Indoor Rowing World Records Fall in 2026

Georgie Rowe poses after setting a new World Record over 5000m.

2026 has started out with a bang with multiple indoor rowing records falling. From the 1000m to the 6000m distance, we have seen impressive efforts by the world's best in the first two months of 2026. 

To start the new year off, we saw a 5000m world record from Australian, Georgie Rowe. The two-time Olympian finished in a time of 16:49.4. At 33 years old, she carved nearly 5 seconds off of her previous personal best from back in 2019, making her the only woman to ever break 16:50 over 5000m. She did so with a nicely executed negative split tactic, which certainly paid off for her in the last 1500 meters. The world record holder gave these words of advice for others about to embark on their own Erg test,“Trust your program, don’t go out overly ambitious, stick to your plan, and if you’re having a bad day have a plan B.” 

The next record we saw fall was the 6000m by Serbia’s Nikolaj Pimenov. The 2024 Olympian broke his own world record by more than four seconds, stopping the clock at an astonishing 18:04.7. That works out to a blistering 1:30.3 average split per 500 meters — a relentless pace from start to finish. 

In February the 1000m world record was broken not once but twice. We first saw Logan Ullrich of New Zealand set the world record in a time of 2:38.1. He bested Phil Clapp’s record set last year by 0.1 seconds. Then, just eight days after Ullrich’s record, Andrea Panizza of Italy took another .1 seconds off of the 1000m world best – clocking in at 2:38.0. Andrea said, "When I saw Logan break it (the world record), I admired his incredible performance, but didn't think I could do it myself." Yet, when it came to perform, the proof was in the pudding. "The performance is built in training, not on the day of the test, the test is just where you show the work you've already done", said Andrea. 

Oliver Zeidler breaking the previous World Record 2000m by over a second.

Last but not least, Oliver Zeidler of Germany set a new 2000m world record, clocking in at 5:34.7. In the process, he was the first person to ever break 5:35 in a 2k test. The Paris Olympic champion from 2024 held a 1:23.6/500m average. But what about Watts you ask? Try 599 for over 5 and half minutes. He bested the previous world record held by Josh Dunkley-Smith from 2018 by 1.1 seconds. “It was less about chasing a number and more about testing my current physical capacity within my overall training structure. The effort was a planned session and a way to validate the work we have been putting in over the past months.”, Oliver Zeidler said.

We are thoroughly impressed by such inspiring athletic feats so far in 2026 and we are excited to see what is to come. February ended with the 2026 World Rowing Virtual Indoor Championships last weekend, where we saw multiple age group world records smashed.