Rowing Pace Chart
One split in, every distance out, laid over the training zones. Print a copy for the boathouse noticeboard or share it in the crew group. It redraws live while you type.
What is a rowing pace chart?
A rowing pace chart converts one 500m split into projected times for the full set of standard distances, with training zones shaded behind the line. Anchor on your 2k and it lays out the 5k, 6k, 10k, half marathon and marathon. Irish crews lean on it for Championships 2k pacing at Inniscarra, head race splits on the Erne, and steady winter mileage.
Anchor split (your 2k pace)
Predicted split across distances
Take it with you
Stick a printed copy, or a screenshot, on the boathouse noticeboard. Inline SVG keeps it sharp at any size you like. And if every member of the squad needs their own, kept current, the Row HQ coach dashboard handles that for you.
How to read the pace chart
The line shows your predicted split at each distance
The further you go, the more the split gives. Between 500m and 2k the line rises fastest, as the anaerobic contribution empties out and the aerobic base is left carrying the piece. After 2k it flattens, because from there the ceiling is sustained aerobic capacity rather than raw power. Enter a 6:30 2k and the chart returns close to 17:00 for the 5k and 20:30 for the 6k, the same scaling coaches see on the water year after year.
The coloured bands are the training zones
Each strip is built off the 2k pace you typed in. The lightest one, UT2, is steady aerobic ground. Below it comes UT1, then AT sitting just outside 2k pace, then the TR strip which is 2k pace itself, with AN tucked in beneath. Whichever strip a projection lands on, that is the zone the effort belongs to. A 5k projected around AT is credible; a 5k landing in UT2 means either the maths or the rower is telling fibs.
Why the Riegel curve matters
Most club rowers own a single dependable score each season, nearly always a 2k. Riegel's formula T2 = T1 * (D2 / D1)^1.06 spreads that one anchor across the remaining distances, the 1.06 exponent having been fitted to thousands of endurance performances. Adjust at the margins: lightweights concede a couple of seconds more over distance, while masters crews concede fewer at 10k and past it, their aerobic base outliving their peak power. Small corrections, but they matter when the target is a long head piece rather than a sprint.
How coaches use this chart in practice
Three jobs in practice. Session targets: when the 5k projection reads 1:42, that figure caps the AT work for the day. Race planning: the projected 2k off a fresh 6k tells a crew honestly whether an Irish Championships target is on. And hardware checks: if genuine splits run 5+ seconds wide of the chart at every distance, look to drag factor, monitor calibration or technique before questioning fitness.
Fill the gaps in your own chart with the 2k prediction calculator, then hand the anchor score to the training pace calculator for zone targets. The 2k test pacing guide is worth a read before the next seat racing block.
One chart for one rower is grand. Twenty-five of them every Monday? That's Row HQ.
A single pace chart costs you a minute. Producing a fresh one weekly for every member, anchored to their latest score, is really a job for a database. Row HQ generates zone-banded splits per rower automatically and holds the full history, so a season's direction is visible at a glance. See it in coach tools, inside training session tracking, or in how Oundle Town RC uses it.