World Rowing

What is World Rowing?

World Rowing is the international federation for rowing. Its own About page states: “World Rowing, previously named FISA (from the French, Fédération Internationale des Sociétés d’Aviron) is the governing body of the sport of rowing.”^[1] The same page gives its scope as “elite, para-rowing, coastal, masters and aspects of indoor rowing”.^[1]

Legally, the federation is still FISA. Article 1 of its Statutes describes FISA as a non-governmental, not-for-profit international organisation constituted under the Swiss Civil Code, and states: “It is recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and it respects the Olympic Charter.”^[3]

Among the objects listed in Article 3 of the Statutes are “To establish and enforce World Rowing’s Statutes, Rules of Racing, Bye-Laws and Event Regulations” and “To be the final authority for all international rowing competitions and, within the limits of its authority, at multi-sport competitions”.^[3] The federation has been led since 2014 by Jean-Christophe Rolland of France, an Olympic champion in rowing, whom the 2025 Congress in Shanghai re-elected to a fourth four-year term with “115 of the 115 valid votes”.^[2][10]

What does World Rowing govern or do?

Rules. World Rowing publishes its Rules of Racing in separate books by discipline. Its rules page lists the 2026 Rules of Racing for Overall & Classic Rowing, for Indoor Rowing and for Coastal & Beach Sprints, alongside the 2026 World Rowing Statutes.^[4] The classic-rowing book defines rowing as the “propulsion of a boat, with or without coxswain, by the muscular force of one or more rowers, using oars as simple levers” (Rule 1.1) and leaves coastal and indoor rowing to their own rule books.^[5]

Boat classes. The World Championship programme in the Rules of Racing (Rule 26) covers men’s and women’s single, double and quadruple sculls, pair, four and eight; lightweight single and double sculls for men and women; a senior mixed eight; and para rowing classes from PR1 single sculls to the PR3 mixed coxed four.^[5]

Anti-doping. Rule 86 of the Rules of Racing deals with anti-doping, and its bye-laws refer to Appendix R10 of the rule book for the detail; Article 13 of the Statutes obliges member federations to comply with the World Anti-Doping Code.^[3][5] See anti-doping.

What sits outside its championships. Ocean rowing does not appear among the World Rowing championship events listed in Rule 3; ocean crossings such as the World’s Toughest Row sit outside that list.^[5]

When was World Rowing founded and where is it based?

Founding. Article 1 of the Statutes records that “the Adriatic, Belgian, French, Italian and Swiss Federations founded the Fédération Internationale des Sociétés d’Aviron (FISA) on 25 June 1892, in Turin.”^[3] Olympedia confirms the date and place independently and explains the first of the five founders: “Adriatica (rowing clubs from Trieste, which belonged to Austria at that time, but they did not want to represent Austria)”.^[2]

Renaming. Olympedia records that “The name rebrand to the current World Rowing occurred in October 2020”.^[2] The Statutes continue to use FISA as the name of the legal person, and World Rowing’s About page describes itself as “previously named FISA”.^[1][3]

Seat. Olympedia records that “The organization’s headquarters is located in Lausanne, Switzerland”.^[2] The bye-law to Article 5 of the Statutes agrees: “The headquarters are currently in Lausanne, Switzerland.”^[3] The Statutes constitute the federation under the Swiss Civil Code as a non-governmental, not-for-profit international organisation.^[3]

Presidents. Olympedia records that the current president, Jean-Christophe Rolland of France, has held office since 2014.^[2]

How is World Rowing recognised?

IOC. The Statutes state that FISA “is recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and it respects the Olympic Charter”.^[3] Olympedia records that “Male rowers started appearing at the Olympic Games at Paris 1900” and that “The Olympic début for women rowers would come two years later, at Montreal 1976”, two years after women’s boat classes entered the World Championships.^[2] The date of the IOC’s original recognition of FISA could not be established from a retrieved primary source.

ASOIF. World Rowing is one of the 30 full members listed by the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations.^[6]

WADA. WADA’s list of Code signatories includes “World Rowing (ex-FISA)” among the international federations that are ASOIF members.^[7]

Paralympic Games. World Rowing describes itself as the governing body of rowing “in the Olympic Programme & Paralympic Programme”.^[1]

LA28. The LA28 organising committee lists six rowing boat classes each for men and women — single sculls, pair, double sculls, four, quadruple sculls and eight — at Marine Stadium, raced over 1,500 m at LA28 only; no lightweight event appears in the list.^[11] Coastal rowing is added as a separate sport at Belmont Shore, with men’s and women’s solo and mixed double sculls beach-sprint events.^[12] See Olympic programme.

What does World Rowing organise?

World Championship events. Rule 3 of the Rules of Racing names six: the World Rowing Championships, the World Rowing Under 23 and Under 19 Championships, the World Rowing Coastal Endurance Championships, the World Rowing Beach Sprint Championships and the World Rowing Indoor Championships.^[5]

World Rowing Championships. Olympedia records that “the first World Rowing Championships were staged in Lucerne, Switzerland, in 1962”; women’s boat classes were added from 1974 and para rowing was integrated in 2002.^[2] The 2026 World Rowing Championships were held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, from 24 to 30 August 2026.^[8] The 2027 edition “will take place 23-29 August, 2027, in Lucerne, Switzerland”.^[9] The 2025 Congress awarded the 2028 World Rowing Senior, U23 and U19 Championships to Sarasota, United States.^[10]

Olympic and Paralympic regattas. World Rowing is the governing body for rowing in the Olympic and Paralympic programmes; at LA28 these comprise the classic regatta at Marine Stadium and coastal beach sprints at Belmont Shore.^[1][11][12]

Who are its members?

National federations. World Rowing’s About page gives 158 national rowing federations.^[1] Olympedia, independently, records that “As of January 2026, World Rowing has 158 member federations”.^[2] The founders in 1892 were five: the Adriatic, Belgian, French, Italian and Swiss federations.^[3]

Membership categories. The Statutes provide for Member Federations, for Continental Rowing Confederations (Article 18) and for other groupings of member federations (Article 19). Under Article 15 the Executive Committee may suspend a member federation that fails to meet its obligations.^[3]

Recent changes. The 2025 Congress in Shanghai, at which 55 member federations were represented, expelled the Bahamas Rowing Federation on the recommendation of the Executive Committee.^[10]

Congress. The member federations meet in Congress, which elects the president, vice-president and Executive Committee; in 2025 it elected Annamarie Phelps of Great Britain as vice-president and three new Executive Committee members.^[10]