133 results on Day 1, from about 90 rowers across seven events.
Rowed apart, raced together: AIRO26's 588 registrations
AIRO26 ran from 24 October to 1 November 2026. It was open to anyone, anywhere, with a Concept2 RowErg, and it had 588 registrations at the 2 November count. This is who came through that door, and what kept it open.
All 20 ergs, lakeside, at the Golden Oar relay: Black Mountain Peninsula, Canberra, Saturday 31 October. Photo: supplied to Row Nation
One of Charles Darwin University's rowers spent part of race week in Melbourne. They found a gym there and did their sessions. The metres still counted towards the team's goal back in Darwin.
The rest of the CDU team was rowing in Darwin. Their shared total joined sessions completed in different places.
Six kinds of room, one board.
The build-up: a start line that travels
AIRO26, the Australian Indoor Rowing Open run by Row Nation, opened on Saturday 24 October 2026. It was never meant to be an event you attend. It's an arena you join.
You raced on your own Concept2 RowErg, wherever it lived. You could enter on your own, or with a school, club, gym or workplace. One entry covered all four core events, all three challenges and both relays, with no per-event fee. Your result joined one board, sorted by category: age groups, lightweight, para (PR1 to PR3) and para lightweight.
You could row again and again, and your best valid result counted. Top-three results were checked from a clear photo of the PM5 memory screen. No video was needed. In the lead-up the ask stayed small: link your entry with your competitor code in the Row Nation app, then row.
The format left one thing open, which was the room. People filled it in very different ways.
Clubs and hubs: choosing to gather
Charles Darwin University made a team out of colleagues, friends and family. Liz G. says some were seasoned rowers and some were new to the erg. The mix made it more enjoyable, because everyone encouraged and learned from one another.
People could row whenever suited them. The team also booked dedicated race sessions where anyone could come and compete, and those became the highlight.
"Even though we weren't always rowing in the same location, everyone stayed connected through messages, progress updates, and a bit of friendly competition."
Liz G., Charles Darwin University
Most of the rowing happened at the CDU gym. The final weekend brought the relays. On the last afternoon the team came back to crack 100,000 m, "even when the air conditioner failed". The board has them first of 45 clubs, on 108,004 m.
Sunshine Coast hub.Photo: supplied by the Sunshine Coast hub
Some rooms were built on purpose. Wendy C. is president of Sunshine Coast Indoor Rowing Club. By her account the club began in 2011, and its championships have run at O2 Performance since 2020. For AIRO26 she organised a hub of ten rowers, adaptive rowers among them, and called it "a very successful Hub". The hub finished sixth of 45 clubs on 29,954 m. It was third of 45 for people finishing all four core events, with five.
Asked what she would say to someone who has never tried an erg, Wendy wrote:
"Have a friend with you, who has done some Indoor Rowing. Technique is very important. Just row a slow 500 on a low resistance. It is never too late to start a new sport."
Wendy C., president, Sunshine Coast Indoor Rowing Club
Team Veteran is second on the clubs board, on 80,284 m.
Crews: the changeover is part of the race
The Swan Athletic Ladies Masters Relay Team train at a gym in the Jamberoo Valley, in regional NSW. They had raced last year and wanted another go. On race day, Julie C. says, there were a few nerves. So they planned the handover.
A 4x500 m relay is one continuous piece on one erg, and the crew shares a single time. The changeover is part of the race. Swan "concentrated on making smooth changeovers at the 500metre mark and keeping the planned amount of effort throughout."
Teammates beside the erg at Swan Athletic's gym, with the paddocks outside.Photo: supplied by Swan Athletic
"We would love to see more small studios enter in future years as the virtual aspect brings a great opportunity to take on a shared challenge."
Julie C., Swan Athletic Ladies Masters Relay Team
In São Paulo, Franklin N.'s CAP Indoor Row crew raced for Club Athletico Paulistano, a club founded in 1900 with a proud tradition on the water. By his account the indoor squad began in 2020 under master coach Hércules S., affectionately known as "Chefe". It now numbers roughly 180 active rowers, and more than 40 of them are over 70. Most of the AIRO26 rowers picked up the sport on the erg, about five to six years ago.
They entered a single relay crew in 2025. In 2026 they came back with a much larger squad across several events. A core group of eight set out for the relays and the 500 m and 2k. Then, he wrote, "once we realized the huge variety of challenges on offer, we were hooked: right down to the final minutes before the submission deadline, we were still checking which extra events we could squeeze in."
"Racing the relay was a fantastic experience: the rapid changeovers on the erg, dialling in the race pace, and pulling together as a unit create an incredible buzz."
Franklin N., CAP Indoor Row, Club Athletico Paulistano
AIRO26 opens their season. What keeps the squad training side by side, Franklin says, is a year of racing that "reinforces our commitment to ageing with vitality, good health, and genuine mateship."
Saturday: the rooms became one room
For most of the nine days, the board did the joining. On Saturday 31 October, the room did.
Red Shed's Golden Oar festival filled the Black Mountain Peninsula in Canberra. Inside it, Row Nation ran its own Golden Oar 4x500 m RowErg Relay. Twenty ergs sat lakeside, and twenty crews took them on. Each crew had one school boy, one school girl and two athletes.
Schools including Canberra Grammar School, Marist College, Radford College and Gippsland Grammar took part. Eight schools in all appeared on the AIRO26 schools board.
The winning time in the Mixed Open category was 6:08.8. Then came a tie: crews 10 and 12 finished third on the same time, 6:13.7, to the tenth of a second.
Gippsland Grammar's rowing account posted its own view of the day. It called the weekend "Part festival, part regatta, and a whole lot of fun amongst a showcase of rowing on the banks of Lake Burley Griffin." Then it named what stood out:
"A true highlight of the weekend was the 2000m @rownationofficial erg relay which saw our athletes team up with athletes from other schools and the NTC"
Gippsland Grammar Rowing, on Instagram
Individuals: personal goals inside a crowd
Lina B. rowed AIRO26 from a garage gym in Canada. By her account her 500 m had sat on 1:31.5 since February 2025, and at AIRO26 she rowed 1:28.2. She counts four personal bests, across the 1 minute, 500 m, 1k and 4-minute, and "five time trials in one week". The 4-minute was the most overdue. She had last rowed it in June 2023.
"You guys were a great excuse to get it done!"
Lina B.
Lina B. rowing in her garage gym in Canada.Photo: supplied by Lina B.
The Australian Indoor Rowing Championships ran inside AIRO26. On 4 November @lfg_training_erina posted about Dave P.: "Three races. Three podiums."
About 70 people raced from outside Australia, from about 18 other countries. Great Britain, the United States and Brazil sent the biggest groups. At home, rowers from every state and territory were on the board.
The Stack: four events, one score
The Stack is the four core events together: the Power Minute, the Sprint, the Kilo and the Olympic Distance. One score covers all four, adjusted for age and gender. That changes who can stand next to whom.
Richard T. (Men 60-64) topped the board on 4,605.3. Lina B. (Women 40-44), who rowed from that garage gym in Canada, was second on 4,570.3. Shay E. (Men 55-59) was third on 4,269.3. Fourth was Justine R. (Women 55-59, lightweight) on 4,195.9.
So a man in his 60s, a woman in her 40s and a lightweight woman in her 50s sit side by side at the top of one board. The top ten is five women and five men, from the 40s to the late 60s. Two rowers in their 70s are 21st and 22nd. Someone in the 80-84 group is 29th on the board.
Effort ran wide too. Lee H. of Charles Darwin University rowed all seven events. Steven G. of Hawthorn Rowing Club rowed on all nine days. Jussi K. made at least 27 attempts across six days. On the last day @rowedtofitness posted: "Rounded out my Stack (1:00, 500m, 1k, 2k) today for the Australian Indoor Rowing Open."
Who rowed, by the numbers
The entry count and the results count tell different parts of the week. Each figure says what it counts.
- 588 registrations at the 2 November count: a Darwin gym, a São Paulo squad, a garage in Canada.
- 187 finished all four core events. The top score was 4,605.3. The top ten is five women and five men, from the 40s to the late 60s. Rowers in their 70s and 80s are on the board.
- 45 clubs and 8 schools on the group boards.
- 1,530,660 m on the board's cumulative total at the 4 November read, counting every attempt, relays and the Calorie Ladder. CDU's 108,004 m is in there.
- 50 relay crews: 46 Sprint Relay crews, 20 of them at Golden Oar, and four 10K Team Relay crews. Swan's changeover plan was one of them.
The community's own posts
Some of the best of this wasn't ours. People tagged us from their own rooms.
On 27 October @kortreist_eventyr shared a first go at the 1,000 m: "First time attempting the 1000m distanse. Happy but not satisfied." On Saturday 31 October @redshedcbr posted the "4 x 500m Row Erg Relay!" from Canberra, and on Sunday 1 November @rowedtofitness's reel rounded out the Stack.
Their rooms, their posts.
Nine days, one clock
The daily wraps kept the clock. Here they are in order, with our day graphics set beside them.
Opening weekend
A quarter of a million metres on the board by Sunday 25 October.
The working week
137 results on a Monday.
Charles Darwin University's best in each of the seven events, named in our Day 4 wrap.
738,185 m in published results, per our Day 6 wrap.
The people count kept climbing: 254, 279, then 299 by Friday 30 October.
Final weekend
Relay day in Canberra on Saturday 31 October: see Golden Oar.
The close: what the board joined
Row Nation was built on one idea: the best of rowing, for everyone, from the Olympic dais to your erg. Liz G. put it more plainly.
"Absolutely give it a go. You don't need to be an elite rower to participate."
Liz G., Charles Darwin University
Liz's team at Charles Darwin University hopes to invite other groups to row at CDU next year.
A school crew raced a relay in Canberra. A rower in Canada finally rowed the 4-minute she had put off since June 2023. A hub on the Sunshine Coast made room for adaptive rowers. All of them landed on the same board. If you have an erg and a reason, it was built for you.
Pick a program in the Row Nation app →. See the full event on the AIRO26 page →, or the full results →.
One CDU rower raced from a gym in Melbourne. Their metres still counted with the team in Darwin.