While the rest of the Club was lamenting the cancellation of Durham Small Boats Head, Roger Stainforth was busy competing at home in Durham in the heats of the 2026 World Rowing Virtual Indoor Championships.
The Championships took place over consecutive weekends – qualifying heats on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd, and finals on Saturday, 28th February.
This year was different from previous years in that the usual 2000 metres and 500 metres events were absent and were replaced by three races – 1 minute, 1000 metres and 5000 metres. It is anticipated that World Rowing will announce plans for an ‘in person’ Indoor Rowing Championships later this year (date/location as yet unknown), including 2k and 500 metre events, the dual competitions introducing greater diversification in the sport and extending its appeal.
“The great thing about IRCs”, explains Roger, “is that regardless of the weather outside the event goes ahead and the main point of concern is the quality of your wifi and remembering to upload a video to World Rowing when you finish the race.”
Qualifying heats – Feb 21st and 22nd
Heats on the first weekend comprised 1 minute and 1000 metres races on Saturday, and 5000 metres on Sunday.
Heats were divided into three time zones with Asia/Oceania competitors starting their races from 7am (GMT), Europe/Africa competitors starting from 11am, and Americas competitors starting from 5pm, which gave the later starters the advantage of knowing the time they had to beat.
Roger entered all three events in the Men’s 80+ age category and excelled in achieving first place in two and second place in the third, against opposition from Great Britain, the USA, Belgium and Australia.
The 1-minute event on Saturday morning was a 3-way tie between Roger and two USA opponents who all covered an identical distance of 304 metres (with a 1.38.7 split time for 500 metres), Roger being in the Africa/Europe heat started first and was thus at a disadvantage against the USA athletes who had their race 6 hours later.
Qualifiers from 1 minute heat –
1 Roger Stainforth (GBR) 304 metres
1 Bob Fisher (USA) 304 metres
1 Michael McGuirk (USA) 304 metres
4 Paul de Veert (Belgium) 283 metres
5 Patrick Wright (GBR) 278 metres
6 Bruce Livingston (USA) 268 metres
In the 1000 metres on Saturday afternoon Roger had to settle for second place in 3.47.9, 1.2 seconds slower than Michael McGuirk of the USA who again had 4 hours’ notice of the time to beat and was able to pace his race accordingly.
Qualifiers from 1000 metres heat –
1 Michael McGuirk (USA) 3.46.7
2 Roger Stainforth (GBR) 3.47.9
3 Paul de Veert (Belgium) 3.55.1
4 Patrick Wright (GBR) 4.08.3
The most satisfying result of the weekend came in the 5000 metres which Roger won emphatically by 44 seconds in a time of 20.17.9 (2.01.8 split), only 7 seconds shy of the British record, making up for the disappointment of the 1000 metres.
Finals – Feb 28th
The finals which took place the following Saturday were streamed live by World Rowing here.
1 minute
The draw for the Men’s 1 minute final included 6 athletes contesting the 80+ category among a field ranging in age from 50 to 80+. In the race Roger covered 6 metres further in 1 minute than in the heat and emerged clear winner with 310 metres, 4 metres ahead of 2nd place and 6 ahead of 3rd.
Results provided by Time Team
1 Roger Stainforth (GBR) 310 metres
2 Bob Fisher (USA) 306 metres
3 Michael McGuirk (USA) 304 metres
4 Paul de Weert (Belgium) 293 metres
5 Patrick Wright (GBR) 279 metres
6 Bruce Livingston (USA) did not start the final (heat distance 268 metres)
The above result saw Roger claim his first gold medal as he placed 75th overall in a field that included ages from 23 to 80+.
5000 metres
The draw for final of the Men’s 5000 metres was limited to the fastest 20 athletes, who came from age categories 23 to 54. Results of age categories 55 and above were determined by positions achieved in the heats the previous weekend, thus giving Roger his second gold medal.
Result of Men’s 80+ 5000 metres –
1 Roger Stainforth (GBR) 20.17.9
2 Michael McGuirk (USA) 21.01.9
3 Patrick Wright (GBR) 21.23.5
1000 metres
The last event on February 28th was the final of the Men’s 1000 metres, a race involving competitors of age groups 23 to 80+.
Roger improved on his time set in the qualifying heats by 6.1 seconds to take his third victory and third gold medal of the Championships, with a winning margin of 8.1 seconds over his closest rival Michael McGuirk of the USA, in a time if 3.41.8.
Men’s 80+ 1000 metres result provided by Time Team
1 Roger Stainforth (GBR) 3.41.8
2 Michael McGuirk (USA) 3.49.9
3 Paul de Weert (Belgium) 3.55.8
4 Bruce Livingston (USA) 4.31.1
5 Patrick Wright (GBR) did not start the final but achieved a time of 4.08.3 in the heat
The overall winner of the Men’s 1000 metres, in a time of 2.38.9, was Andrea Panizza of Italy, who set a new World Record for the event only last week.
3 Gold medals
Many congratulations to Roger on a golden treble!
- 1 minute 310 metres
- 1000 metres 3.41.8
- 5000 metres 20.17.9
Results of all races are on the World Rowing website.
Medals will be sent to winners in the post!