Rowing Pace Chart
Type in one split and watch every distance land on the zone bands. Print it for the shed wall, screenshot it for the squad group chat. Redraws as you type.
What is a rowing pace chart?
A rowing pace chart turns one 500m split into projected times for every distance rowers actually race, with the training zones shaded behind the line. Anchor it to your 2k and it plots the 5k, 6k, 10k and half marathon in one view. Aussie coaches use it for schools 2k preparation, Head of the Yarra splits and long winter ergo blocks.
Anchor split (your 2k pace)
Predicted split across distances
Take it with you
Grab a screenshot or hit print and pin the chart up in the shed. Inline SVG means it stays crisp at any size. Want one for every rower, refreshed automatically after each test? The Row HQ coach dashboard was built for exactly that.
How to read the pace chart
The line shows your predicted split at each distance
Expect the split to slide upward as the distance stretches out. The sharpest climb sits between 500m and 2k, the stretch where the anaerobic contribution empties and the aerobic engine has to carry the load. Past 2k the line settles, because sustained aerobic capacity, not peak power, becomes the limiter. Put a 6:30 2k in and you will see roughly 17:00 for the 5k and 20:30 for the 6k, the same scaling Aussie coaches lean on when a winter 6k ergo has to forecast summer 2k form.
The coloured bands are the training zones
Every band is calculated off the 2k pace you entered, nobody else's. Top of the chart, the palest strip, is UT2 steady state. UT1 comes next, AT hovers just above the 2k line, TR is the 2k line, and AN sits under it. Wherever a distance projection lands, the strip behind it names the zone that effort lives in. A 5k forecast at AT pace passes the sniff test; one sitting up in UT2 means the maths is off or the anchor split is soft.
Why the Riegel curve matters
One honest test score, usually a 2k, is all most rowers have. Feed it through T2 = T1 * (D2 / D1)^1.06 and Riegel fills in the rest of the distances. The exponent of 1.06 was fitted by regression over thousands of endurance performances. Two caveats: lightweights give back a couple of seconds more over the long distances, while masters rowers often give back less at 10k and up, because the aerobic base outlasts peak power as the years go by.
How coaches use this chart in practice
Coaches reach for it three ways. Target-setting first: a 1:42 projection for 5k sets the AT ceiling on a long piece. Then readiness checks: run a recent 6k through the chart and the projected 2k says plainly whether a schools benchmark is on. Last, ruling out the machine: real splits sitting 5+ seconds adrift of the chart across every distance point at drag factor, monitor calibration or technique, not the engine.
Two natural next steps: the 2k prediction calculator fills in distances you have not raced, and the training pace calculator splits a single score into weekly zone targets. The 2k pacing guide covers how to spend those seconds on test day.
One chart per rower is easy. A fresh one for the whole squad every Monday? That's Row HQ.
Building a single chart takes a minute. Rebuilding one for every rower each week, anchored to their newest ergo score, is a job for software. Row HQ regenerates zone-banded splits per rower on its own and holds the season history, so you can tell whether the numbers are heading the right way. See it in coach tools, inside training session tracking, or in how a partner club uses it.