World Records and Versa Challenges highlight day one of the 2023 World Rowing Indoor Championships

The 2023 World Rowing Indoor Championships got off to a great start today in Mississauga, Toronto, Canada. Five World Records were broken, and the first-ever Versa Challenge created a fantastic atmosphere at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre.

Andrew Benko and Annalise Hahl of the USA, Miroslav Vrastil of the Czech Republic, Richard Stout of Canada and Nina Thölking of Switzerland all set new World Records. Meanwhile, the first (out of five) Versa Challenges took place, and at the end of Day 1, Joel Naukkarinen of Finland and Kirsten Kline of the USA are leading the way.

The hybrid set up meant that competitors could be either in Mississauga, or anywhere else in the world – and the video stream showed indoor rowing machines placed in gyms, rowing clubs, gardens and kitchens.

Here’s a selection of some of the best racing for the day.

Phil Clapp goes for four. That’s four World Rowing Indoor Champion titles in a row for Phil Clapp on the 500m distance. The big Brit won a hard-fought race against Cameron Wharram of Canada, who competed in Toronto with lots of support from the people in the arena. Both traded World Records on the 1-minute format a couple days ago, and we knew it was going to be a battle between them. And what a battle it was – with Clapp crossing the line in a 1:11.2, just 0.1 seconds ahead of Wharram. What a showdown!

Olena strikes again. She said before the race that she did not have many expectations, as her training has been on and off because of the war in her country. But Olena Buryak is, and remains, the Queen of the Erg. When she competes, there’s no beating the Ukrainian, and yesterday made no exception to it – she won the 500m race in a supersonic time of 1:27.5. Competing from Kiev, at the National Olympic Centre, she surely made millions of people proud in her country. Catch her again tomorrow, 26 February, in the Women’s 23-39 2000m at 14:53 EST (20:53 CET)

The “Triple Crown” for Ficarra. He won a World Rowing Champion title in the Lightweight Men’s Pair in Racice in 2022. He was already a Beach Sprint Champion from 2021. Giovanni Ficarra of Italy is now a World Rowing Indoor Champion – and certainly one of the most versatile rowers in the world. He won the 23-39 Lightweight Men’s 500m, just 0.2 seconds ahead of Jose Daniel Martinez Lopez of Spain.

Records, records, records. A total of five world record were broken during the first day of competition. Probably the most impressive was Miroslav Vrastil of the Czech Republic. Vrastil is a three-time Olympian from London and Rio, in the Lightweight Men’s Four, as well as Tokyo in the Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls, and was giving it all in the last 250m to break the World Record by 0.4 seconds.

Versa challenge : here we go!  For the first time ever, the World Rowing Versa Challenge got underway in Mississauga. The top 10 women and 8 men athletes who qualified for this brand-new competition started off the Versa today, with the first challenge called Beep. Adding to the uncertainty of this new competition, were the technical issues that forced the second event called Elimination to be postponed – but adaptability is a skill all rowers must have, and the Versa athletes will have to compete again tomorrow.

Racing will resume tomorrow at 14:30 CET – live streaming will be available on our website and YouTube channel.