Rowing biomechanist Valery Kleshnev has run the numbers on the 2026 World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam, and the short version of his analysis on row2k (published 21 September 2026) is worth ten minutes of any rower's or coach's time.
Fast water, three world records
Looking at the 11 consistent boat classes he tracks, Amsterdam was the second-fastest Worlds from 1993 to 2026, just 0.16% slower than the fastest, held in 2014 on the same Bosbaan course. Three world records fell: the USA women's four (6:09.87), the Dutch men's eight (5:17.75) and the Romanian women's eight (5:51.88).
Over the long run the eights are getting faster quicker than any other boat: an average of 0.144% a year in the women's eight and 0.111% in the men's eight, more than twice the growth of the men's sculling boats.
Rates have never been higher
The average stroke rate of the winners in the 11 consistent boat classes was 40.71 spm, the highest ever recorded. The previous high was 40.36 spm at the Paris 2024 Olympics. The winners raced at an average of 1.0 spm higher than the silver medallists, and they had the most even speed through the race of all the finalists.
By country, Romanian crews raced at the highest rate (41.1 spm), with Italian and Dutch crews at 40.9 spm, German crews at 40.5 spm, and American and British crews both at 39.8 spm. New Zealand and Australian crews had the lowest rate of that group, at 39.2 spm.
But power came first
The finding that matters most for a powerful rower is this one:
“a high Effective Work per Stroke was a prerequisite for reaching the podium at this regatta”
On average, the three medallists put distinctly more work into each stroke than the other finalists. Among the medallists, the crews with the highest rates won the gold. The silver medallists actually produced more work per stroke than the winners this time, but the winners rated higher right through the race.
Kleshnev doesn't think rates can climb forever. Moving the rower and boat gets less efficient as the rate goes up: from 40 to 44 spm that efficiency drops by 2.3% (about 8 W of power lost), and from 44 to 48 spm by a further 2.9%. His view is that 42 to 44 spm is a natural upper limit for now.
Why it matters
Rate on its own didn't win in Amsterdam. The medallists had the bigger stroke, and among them the extra rate turned that into gold. Shaun has made the same point about power and rhythm in a crew. From his reel on big rowers in crew boats:
“Sometimes just taking a step back off the pressure to feel that rhythm means that you can apply more power and more effective power to the boat itself”
And on rowing with Eric Murray in the Kiwi eight:
“It was just like the boat was going faster because their power was just within the bounds of the rhythm”
If you're a strong rower trying to rate higher without losing your stroke, start with how a big, powerful rower should use their power in a crew boat and what rowing technique is really for. For the New Zealand angle on how a small country keeps finding speed, read why New Zealand rowing punches above its weight.
