Meeting in Amsterdam following the 2026 World Rowing Championships, the World Rowing Ordinary Congress brought Member Federations together to make governance decisions, elect representatives, allocate future events and discuss the longer-term direction of the sport.

Strengthening the athlete voice

Central to the Congress was a renewed emphasis on athlete representation, with Benjamin Pritchard of Great Britain, Valent Sinkovic of Croatia, Logan Ullrich of New Zealand and Martin Mackovic of Serbia elected by their fellow athletes to the World Rowing Athletes’ Commission.

The four bring experience spanning Olympic, Paralympic and World Championship competition and will represent athletes within World Rowing’s governance and decision-making structures.

As World Rowing put it:

“A strong athlete voice will be at the heart of World Rowing’s next chapter.”

The development is particularly significant as the federation begins a new Olympic cycle and considers changes to its events, athlete pathways and global competition structure.

Rethinking the competition model

Beyond governance, one of the most important elements of the Congress was World Rowing’s Strategic Events & Calendar Review.

The process aims to develop what the federation describes as a “more connected, sustainable and predictable competition pathway”, while retaining the fundamentals of Classic Rowing, including 2,000-metre, six-lane racing.

That work is already influencing the World Championships, World Cups and the LA28 programme, with further changes being considered for the 2029–2032 cycle.

Importantly from a sustainability perspective, World Rowing is also reviewing how events are awarded. Rising costs, greater scrutiny of public funding and geopolitical uncertainty are making international events increasingly challenging to stage.

The federation says the objective is to create:

“A simpler, more sustainable hosting model and broaden the pool of potential hosts.”

That ambition reflects a wider challenge across global sport: ensuring that major events remain economically and environmentally viable while still delivering international reach and impact.

A changing global calendar

Several future hosts were confirmed. Plovdiv will combine the Under 19 and Under 23 World Championships in 2027, while Racice will stage the Final Olympic and Paralympic Qualification Regatta and World Rowing Cup II in 2028.

The 2029 World Rowing Masters Regatta will head to Asunción, Paraguay, extending the Masters programme into South America, while a new World Rowing Beach Sprint Series will launch with events in Türkiye and China.

Preparations are also gathering pace for Los Angeles 2028. Rowing and Para Rowing will take place at Marine Stadium in Long Beach, with Coastal Beach Sprints at nearby Belmont Shore. Test events are planned for September 2027.

Purpose and governance

Congress also re-elected five Commission Chairs to the World Rowing Council for four-year terms, while the Bahamas was granted provisional membership, potentially taking World Rowing to 159 Member Federations.

For World Rowing, which currently sits inside the Global Top 150 of the Global Sustainable Sport SPI Index with a C — Purpose Established rating, the Congress demonstrates how sustainability increasingly intersects with governance, athlete representation, event hosting and long-term sporting strategy.

The challenge now will be turning those strategic discussions into measurable progress. But the direction emerging from Amsterdam suggests World Rowing recognises that the future of international sport will depend not simply on staging more competitions, but on creating a model that is more sustainable, inclusive and resilient.