The rowing regatta at the LA28 Olympics will be raced over 1,500 metres. World Rowing confirmed it in July 2024: the racing will be on the 1932 Olympic Games course at Marine Stadium in Long Beach, California, and it will be the first time ever that the distance is 1,500m. A full 2,000m course was in place in 1932, but a bridge built since then leaves 1,500 metres of water for a six-lane race.
World Rowing President Jean-Christophe Rolland was open about what that means for the people in the boats:
“It will require some adaptation, for the athletes in the first place.”
Racing the course
On 9 and 10 October 2026, elite crews raced that water. USRowing hosted the Long Beach Elite and Community Invitational at Marine Stadium, with 1,500m sprint racing for elite crews from the United States, Australia, Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand and Norway, alongside collegiate, youth and masters racing. The international events were the men's and women's singles and pairs, a mixed quad and a mixed eight.
New Zealand's entries included a men's pair, with Paris silver medallist Ollie Maclean entered, according to Cal Athletics. In the first men's pair race on 9 October, the Kiwis were third behind Team USA and Australia. By the last one on 10 October, they were second to Team USA, 4:50.990 to 4:49.240, with Great Britain third and Australia fourth.
Why it matters
Take 500 metres off the race you train for and the shape of it changes. Shaun's view on where a race is decided:
“That's where the races are won and lost, is that middle 500.”
Over 1,500 metres, there's less middle to work with and less time to pull back a slow start. And his Kiwi eight didn't rely on a big sprint to finish the job either:
“We just slowed down less.”
For most rowers the 2k is still the test that counts, and the same lessons apply to a shorter race. Read how the Kiwi eight won gold after losing its Olympic heat, how to handle nerves before a race, and the 6 x 2k session that was the Kiwi eight's proving ground, the one that finishes with the last 500 open.
Sources: Los Angeles 2028 confirms venue for Classic Rowing (World Rowing, 12 July 2024); Announcing the 2026 Long Beach Elite and Community Invitational (USRowing, 21 September 2026); Former Bears to compete at Elite Invitational in Long Beach (Cal Athletics, 8 October 2026); Men's pair, race 17, 9 October 2026: results (RegattaCentral); Men's pair, race 63, 10 October 2026: results (RegattaCentral)
