In October, it was announced that the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics would feature the new format of Beach Sprint Rowing, a shorter and more radical relative of its flat water cousin.
Beach Sprints had its first World Championships (titled World Finals) in Shenzhen, China, featuring four events: Senior Men’s single, Senior Women’s single, Senior Mixed double, and Senior Mixed coxed quad. It has now grown to include nine categories with the introduction of Under 19s in each of the aforementioned races plus Men’s and Women’s doubles.
This is your guide to how it works, where it happens, and how you can get involved.
How it works
The course: The race starts and ends with a line in the sand, approximately five metres long. 10-30m (depending on tide) perpendicular to this line is the shoreline as well as the middle point of the course.
Moving 10m either side of the middle point, we find the respective lines of buoys, the first being 85m from the beach, the second being 170m, and the third 250m.
Beach sprint rowing starts, like its name suggests, on a beach, with racing being in one of two distinct styles – time trial (TT) and side-by-side knockouts.
Time trials: In the TT format, the rower sprints from the start line to their right, and jumps into their boat (typically held by 2 boat handlers).
The rower then sets off towards the first slalom buoy, aiming to keep it on their right (stroke side). The rower then continues to the second slalom buoy, this time aiming to keep the buoy to their left (bow side).
Heading towards the turning point buoy, with the buoy on stroke side, the rower then turns 90-degree and parallel to the beach to the second turning point, again conducting a 90-degree turn.
Now facing towards the beach, the rower makes a straight sprint for the beach (roughly 250m), aiming to land in line with the second set of buoys.
Once out of their boat, the rower sprints to the start/end line, making sure to pass a flag (in line with the second set of buoys) on their left, and sprints across the line.
A TT takes on average three minutes, involves at least 520m of rowing and at least 20m of running, although more often than not the distance of both is significantly more due to conditions.
TTs are run in a processional format, meaning all those in a single category race back-to-back, in order to maintain maximum fairness in conditions.
Knockouts: In this stage, the top eight rowers from the TT are seeded and paired up. Rowers with the fastest TT times get their choice of lane.
The rowers sprint to their boats and slalom like in the TT. However, at the third buoy, the rower completes a 180-degree turn and sprints straight back to the beach.
Once out of their boats, the rowers run around their flags and sprint to the start/end line, hitting a buzzer.
Winners of each quarter-final then race the other winner in their group in a semi-final. This is followed by a B final, with the last race being the A final.
General rules: Going the wrong side of slalom buoy results in a 30 second time penalty. Going the wrong side of two slaloms results in disqualification. Missing a turning point means a 60 second penalty (although in practice this means going the wrong side of the turning buoy as not attempting to go to the buoy will often result in disqualification).
Where it happens and how to get involved
With the inclusion of the discipline in the 2026 Commonwealth Games as well as the 2028 Olympics, more venues and events are certainly going to pop up.
Last year’s season started in February with training and taster days, followed by the championships (Welsh, Scottish, and English) and first GB trial. The domestic season culminates with the British Championships and the invite-only final GB trial.
This season’s schedule is yet to be announced, but British Rowing has just released the list of new GB Coastal Sculling Academies. These include:
- University of St Andrews BC, St Andrews. Supported by Scottish Rowing.
- Tynemouth RC, North Shields. Supported by British Rowing.
- Fishguard and Goodwick Jemima RC, Fishguard. Supported by Welsh Rowing.
- Mumbles RC, Swansea. Supported by Welsh Rowing.
- Knoll Beach, Studland. Supported by British Rowing.
The GB team enters a number of events each year, including the World Finals, European Championships, and Coupe De La Jeunesse. They selected 22 athletes to compete in 2023. Leander, Mumbles RC, and the University of St Andrews BC were the only clubs represented by more than one athlete.
In addition to the international calendar is the Home International Rowing Beach Sprints (HIRBS), established in 2021. It was hosted by Wales this year, who won the overall title.
To get involved in Beach Sprints, please contact:
England: Lucy Hart, Lucy.hart@britishrowing.org
Scotland: Iain Docwra, Iain.docwra@scottish-rowing.org.uk
Wales: James Walker, James.walker@welshrowing.com
Or alternatively visit the GB Beach Sprint team website: https://www.britishrowing.org/gb-rowing-team/rowing-for-gb/beach-sprints/
Feature image: © Filippi
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