1 October 2025
As the 2025 World Rowing Championships ended on Sunday, 28 September, the 2025 World Rowing Ordinary Congress followed on Monday in Shanghai, China. Fifth-five Member Federations were represented at the Congress.
Jean-Christophe Rolland was re-elected as President of World Rowing for a fourth four-year term. He received 115 of the 115 valid votes. It was in 2014, Rolland succeeded Denis Oswald as President of the organization. Rolland was elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee in 2017.
Rolland said: “I am deeply honoured to be re-elected to serve as President of World Rowing. Serving our sport is my only ambition, and it is a privilege to lead our organisation for another four years, working with our members, athletes, and partners to continue shaping the future of Rowing. I am proud of what we have achieved, and I look forward to building on this momentum together, with continuing to strictly respect the values of Olympism and our Sport.”
Annamarie Phelps of Great Britain was elected new Vice-President, succeeding long-serving Tricia Smith of Canada, who has been Vice President since 2014. Smith was elected as a Honorary Council Member. Gerritjan Eggenkamp of the Netherlands will continue in his role as Treasurer of World Rowing.
Delegates also elected Lenka Dienstbach-Wech of Germany, Eva Szanto of Hungary and Matthias Binder of Switzerland as members of the World Rowing Executive Committee. Michael Wilkinson of Canada was elected as Chair of World Rowing’s Sports Medicine Commission.
Delegates confirmed that the 2028 World Rowing Senior, U23 & U19 Championships will be held in Sarasota, United States.
The Congress was presented with updates about the 2025 World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals in Antalya, Türkiye; the 2026 World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam, the Netherlands; the 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal; the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games; and the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The delegates also decided to follow the Executive Committee’s recommendation to expel the Bahamas Rowing Federation.
Hear The Boat Sing 