There are no world records in rowing due to the huge variability that weather conditions can have on times. Instead, there are world best times, which are set over the international rowing distance of 2,000m.

On-water records Rowing times are strongly affected by weather conditions, and to a lesser extent by water temperature – the majority of these times were set in warm water with a strong tailwind. World best rowing times have also decreased because of improvements in technology to both the boats and the oars, along with improvements in the conditioning of the rowers.

Because environmental conditions have a strong impact on boat speed, World Rowing recognizes world best times instead of world records. A world best time is one recorded on a regatta course that has previously held the World Championships, Olympic Games, or World Cup since 1980. A number of record times were set at the 2005 World Rowing Championships held on the Nagara River at Kaizu, Gifu Prefecture, Japan, but due to a fast current caused by heavy rainfall from the remnants of Typhoon Mawar, World Rowing declared that the race results were not eligible to be considered as world best times.

There is a category for lightweight rowing. For men, the crew average, wearing racing kit, cannot exceed and no rower may be over . For women, the limits are and .

Hamish Bond and Eric Murray hold the record for most consecutive wins with 69.

Men BoatTimeCrewNationDateEventLocationRefM1x Single sculls6:30.74Robbie Manson New Zealand2017Final World Cup IIPoznań, Poland M2- Coxless pair6:08.50Hamish Bond Eric Murray New Zealand2012Heat Olympic GamesDorney, United KingdomM2+ Coxed pair6:33.26Hamish Bond Eric Murray Caleb Shepherd (cox) New Zealand2014FinalWorld ChampionshipsAmsterdam, NetherlandsM2x Double sculls5:59.72Martin Sinković Valent Sinković Croatia2014Semi-finalWorld ChampionshipsAmsterdam, NetherlandsM4- Coxless four5:37.86Andrew Triggs Hodge Tom James Pete ReedAlex Gregory Great Britain2012Heat World Cup IILucerne, SwitzerlandM4+ Coxed four5:58.96Matthias Ungemach Armin Eichholz Armin Weyrauch Bahne Rabe Jörg Dederding (cox) Germany1991FinalWorld ChampionshipsVienna, AustriaM4x Quadruple sculls5:32.03Dirk Uittenbogaard Abe Wiersma Tone Wieten Koen Metsemakers Netherlands28 July 2021FinalOlympic GamesTokyo, JapanM8+ Eight5:17.75Ralf Rienks Finn Florijn Wibout Rustenburg Jorn Salverda Sander de Graaf Pieter van Veen Jan van der Bij Mick Makker Jonna de Vries (cox) Netherlands30 August 2026Final World Rowing ChampionshipsAmsterdam, NetherlandsLM1x Lightweight single sculls6:39.56Niels Torre Italy18 August 2024Heat World ChampionshipsSt. Catharines, CanadaLM2- Lightweight coxless pair6:22.91Simon Niepmann Lucas Tramèr Switzerland2014FinalWorld ChampionshipsAmsterdam, NetherlandsLM2x Lightweight double sculls6:05.33Fintan McCarthy Paul O'Donovan Ireland28 July 2021Semi-finalOlympic GamesTokyo, JapanLM4- Lightweight coxless four5:43.16Kasper Winther Jørgensen Jacob Larsen Jacob Barsøe Morten Jørgensen Denmark2014Semi-finalWorld ChampionshipsAmsterdam, NetherlandsLM4x Lightweight quadruple sculls5:42.75Georgios Konsolas Spyridon Giannaros Panagiotis Magdanis Eleftherios Konsolas Greece2014FinalWorld ChampionshipsAmsterdam, NetherlandsLM8+ Lightweight eight5:30.24Klaus Altena Christian Dahlke Thomas Melges Bernhard Stomporowski Michael Kobor Uwe Maerz Michael Buchheit Kai von Warburg Olaf Kaska (cox) Germany1992HeatWorld ChampionshipsMontreal, Canada The greatest distance rowed in 24 hours is 342 km (212.5 miles) by Hannes Obreno, Pierre de Loof, Tim Brys, Mathieu Foucaud, Thijs Obreno, Giel Vanschoenbeek, Arjan van Belle and Thibaut Schollaert (all Belgians) on the Watersportbaan in Ghent, Belgium, on 2–3 October 2014. All eight participants were members of a student rowing club called VSR (Vlaamse Studentenvereniging der Roeiers [translates to Flanders Student Rowing Club]).

The greatest distance rowed in 1 hour is 17,555 m (10.91 miles) by the Delftse Studenten Roeivereniging Proteus-Eretes during the Hour boat race on 17 December 2017.

Women BoatTimeCrewNationDateEventLocationRefW1x Single sculls7:07.71Rumyana Neykova Bulgaria2002FinalWorld ChampionshipsSeville, SpainW2- Coxless pair6:47.11Annabelle McIntyreJessica Morrison Australia24 June 2023FinalHolland Beker RegattaAmsterdam, NetherlandsW2x Double sculls6:37.31Olympia Aldersey Sally Kehoe Australia2014Semi-finalWorld ChampionshipsAmsterdam, NetherlandsW4- Coxless four6:14.36Grace Prendergast Kayla Pratt Kerri Gowler Kelsey Bevan New Zealand2014FinalWorld ChampionshipsAmsterdam, NetherlandsW4x Quadruple sculls6:05.13Chen Yunxia Zhang Ling Lü Yang Cui Xiaotong China28 July 2021FinalOlympic GamesTokyo, JapanW8+ Eight5:51.88Cristina DrugăGeanina Dumitrița JuncănariuAncuța BodnarMaria LehaciMaria-Magdalena RusuAmalia ChelaruAdriana AdamSimona RadișVictoria-Ștefania Petreanu (cox) Romania30 August 2026Final World ChampionshipsAmsterdam, NetherlandsLW1x Lightweight single sculls7:23.36Imogen Grant Great Britain9 July 2022Final World Cup IIILucerne, Switzerland LW2- Lightweight coxless pair7:17.02Jessika Sobocinska Katarzyna Wełna Poland24 August 2024Final World ChampionshipsSt. Catharines, CanadaLW2x Lightweight double sculls6:40.47Emily Craig Imogen Grant Great Britain17 June 2023Semi-final World Cup IIVarese, ItalyLW4x Lightweight quadruple sculls6:15.95Mirte Kraaijkamp Elisabeth Woerner Maaike Head Ilse Paulis Netherlands2014Final World ChampionshipsAmsterdam, Netherlands

Indoor records These results are based on a standard distance of 2,000 meters. SIR – Static Indoor Rower (Indoor Rower) – Concept2 IRwS – Indoor Rower with Slides (Slides) – Concept2 DIR – Dynamic Indoor Rower (Dynamic) DIR Concept2 DIR RP3 TypeCategoryTimeSplitNationDateNameRefSIROpen Men5:34.71:23.6 Germany17 February 2026Oliver Zeidler5:33.41:23.3 Netherlands18 March 2026Simon Van DorpSIRLightweight Men5:56.71:29.2 Denmark2012Henrik StephansenSIROpen Women6:21.11:35.3 United States2021Brooke MooneySIRLightweight Women6:53.81:43.4 Canada2019Jennifer CassonIRwSOpen Men5:40.61:25.1 United States2024Marcus Cannon LorgenIRwSLightweight Men6:06.01:31.5 United States2023Jamie CopusIRwSOpen Women6:46.81:41.7 United States2006Taliesin DaviesIRwSLightweight Women7:29.71:52.4 United States2008Lynn BenderDIR C2Open Men5:41.81:25.4 New Zealand2012Eric MurrayDIR RP35:21.471:20.37 Netherlands14 April 2026Simon Van DorpDIRLightweight Men5:56.801:29.2 Ireland7 March 2024Jake McCarthyDIROpen Women6:18.561:34.64 Ireland30 January 2026Fiona MurtaghDIRLightweight Women8:10.42:02.6 United States2013Elizabeth Sheldon

Lwt Men: maximum weight Lwt Women: maximum weight

Note: the standard machine for indoor records is the Concept2 indoor rower. "Split" refers to the average time to complete 500m (i.e., the 2,000m time divided by 4).

References

External links FISA – Best Times Concept2 – World Records Concept2 – British Records Concept2 – Other Records