances.

A simple way to use the idea: set yourself a “personal best” that you can repeat under the same conditions, with the same drag factor and a similar warm-up. The point of the world best approach is the same: compare like with like.

For more, see Olympic rowing distances and the Olympic rowing hub.