LA 2028 Rowing Overview

Rowing at the 2028 Summer Games is staged at the Long Beach Marine Stadium, a course with a direct line back to the last time the region hosted a rowing regatta. Built by dredging Alamitos Bay and completed for the 1932 Games, it was the first manmade rowing course in the United States and is now a registered California Historical Landmark. It also hosts canoe sprint during the 2028 Games.

The 2028 regatta carries a genuine historic twist: because a bridge built across the channel in the 1950s shortened the available water, racing will be held over 1,500 metres rather than the standard 2,000 — the first time in Games history a rowing regatta has used the shorter distance, as confirmed by World Rowing. Choosing Marine Stadium over the originally proposed Lake Perris keeps rowing close to the athlete village and at the heart of the Games, without the need for a satellite village.

Format & Sessions

Classic flatwater rowing runs across the boat classes — singles, pairs, doubles, fours, quadruple sculls, and the eights — for men and women, progressing through heats, repechages, semifinals, and finals over the regatta. For 2028, rowing also features in two disciplines for the first time, with beach sprint rowing, a coastal format, joining the classic program. The medal finals across the boat classes are the peak sessions, concentrated in the closing days of the regatta.

LA 2028 Rowing Venue: Long Beach Marine Stadium

Rowing at the 2028 Summer Games is held at the Long Beach Marine Stadium, on a channel connected to Alamitos Bay. Dredged and built in the 1920s and completed for the 1932 Games, it was the first purpose-built rowing course in the country and remains in daily use by Long Beach State, the Long Beach Rowing Association, and junior programs. The 2028 regatta will race over 1,500m on the north side of the J.H. Davies Bridge. For official venue information see the official LA28 venue page, and for the sport’s international body see World Rowing.

A Return After Almost a Century

Bringing rowing back to Marine Stadium places the 2028 regatta on the same water that staged the sport at the 1932 Games, nearly a hundred years earlier — a rare piece of continuity in Games history. The venue sits within the wider Long Beach waterfront cluster, alongside sailing, open water swimming, and other events, and its connection to the Pacific gives the channel a mild tidal character that adds to the challenge for crews. For groups, a Long Beach base places rowing within reach of several other coastal events.

Rowing at the Summer Games: History

Rowing has been part of the modern Summer Games since 1900, and is one of the sport’s most tradition-rich disciplines. Racing has been contested over 2,000 metres for decades, which makes the 1,500m course at Long Beach a notable one-off for 2028. The addition of beach sprint rowing continues a wider move to broaden the sport’s appeal with a faster, more spectator-friendly coastal format.

Great Britain, Germany, the United States, the Netherlands, Australia, and New Zealand have been among the leading rowing nations across the modern era, with strong traditions also in Romania, Italy, and elsewhere. The United States has a deep rowing history stretching back to the earliest Games — the American men’s eight, in particular, dominated the event through much of the 20th century, including at the 1932 regatta on this very course.

Rowing at Long Beach: Then & Now

What to Expect at LA 2028

The Long Beach regatta promises a distinctive character. The shortened 1,500m course, combined with the channel’s tidal flow, is expected to produce unusually fast racing and tight margins across the boat classes, while the debut of beach sprint rowing adds a punchy, accessible format to the program. Set against the Long Beach waterfront, with the venue’s deep history, it is one of the more atmospheric settings of the Games.

The Field

Rowing’s leading nations — Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States among them — will contest the classic boat classes, while beach sprint rowing opens the door to a broader range of coastal rowing nations. The shorter course may reshape tactics, favoring crews that can get up to speed quickly.

US Interest

American rowing has a storied history, and a home regatta on the same course the US men’s eight won in 1932 gives the 2028 event a strong domestic hook. The venue’s role in the region’s rowing community — as a daily training base for local clubs and universities — adds a grassroots connection heading into the Games.

Frequently Asked Questions

Other Sports at LA 2028

Rowing is one of many sports on the 2028 program. Individual sport guides for LA 2028 are listed below.