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The New Zealand Coastal Rowing Beach Sprint Championships are set to return to Ōrewa Beach, on April 5 and 6, 2025.
The event will bring together 300 competitors from 30 clubs across New Zealand and the Pacific, including teams from Tonga.
Event director David Vallance says unlike flat-water rowers, coastal rowers embrace the challenge of waves and unpredictable conditions, adding a new dimension to the sport. The boats are built to handle rough water, making coastal rowing one of the fastest-growing rowing disciplines worldwide.
Beach sprint rowing, which will make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, is contested over 600 metres. The race begins on dry land, where an athlete sprints 50 metres down the beach to their boat. The rowers then race 250 metres out to a buoy, execute an a 180-degree turn, and sprint 250 metres back to shore. The race ends with the athlete jumping out of the boat and running across the finish line. Competitions are held in singles, doubles, and quads, with a designated runner starting and finishing the race for team events.
Crews also don’t require their own boat as the fleet is supplied by the event organisers, making the sport more accessible than flatwater rowing.
Events can only take place in a swell less than half a metre, making Ōrewa Beach an ideal location for the championships, Vallance says, as it consistently has swell around that size. The event will be based at the Ōrewa Surf Lifesaving Club, which will also provide water safety services for competitors.
This year’s competition will feature some of New Zealand’s top rowers, including Olympic and World Championship medalists. Emma Twigg, Olympic gold and silver medalist, Michael Brake, Tokyo gold medalist in the Men’s Eight, Matt Dunham, 2023 World Beach Sprint Champion, and Finn Hamill, 2024 World Coastal Rowing Champion are all expected to compete.
Twigg says she is excited to participate as she transitions her career towards coastal rowing with an eye to the 2028 Olympics.
“The beauty of this sport is it’s a bit kinder on the body. Flatwater rowers have performed well at the recent world champs, she says but as the sport grows we are figuring out what world-class looks like, such as developing the finer skills like exiting the boats and rounding the buoys.”
She plans to compete in the solo and mixed double events at Ōrewa.
“It’s going to be a really cool day. The North Shore Beaches are great for the event and it’s going to be an exciting sport for the future,” she says.
The winners of the Open Men’s and Women’s singles, as well as the U19 Boys’ and Girls’ singles, will automatically qualify for Rowing NZ trials for the National Team, which will compete at the World Championships in Rio de Janeiro in October.
Spectators can expect a lively atmosphere as beach sprint rowing is faster and more interactive than traditional rowing. The event will be live-streamed on YouTube, with drone footage capturing the action from above.
Racing begins at 8am on April 5, with a full day of heat races across all categories. The quarter-finals, semi-finals, and championship finals will take place on Sunday, concluding by 4pm. The full race schedule will be available five days before the event.
Entries for the championships have just opened and will close one week before the event.
