Eight, women, 2,000 m

What to remember

An eight carries eight rowers, each pulling a single sweep oar, plus a coxswain who steers with a rudder. Often called the king of rowing boats, it is about 18 m long, has to be taken apart in two sections to travel by road, and can reach 23 km/h. Because of its size, weight and speed, it is generally considered unsafe to race it without a cox.

In the women's event, the world best time over 2,000 m belongs to the Romanian crew: 5 min 51.88 s, in the final of the World Championships in Amsterdam on 30 August 2026. Cristina Drugă, Geanina Dumitrița Juncănariu, Ancuța Bodnar, Maria Lehaci, Maria-Magdalena Rusu, Amalia Chelaru, Adriana Adam and Simona Radiș rowed, with Victoria-Ștefania Petreanu as cox.

Rowing has no world records in the strict sense, since weather conditions vary times far too much; it lists world best times instead, measured over 2,000 m, the standard international distance.