World Champions, World Record holders, and thousands more set for the British Rowing Indoor Championships

The ones to watch and everything you need to know ahead of two days of racing at the NEC in Birmingham

Destination Birmingham. For the third straight year, the British Rowing Indoor Championships head to the NEC as thousands go through their last couple of days of preparation and tapers.

Following the success last year, Super Sprint Sunday will return with more than double the entries from 2024.

With 2900 entries across 241 categories, there is a mouthwatering entry list. With the promise of the GB Rowing Team squaring off against the very best of the indoor rowing community, the cauldron of BRIC is primed to be a scintillating melting pot of talent.

Olympic champion Lauren Henry is back with a bang as she looks to go back-to-back in the Women’s 2000m. Vwairé Obukohwo, last year’s silver medallist, is set to line up on the machine next to Henry, and all eyes will be glued to them as they prepare for the main card.

In the Open event, a new king will be crowned. In the absence of Josh Knight, all eyes will be on Matt Haywood and Callum Dixon as they get ready to go the full 12 rounds with their GB Rowing teammates. The pair, who won silver in the Men’s Quadruple Sculls in Shanghai, were second and fourth respectively last time out.

European, World, and Paralymic Champion Benjamin Pritchard also has his sights set on BRIC. Pritchard currently holds both the 19-29 and 30-39 PR1 World Record, having set the latter earlier this year.

The Open Masters 50-54 2000m will be kick-starting the championships, with defending champion Freid Eggum once again making the pilgrimage across the North Sea from Norway. He’ll face strong competition from Glen Remnant, who won the bronze medal the last time these gentlemen locked horns on the race floor. Amongst the field of 53, Ulf Herzog will be making his debut at BRIC, having learned to row just over 12 months ago.

The largest event of the weekend will be the Open Masters 40-49 2000m. With 96 ready to rock and roll, it’s grown from last year’s mammoth gathering. Army IRC are once again rolling in en masse, and Jim Berriman is back to defend his crown. After winning by nearly five seconds last year, the stage is set for some sensational challenges to come his way.

BRIC is proud to welcome a full spectrum of ages, and this year is no different. 23 Boys and 17 Girls will be competing across the Year 7 2 minute race, while two athletes who are 90 years old will have their opportunity to race. Daniel Lyons of PureGym Bramley in Leeds will compete in the Lightweight Open Masters 90-94 2000m while Cool Rowings’ Olga Duncan will enter the Women’s event.

In the build-up to this weekend, it has been well documented that this year’s Open 500m could be one of the fastest events. Chris Scott, Freddie Stuart, and Christopher Pugh, who were second, third, and fourth, respectively, have all been finetuning their V12 engines over recent months. They’ll face an almighty test from Loïc Schalbetter, who just broke the 100m World Record, and Phil Clapp, who holds the 500m World Record.

Credit: AllMarkOne

For the Women, Vár Guriardóttir Hansen is back and in even better shape than last year. Hansen is fresh from setting the Women’s 100m World Record. If she is to make it two wins on the bounce, she’ll once again need to beat last year’s silver medallist Eva Barrellon-Kendall, who’s just returned from the Commonwealth Rowing Association Beach Sprint Championships in Barbados.

In 2025, Sunday will feature the always-popular relay races. 12 months ago, Erg Power Series created an all-star roster that beat the GB Rowing team. Hansen with teammates Elizabeth Gilmore, Anna Kuoppala, and Tereza Horejsova are all back and chasing gold once more, and perhaps looking to break their record that they set last year.

Gilmore, Hansen, Schalbetter, and America’s Jeremy Weaver will be joining forces for the Mixed 4000m Relay. The quartet will be racing as The Transatlantic Watt Alliance. At last year’s BRIC, Agecroft RC broke this record, and this team will have that firmly in their crosshairs.

Entries are still open for Sunday’s short, sharp racing. The day will feature racing over 100m, 250m, 1 minute, 1000m, and the team relays.

Limited places remain available for the events and will close when each challenge reaches capacity, or by midday on Friday 5 December 2025.

The schedule also includes The Chase. Returning for its second year, your challenge is to stay ahead of a pace boat that gradually speeds up every 20 seconds for 6 minutes. The goal is to avoid the pace boat as long as possible, with final rankings based on maximum distance achieved.

Racing kicks off at 9:00 on Saturday 6 December. All event information, including the draw and timetable is available on the British Rowing Indoor Championships page.