Rowing Ireland are currently confirming the HP Beach Sprints Trialling structure for the 2025-26 season. The Initial Erg Monitoring is outlined below with full details and Selection Policies to be published shortly.

All athletes that wish to participate in the trialling system must be registered with Rowing Ireland through their club. Overseas athletes wishing to trial must also complete the outlined erg monitoring.

A draft plan for the 2025-26 season will be sent out next week, some changes are expected, and all international events will depend on the available budget.

Rowing Ireland Beach Sprints High Performance (BSHP) have adopted the use of Power Profile Testing (PPT) for erg monitoring of athletes interested in representing Ireland in beach sprint rowing events for the 2026 racing calendar. The different demand beach sprint rowing places on the body forces us to use PPT to develop a clear picture of an athlete’s strengths and weaknesses. Specifically, the PPT gives us insight into a rower’s power, strength, and endurance. As more data is gathered through the erg monitoring process, BSHP intends to give athletes feedback about how to maintain their strengths, and improve their weaknesses.  More information on PPT will be shared with the full trialling process next week.

The schedule of Erg Monitoring during a “test week” is set to the following (Tanner & Gore, 2012): 

  • Day 1 – 10k low intensity row (not monitored)
  • Day 2 AM or PM – 100m test, 20min rest; 500m test (rate uncapped)
  • Day 3 AM or PM – 6k test (rate uncapped)
  • Day 4 AM or PM – 2k erg preparation row – practicing different parts of 2k race plan (not monitored)
  • Day 5  AM or PM – 2k test

The order in which you test will not be scrutinised as part of the erg monitoring process, however please keep in mind that deviation from the prescribed methodology will likely result in a negative impact on your performance as the week progresses.

Please note that Any Athlete wishing to take part in Beach Sprint Trialing this year MUST submit PPT results by the 14th Dec at 5pm to BSHP@rowingireland.ie If, for any reason, an athlete cannot complete the test, an exemption letter must be submitted.

For this initial round of erg monitoring any 6k or 2k completed by an athlete during November will be accepted. It is not the intention of BSHP to require clubs to test athletes the week of submission. Therefore if clubs complete their PPT within 3 weeks of submission this is acceptable to BSHP. Similarly, if clubs or athletes are using PPT in their programming already, they should submit the PPT completed closest to the submission deadline date.

Niall O Carroll Rowing Ireland Head of Performance states “Visiting the Beach Sprints World Championships in Turkey was an eye opening experience. Not just as an introduction to this exciting sport but also as an education on what we need to do to support our athletes to be successful. Having consulted with clubs, athletes and coaches we have built what I believe is a strong High Performance strategy for Beach Sprints. The first step is on setting out criteria for selection and a calendar for trials and competition for 2026. This is the first step in making Ireland competitive at the global level in Coastal Beach Sprints Rowing. I look forward to seeing you all at the trials as we take the next steps towards LA.”

We appreciate that there is a lot of info to digest here, with more to come. With this in mind we are scheduling an information session for coaches, athletes, and parents on Saturday, December 20th at 12pm. Prior to this the full trial policy will be released for you to review and learn about the process.

Please find attached Power Profile Submission Template to be used for Submissions before the 14th December.