The mixed eight is here – let’s make it matter

In March 2025, World Rowing announced the addition of a mixed eight event which will be tested at World Cups and part of the official program from 2025 World Championships onward.

The mixed eight will only be raced by athletes doubling up from other events – no athlete quotas or racing events were altered to make room for this new event. It may be approved for inclusion in the LA 2028 Olympics, and other mixed events may be added. 

I am supremely excited to watch this new event, as I have been lucky enough to race mixed eights twice in my international career. At the 2014 Commonwealth Rowing Championships, the mixed eight was an exhibition event to close out the regatta. I had a wonderful time winning “bronze” with my crew, and I credit that race for making a substantial improvement to my leg drive speed. Another highlight was seeing the five smallest nations form a composite crew, which performed exceedingly well for never having rowed together before. 

At the 2023 Pan American Games, my crew came heartbreakingly close to a bronze medal but ended up on the wrong side of the photo finish. I loved the speed of the boat, the challenge of balancing the race strategies of the women and the men, and the way we all adapted our technique to serve the greater goal. It was also fascinating to see the different line-up choices – two boats had a female bow four (5th and 6th place), two had women bookending a male middle four (silver and 4th place), one alternated pairs starting from a male stroke pair (bronze), and the gold medallists United States had women in stroke seat and bow three. 

Beyond the joy of racing a mixed eight, I believe that the addition of the event will be a valuable step forward for our sport.

Mixed gender means new tactics

Mixed eights (and the mixed boats that already exist in pararowing) truly capture the spirit of gender balance. Many of the Olympic program mixed events are relays, which have each gender performing their skills one by one and having the scores or times added up (eg. swimming, shooting, and luge). Rowing requires the athletes to physically work together and depend on each other (similar to tennis and pairs figure skating), which gives the mixed eight a unique draw. 

Excitement for spectators

The eight is the most iconic and beloved event for spectators, so I think it’s a smart decision to introduce mixed crews in this event first.

Hopefully, many countries that cannot field a full eight will enter the mixed eight and produce a better viewing experience. Many World Cups have fewer than six entries in the eights, which results in a low stakes exhibition race. Even at the Olympics, watching seven crews race for six spots means the preliminary rounds are not as exciting as the events with semi-finals.

Doubling up will encourage entries

The concept of doubling-up without hurting performance has been proven many times in the past, which will hopefully encourage national teams to enter the mixed eight.

A handful of recent examples include the New Zealand and Australian women’s pairs each racing two events in Tokyo (resulting in 3 total medals), and the Romanian doubling-up dominance which led to 3 Olympic medals in Paris. At the 2022 World Championships, the gold and silver medals in the women’s eight were won by doubled-up crews from Romania and the Netherlands. 

Athlete recognition and financial gains

There are direct financial benefits for the athletes that can medal in multiple events. Indirectly, increased fame and name recognition from competing in or winning multiple events can lead to greater sponsorship for athletes. Leon Marchand is now a household name, was awarded €340,000 for his five swimming medals in Paris, and is sponsored by Louis Vuitton. Joris Daudet, also a French Olympic champion, won just €80,000 for winning the only available BMX racing medal and has less than 10% of Marchand’s social media following (which unfortunately makes him less appealing for sponsors).

The mixed eight will see multiple new World Best Times this cycle since it is a new event. Mondo Duplantis wins $100,000 from his sponsor and $50,000 from World Athletics every time he breaks the pole vault world record – perhaps a sponsor could be found to reward the winning crews and increase press coverage?

An investment in athletes as people

A key way to get fans interested in sport is to focus on the athletes’ stories, and mixed boats allow additional opportunities for engaging narratives.

We have already seen many same-gender siblings win medals together (eg. Sinkovic brothers and Gowler/Williams sisters in Paris), and the mixed eight will allow for brother-sister combos to race together as well (eg. the Ford siblings and Florijn siblings, who won a medal apiece in Paris).

At the 2023 Pan American Games, all four of the Abraham quadruplets (Melita, Antonia, Alfredo, and Ignacio) won a silver medal for Chile together! The mixed eight will also allow for more couples to race together which makes for a great story (eg. single gender boats have already given us Edwards/Budgett at 2022 Worlds).

However, simply adding the mixed eight is not a magic bullet to improve the public recognition and excitement around rowing. There is potential for organic growth based on the factors above, but I truly believe that we need concerted marketing efforts from all participants to actively boost the profile of our sport and our athletes. 

Compared to the most popular Olympic sports (swimming, athletics, and gymnastics), rowing is very difficult to watch live and is neither instantly familiar to viewers (eg. everyone can appreciate how hard it is to run fast) or visually impressive (eg. gymnastics). Rowing crews require perfect synchronization with identical uniforms and no visible names, with only one to two medal opportunities per athlete. It is no wonder that our athletes don’t get the same media coverage as the flashy multi-medalist track stars and gymnasts. 

We need to loudly and proudly tell the interesting stories behind rowers and provide more opportunities for them to be part of exciting races, win medals, and set new records. The mixed eight, and especially the requirement to double-up to race it, has strong potential to increase the popularity of rowing worldwide if we can seize the opportunity.

Photos credit: ©Carlos Acuna/Santiago 2023 via Photosport

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