Australian Coastal Rowing and Beach Sprint Championships

Australian Coastal Rowing and Beach Sprint Championships logo

Commencing in 2022, these Championship are conducted annually and comprises two types of racing: coastal rowing and beach sprints. Both involve open water rowing in craft capable of withstanding the conditions. Both involve chance given the open water nature of the sport and the variability of a beach and currents during a regatta.

Coastal is conducted over a long course usually between 4-6km around multiple turning points and can be an on-water start and finish, a beach start and finish or a combination. The start is usually on water given the number of starters in each event. It is the endurance version of open water rowing with multiple starters in each race.

Beach Sprints involves a slalom course out around a buoy about 250m from the beach and return. It has a beach start and finish. This discipline of rowing tests your power and strength, as well as coastal navigation skills and performance under fatigue. It uses head to head racing culminating in a final of usually two boats. This requires rowers to race multiple times within the one session of racing.

Beach starts and finishes require boat handlers whose role includes holding the boat for the rower racing from the start, providing hand signal directions to the rowers around buoys, receiving the boats back to the beach as a rower departs for the finish line, and finally, handing the boat over to the next user. It is an important role and one which is recognised in the entries and therefore the records.

Three types of boats are used: solo (1x), double scull (2x) and coxed quad scull (4x+).

Categories include open, under 19, PR3 and masters, with mixed gender races used in the quads and extensively in the doubles.

Both forms of open water rowing are exciting and interesting. It is the extreme version of the sport where wind and waves are expected.

World Rowing conducts its annual Coastal Rowing and Beach Sprint Championships, and Beach Sprints will be introduced as a new rowing discipline at 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

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Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information provided, errors may exist. Please send advice of any errors or inaccuracies by email to:

Also your comments, suggestions and photos are sought to enhance this site.

The idea for this history originated from the Olympic Rowing and World Senior Rowing Championship histories written by Andrew Guerin and Margot Foster in 1991, 1992 & 1993 for the Australian team handbooks. Andrew Guerin developed and extended these histories to the current format in 2004 for publication in 2004 and then expanded the site.

Steve Roll has been an invaluable contributor to the website in locating errors and finding Christian names of rowers. His superb work is acknowledged.

© Andrew Guerin – 2004
These contents of this history are copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted by the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. However given that the purpose of the history is to assist rowers and rowing clubs, written permission is not required for non-commercial usage by rowers and rowing clubs provided acknowledgement is made.

Disclaimer: Whilst extensive efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of the information supplied, the editors take no responsibility for any loss or damage whatsoever arising from inaccuracies contained in this work.