14 October 2023

By Göran R Buckhorn

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced yesterday that Beach Sprint Rowing will be included in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games programme. This means that the sport of rowing will from the Los Angeles Games be featured in two disciplines.

World Rowing writes on its website: “The inclusion of Beach Sprint Rowing in the 2028 Olympic Games programme is the outcome of a decade-long development of Coastal Rowing with the active support of our 159 members and rowing communities across the world. World Rowing has embarked on an ambitious, global growth strategy for the discipline, underpinned by increased investments across geographies and participation in high-profile multisport events.”

Beach Sprint Rowing will also be part of the 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal, and the 2026 Commonwealth Games, though in July HTBS reported  that the state of Victoria in Australia had backed out of hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games. It is still not decided where these games are going to be held.

“The inclusion of Coastal Rowing at LA28, through the Beach Sprints format, is expected to be transformational for our sport in terms of global exposure, and in making an exciting form of rowing accessible to new populations,” said World Rowing President Jean-Christophe Rolland. “We believe Beach Sprint Rowing has the potential to enhance the Olympic programme by embracing beach culture and our shared values of universality, gender-equality and sustainability, while delivering genuine innovation in sport, broadcast and fan entertainment.”

World Rowing writes that the organisation will propose three medal events: the men’s solo (one athlete); women’s solo (one athlete), and the mixed double sculls (two athletes). The final decision on the events, quotas and competition formats will be taken by the IOC Executive Board after the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

World Rowing continues to write that the 2028 Olympic regatta will be held at the Long Beach Marine Stadium, the “1932 Olympic Games course”, which is not quite true. While the 1932 regatta course was 2,000 metres, the 2028 course will only be 1,500 metres (read more here.)

Sadly, the 2028 games will not include any lightweight class as the Paris Games will be the last games with lightweight double sculls, women and men. As I have previously written, it is a shame that the lightweight classes are being tossed out of the Olympic programme.

The Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games are scheduled to take place from 14 to 30 July 2028. The dates and events of the so-called Classic Rowing and Beach Sprint Rowing competitions will be confirmed at a later date.