Two 100m World Records broken on the road to the the British Rowing Indoor Championships
Anna Bloomer heard from Vár Guriardóttir Hansen and Loïc Schalbetter about what it takes to be the fastest sprinters in the world
The men’s and women’s Concept2 100m World Records have been obliterated in quick succession. Reigning 500m World Champion Vár Guriardóttir Hansen set the new women’s 100m record in a time of 14.6s while two-time World Champion Loïc Schalbetter set a new open World Record of 12.5s. Schalbetter also holds the 100m record on slides, which he did in 11.8s.
Both competitors are deep in training for the British Rowing Indoor Championships, which they will be attending in person on the 6-7 December 2025.
The margins over 100m are minute, so every (split) second counts. Hansen explained “I always dreamed of taking the 100m record but I couldn’t imagine going under 15 seconds.” Having hovered around the 15.1 mark, to go comfortably under the benchmark at 14.6 seconds, meant a lot to Var.
Hansen’s training approach changed slightly with the 100m record in mind. Focusing on the first three to five strokes in particular made a huge difference to her scores. “My first stroke went from 2:03 to 1:43, which makes a huge difference in 100m.” As a powerlifter with some seriously impressive scores, Hansen puts her strength down to being able to squat over 170kg. “I think that’s what makes me able to pull a 1:09 split.” explained Hansen.
The Dane’s strength meant she was able to deal with the higher drag factor, allowing her first few strokes to put her straight onto her pace. “When I did my 14.7, it [drag factor] was at 200, but now it was 174, which is not too high!.” Combining all of her training and experience, Hansen said “I think the mixture of powerlifting and weightlifting with all the short sprints, like 6×3 strokes made a huge difference.”
Schalbetter broke his own record, going from 12.7 seconds to 12.5 over the 100m. Reflecting on the achievement, Loic said “It means a lot because it is such a great record that I never dreamed of achieving but I’ve made some huge progress this year and this was a special one.”
Drag factor is something that Schalbetter has been experimenting with as well. He’s conscious how important the first stroke is, especially when there’s only 14-15 strokes across a 100m. As such, he set the new World Record with a drag factor of 208, significantly higher than 191 which was what was set for his previous record breaking row.
The online community also helped Schalbetter achieve his record through copious amounts of data analysis, nutrition tips and recovery hacks. This was all with the goal of finding those small margins to make the difference. “We are all a bunch of nerds who love data and numbers. We’re trying every little trick possible to go faster.” explained Schalbetter.
“For this one, a big difference was that I was quite well rested compared to the last one which was in the middle of quite a big training block. Last week I had to take some rest and having that extra time off meant I was coming into this one very ready to go,” continued the Swiss athlete.
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For Var, living on the Faroe Islands had brought a bit of a barrier to her performance. The isolated nature of the Islands had previously kept her from competing and pushing herself against others, until she joined the online rowing community. Now, she feels that being able to compete against people on the other side of the world is a huge performance boost. “You push yourself against the people who are on the other side of the world while that could be difficult if it were by myself.”
Hansen’s journey into training specifically for indoor rowing started after she stepped away from the U23 Danish team. “I stopped completely after worlds, did some other sports and actually started the ErgPower series with Loïc and then I just got hooked again.”
“Then I went to the British Rowing Indoor Championships last year with only 1 month of training before. That was amazing.”
Schalbetter and Hansen debuted at BRIC in 2023 and 2024, respectively. A successful set of trips for both athletes, to say the least. Last year, Var took the win in the 100m, 250m, 500m, and 1 minute. Although no records were broken in 2024, Hansen has her sights set on breaking the 500m World Record this year, knowing that is definitely within her capability.
Last year, on Schalbetter’s second trip to BRIC, he won the Eliminator and the 1 minute, came 2nd in the 1000m and 3rd in the 100m and 250m. After just breaking the 100m World Record, the Swiss sprinter aims to stand out in a highly competitive field over 500m. With the likes of Phil Clapp, Chris Scott and Freddie Stuart also entered into the 500m, this year’s showdown is set to be the fastest year ever for the 500m, according to Clapp.
“Everyone is in their best shape and we are going to see some very interesting races I’m sure,” said Schalbetter. He went on to outline with great excitement that there is a large cohort of international athletes heading to BRIC, and that the whole weekend is going to be a cracking event. “All these people are here coming from overseas means the atmosphere will be great for everyone competing.”
After their hugely focused efforts on Saturday, Hansen and Schalbetter are joining forces on the Sunday with some other very experienced team members for the team relays. For the mixed team relay, Schalbetter and Hansen will be joined by Elizabeth Gilmore and Jeremy Weaver. Last year, Gilmore was part of the ErgPower team who took the victory over the GB Rowing Team in the 4000m relay by 14 seconds.
The British Rowing Indoor Championships will take place 6-7 December 2025 at the NEC in Birmingham.
