row2k Features
1500m vs 2000m at the Olympics: Rowing Experts Weigh In
January 27, 2025
Oli Rosenbladt, row2k

LA2028 will race over 1500m

The Olympic rowing regatta at LA2028 will be raced over 1500 meters, and even before the conclusion of the Paris Olympics this past summer, the topic has excited imaginations (and of course, emotions as well). A number of prominent rowing physiologists, scientists, former Olympic athletes and experts weighed in on the topic in the context of USRowing's "Chasing Excellence" coaching conference over the weekend of January 11-12th, resulting in a few interesting and surprising observations.

Physiology and Training

Dr. Stephen Seiler is an eminent endurance sports researcher based in Norway, and has been very influential over the past several decades in the field of sports science.

In Seiler's view, it would be a mistake to treat the shorter Olympic rowing distance as a pure sprint. Even in the eights events, where winning times are expected to fall at, or slightly below the four-minute mark, rowing would still be considered as a classic "endurance" event.

(In Seiler's definition, a "sprint" event lasts from 6-60 seconds, "middle distance" is defined as 75 seconds to just below four minutes, and "endurance" as anything over four minutes).

Dutch Scullers Melvin Twellaar (near) and Simon Van Dorp at the Gold Cup in October
Dutch Scullers Melvin Twellaar (near) and Simon Van Dorp at the Gold Cup in October

As an example, Seiler cited the Algerian runner Taufik Makhloufi. Makhloufi is the only male or female runner with top 25 all-time performances in BOTH the 800m and 1500m running events, with the 800m (lasting around 1:45 minutes) essentially a short middle-distance event, and the 1500m (at around 3:45 minutes) right on the line between middle-distance and endurance events.

In other words, it's exceedingly difficult to excel in both shorter and longer events; a case in point might be the recent Gold Cup racing, in which the Olympic 2000m champions Karolien Florjin and Olli Zeidler both fell to athletes perhaps a bit more dialed into the shorter distance. The winning times in both of those events were between 2:20 and 2:35.

For his bottom line, Seiler expressed the thought that the overall approach for rowers would not change. "Even at 1500m, the duration of the rowing event at LA2028 still makes the training essentially the same as always," he said. "There will be a larger anaerobic contribution, but this is largely a function of pacing optimization, not a change in training emphasis."

Along the same lines, Biomechanist Valery Kleshnev stated that he expected racing speeds at the LA Games to rise, on average, by 2%, or roughly 1.5 to 2 splits over the full distance.

Valery Kleshnev's prognostic times for LA
Valery Kleshnev's prognostic times for LA

As far as biomechanical changes go, Kleshnev estimates that a 2% rise in racing speed would require 6-8% more rowing power (or 20 Watts higher average power over the course of the race, per Seiler). This in turn would alter the "tradional" balance of energy sources over 2000m of 80% aerobic / 20% anaerobic to 70% and 30%.

Additionally, Kleshnev posited that the shorter races could lead to even higher stroke rates, which brings us to...

Rigging and Racing Tactics

Longtime Canadian coach and rowing scientist Volker Nolte reached into the historical archives. Showing racing data from the women's events at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, which were raced over 1000m, Nolte showed that the winning women's crews essentially followed what can only be called the "fly and die" strategy, massively overpacing the first 500m of the race and preserving the lead through the finish; the '84 data shows that the winning crews basically didn't (or couldn't) sprint.

This is in contrast to the typical 2000m strategies seen in recent years, in which crews row a little faster than the average race pace in the first and last 500 meters, and slightly below average velocity in the middle 1000.

1000m pacing vs. 2000m pacing - fly and die, or even pacing?
1000m pacing vs. 2000m pacing - fly and die, or even pacing?

In Nolte's view, the effect of shortening the racing distance to 1500m would be that crews are likely to adopt an overall faster start and front end of the race, with velocity dipping in the second 500, but maintaining enough energy overhead to mount a sprint. (In this, Nolte has a different view from Kleshnev, who projected that crews in 2028 would likely tend to adopt even pacing strategies for the 1500).

Like Kleshnev, Nolte also agreed that, due to the shorter distance and faster speeds of the races, technique and rigging might need to change. Nolte theorized that an emphasis on a front-loaded stroke and quicker blade entries and cleaner blade releases would all be required.

Nolte also lamented the fact that the 2027 World Championships, all 2028 World Cups as well as the 2028 Final Olympic and Paralympic Qualifying regatta (FOPQR) would all be contested over 2000m, allowing only minimal wiggle room for athletes and crews to precisely prepare for 1500m racing.

The Athlete's Perspective

What about the effects on the athletes themselves? While Seiler held the view that traditional rowing training would not need to change, Nolte listed a few areas in training that might need to shift:

  • A faster start and first 500 meters would requires stronger and faster athletes, and a greater emphasis on strength training
  • Faster paces require a higher VO2max, favoring larger athletes with more muscle mass
  • Athletes would need to withstand higher maximum lactate concentrations in their blood, requiring HIIT training geared towards high lactate
  • Maintaining higher race pace also require a higher rate of lactate removal, which could be addressed with a high volume of low intensity training

While Seiler might disagree, Nolte's view is that "typical" aerobic endurance rowers (read: smaller athletes) will be at a disadvantage.

There is disagreement on whether training strategies would need to change
There is disagreement on whether training strategies would need to change

Former US Olympic rowers Luke Walton (2004) and Dan Walsh (2008) also weighed in with the athlete's perspective.

In their opinion, coaches will need to incorporate more 1500m race simulations and training into their programs, and focus on developing athletes' power, strength, and anaerobic capacity.

Additionally, the shorter races will provide a smaller margin for error (and a greater potential for catastrophic blowups due to pacing errors), and coaches will need to work with athletes to develop strategies for maintaining high intensity, mental toughness and grit.

The most important factor for athletes, according to Walsh, is that coaches "need to listen to the athletes who will live the experiment," he said. "Athlete feedback will be more important than ever in determining how the training will affect them mentally, physically, and emotionally."

With the first "normal" four year Olympic cycle on tap since 2012-16, it will be fascinating to watch coaches and athletes prepare, knowing that no one will race the 1500m distance until the opening heats of LA2028.

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Comments

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gardnertravis
01/29/2025  2:40:40 PM
1 people like this
I am confused by Dr. Seiler comments about race distances. 800m in track and field is NOT considered a sprint event. 400m is the longest sprint event. Even the less commonly run 600m would fall within the middle distance category, along with the 800m. It would be exceedingly rare to find a runner competing in the 400m and 800m (and I know of none that have done so successfully) whereas it is quite common for a runner (like Makhloufi) to contest both the 800m and 1500m.


row2k
01/29/2025  2:46:54 PM
Travis, you are corrected, and I've slightly misquoted Dr. Seiler. I've made a slight correction in the article now, thanks for pointing that out. Oli R.



Billcrow
01/29/2025  1:09:21 PM
if World Rowing won’t sponsor a 1500m regatta, how hard would it be for someone to organize a ‘friendly’ 1.5K regatta around a World Cup race in 2027, and/or early 2028?

Also, Long Beach has other considerations; I.e. it is salt water and tidal. Are you racing with or against the tide? how deep is the course at low tide, and will that make much difference in hull displacement and water resistance?


CoachD
01/27/2025  3:24:30 PM
1 people like this
From Martin Cross commentary at Paris men's eight final: NED went 3:55 in training for 1500m; did not mention their stroke rate. We are going to hear how fast everyone is going in the next four years; we won't have to wait until LA.



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