The 30-second answer
USRowing's National Team testing guidance asks athletes to submit 2k and 6k scores from Concept2 RowErgs (USRowing National Team Testing). Concept2 is also the federation's official ergometer supplier through the LA2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The standard RowErg costs USD 990 and the tall model costs USD 1,155. A WaterRower Original Oak costs USD 1,199. A Hydrow Wave costs USD 1,995, plus a USD 50 monthly membership for its full features. For home use, choose Hydrow for guided classes, WaterRower for quiet design, or Concept2 for comparable performance data without a membership fee.
Side-by-side spec sheet: the three machines at a glance
| What you care about | Concept2 RowErg | WaterRower Original Oak | Hydrow Wave |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sticker price (single machine) | USD 990 Standard / USD 1,155 Tall | USD 1,199 with S4 Bluetooth Monitor | USD 1,995 + USD 50/mo Hydrow Membership |
| Weight assembled | 57 lb (26 kg) | 117 lb (53 kg) | 145 lb (66 kg) |
| Made in | Morrisville, Vermont (since 1981) | Warren, Rhode Island (since 1988) | Designed in Boston, assembled overseas |
| Resistance system | Air flywheel with adjustable damper (drag 100 to 200) | Sealed paddle wheel in a water tank | Magnetic flywheel under computer control |
| Stroke feel vs an actual shell | Closest mechanical match of the three | Soft, splashy catch with a nice hang | Engineered to look smooth on a class feed |
| Data export to a coach | PM5 monitor, free ErgData app, Concept2 Online Logbook, open API | S4 Bluetooth, no shared ranking, no club API | Subscription wall, no third-party export |
| USRowing recognition | Official ergometer supplier through LA2028; only erg accepted for 2k/6k selection submission | No current federation tie in the US | None |
| Frame / parts warranty | 5 years frame, 2 years parts | 5 years frame, 3 years parts | 5 years frame, 1 year parts, 12 months touchscreen |
| Training data | Comparable scores, rankings and Logbook exports | Core workout data through its monitor and apps | Workout history inside the Hydrow service |
| Best fit | Any varsity, scholastic, masters or USRowing-affiliated club | Home rower who wants furniture-grade aesthetics | Home cardio user chasing guided classes |
Pricing pulled May 17, 2026 from concept2.com (Morrisville, VT), waterrower.com (Warren, RI) and hydrow.com (Boston, MA). State sales tax and shipping vary. Subscription costs broken out separately.
Concept2 RowErg: best for comparable performance data
Image: Concept2
Concept2 builds the RowErg in Morrisville, Vermont. Its PM5 monitor records pace, power, stroke rate and drag factor. Workouts can move into the free ErgData app and Concept2 Online Logbook. USRowing's National Team Testing guidance uses Concept2 scores, and the federation has named Concept2 as its official ergometer supplier through LA2028. That makes the RowErg the clearest choice when your scores need to compare with other rowers.
PM5, ErgData and the Concept2 Online Logbook
The PM5 monitor shows pace, watts, drag factor, stroke rate, calories and force curve data. It can also connect to heart rate sensors through Bluetooth or ANT+. The free ErgData app can send workouts to the Concept2 Online Logbook. Row HQ can import Concept2 scores from a CSV file, which gives coaches one place to review a squad's results. Background reading: the ergometer glossary entry.
Drag factor keeps tests consistent
The damper lever controls how much air enters the flywheel cage. The PM5 shows drag factor, which measures how quickly the flywheel slows between strokes. A coach can record that number and use it again for the next test. This helps keep test conditions consistent. Use the drag factor calculator to find a sensible starting point.
Warranty, parts and running costs
Concept2 provides a 5-year frame warranty and a 2-year warranty on moving parts and electronics. It also sells replacement parts for older machines. The RowErg has no required membership, so its ongoing cost is mainly maintenance. That matters for a club buying several machines.
Fitting it into a US program week
Use the erg pace calculator to set training splits from a current 2k. Use the 2k predictor to turn a recent longer test into a target. The bodyweight-adjusted erg score can add context when athletes have different body weights. Row HQ can keep those results beside each athlete's practice sessions.
The Concept2 RowErg was an integral part of my World and Olympic preparations for over 20 years.
WaterRower Original Oak: best for quiet home rowing
Image: WaterRower UK
The WaterRower is the ash-framed wooden machine you have seen in West Elm catalogs and the lobbies of Equinox locations on the coasts. It was invented in 1988 by John Duke, a Yale Engineering grad and former US National Team candidate, in Warren, Rhode Island, and the machines are still framed and assembled in Warren today. The mechanism is honest: a paddle wheel sits inside a sealed tank and you pull it through real water. The catch feels close to a boat, the swoosh is genuinely soothing, and the Original Oak (USD 1,199 with the S4 Bluetooth Monitor) is furniture-grade hardware you can actually train on. As a piece of domestic equipment, it is a beautiful thing.
Where WaterRower falls short for testing
The S4 monitor covers the main workout numbers. It does not have a shared ranking system like the Concept2 Logbook. Resistance also depends on the water level in the tank. This makes it harder to repeat the same test conditions across several machines. USRowing's National Team testing guidance asks for Concept2 scores, so a WaterRower result cannot replace that test.
Scores from different rowing machines are not directly comparable. A rower may need to repeat a test on a Concept2 when a coach or selection process asks for Concept2 data. A club should use one machine type for formal tests so every athlete works under the same conditions.
When a WaterRower is the right call
Buy a WaterRower if you want a quiet home machine that looks like furniture. The water sound is softer than the air rush from a Concept2. It is a good fit for steady home workouts. Choose Concept2 instead when your scores must match a ranking or testing system.
Concept2 has been a trusted partner of USRowing through multiple Olympic and Paralympic cycles. Their best-in-class equipment plays a critical role in supporting our athletes and advancing performance as we look ahead to LA2028.
Hydrow Wave: best for guided home workouts
Image: Hydrow
Hydrow is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts and was founded in 2017 by Bruce Smith, a former US National Team rowing coach who previously ran Community Rowing Inc on the Charles. The product is a magnetically braked flywheel under software control, bolted to a 16-inch touchscreen running on-demand and live classes shot mostly on the Charles River and the Connecticut coastline. The hardware is USD 1,995 (Wave) or USD 2,495 (full-size Hydrow), and the USD 50 per month Hydrow Membership is mandatory if you want the screen to do anything beyond a basic just-row mode. The company has raised over USD 300 million in venture funding (L Catterton, Ridgemont, Liberty Strategic Capital) since 2017. Reviewed as a connected cardio device, it is well built and the class production value (Sean Patton, Aquil Abdullah and the rest of the athlete team) is genuinely high.
Where Hydrow falls short for testing
Hydrow focuses on coached video workouts. It does not show Concept2 drag factor or send results to the Concept2 Logbook. Its scores are not a replacement when USRowing guidance asks for a Concept2 test. This matters less for general home fitness, but it matters for rowers who need comparable 2k or 6k results.
The other difference is cost. Hydrow's full workout library needs a USD 50 monthly membership. That adds USD 1,800 across three years. Concept2 and WaterRower do not require a monthly plan for their core rowing functions.
When a Hydrow is the right call
Choose Hydrow when guided classes will help you train more often. Its screen, instructors and workout library are the main reasons to buy it. Choose Concept2 when rankings, testing data and lower ongoing costs matter more.
Yep, rowing can be really boring. I want Hydrow to be the antidote to those dull, clunky Concept2 machines you find in most gyms.
Three-year USD cost breakdown
Hydrow has a monthly cost for its full workout library. Concept2 and WaterRower do not require a monthly plan for core rowing. Here is the three-year cost before sales tax and shipping:
Three-year total cost of ownership (US)
Hardware plus required subscription, pulled May 2026 from each manufacturer.
Headline: the Hydrow Wave costs 3.8× the Concept2 RowErg over three years - almost entirely because of the mandatory subscription. The two non-subscription machines come within 21% of each other.
The three-year totals show the main cost difference. Concept2 and WaterRower do not require a monthly membership. Hydrow adds USD 1,800 in membership fees over three years at the current USD 50 monthly price.
Buying decisions by use case
You coach a rowing club at any level
Choose Concept2 for formal testing.
Concept2 gives every athlete the same testing system. Scores can move into ErgData and the Concept2 Logbook. Replacement parts and the lack of a required membership also make costs easier to plan.
You run a high school crew program
Concept2 RowErg.
Same answer, with an extra reason. Junior athletes need scores that compare cleanly to USRowing Youth Nationals qualifying cutoffs, Stotesbury Cup recruiting boards and SRAA Nationals tables, and every one of those benchmarks lives on Concept2 data. The robustness matters too when 40 freshmen a week are slamming a seat carriage backwards at the catch.
You row masters and care about national rankings
Concept2 RowErg.
USRowing Masters Nationals, age-graded Concept2 World Rankings tables and most masters team trials run on Concept2. A WaterRower is a reasonable second machine for steady-state at home, but the main rig for any age-graded comparison has to be a Concept2.
You are a home rower aiming at a 2k PR or open rankings
Concept2 RowErg, with WaterRower as a backup.
Buy the Concept2 if you can stretch the budget. Your splits land in the Concept2 World Rankings and travel with you to any club, any college visit, any CRASH-B Sprints qualifying conversation. A WaterRower is acceptable if Concept2 stock is genuinely unavailable, but accept that your numbers will need a Concept2 retest before they enter any ranked database.
You want a furniture-grade home cardio machine
WaterRower.
If you want a quiet, beautiful machine in your living room and you do not need scores that match any ranking system, the WaterRower Original Oak is a lovely piece of equipment. The fact that it is built in Warren, Rhode Island matters to some buyers, and that is fair.
You want guided cardio, not technique work
Hydrow, if you are happy with the subscription.
Hydrow is a connected cardio device that looks like a rower. The class production is good, the steady-state aerobic work is genuine. Just do not expect to do rowing-specific training on it, and do not put one in a boathouse.
FAQs
Will USRowing or a US college coach accept a WaterRower 2k score?
USRowing's National Team testing guidance asks for 2k and 6k scores from Concept2 RowErgs. A WaterRower score is not directly comparable, so you may need to repeat the test on a Concept2 when a coach or selection process asks for that data.
Can I use Hydrow data to track my 2k erg progress?
Not in any way that crosses to real rowing. Hydrow does not export to the Concept2 Logbook, the resistance is software-managed and does not match a Concept2 drag factor band, and the stroke profile is engineered for production-quality class footage rather than physiological fidelity. If 2k erg progression is the goal, you need a Concept2, or you need to retest on a Concept2 even if your day-to-day training happens on the Hydrow.
What is the actual USD price gap between the three machines in 2026?
Concept2 RowErg Standard is USD 990 from concept2.com. The tall model is USD 1,155. WaterRower Original Oak with the S4 Bluetooth Monitor is USD 1,199 from waterrower.com. Hydrow Wave is USD 1,995 plus a USD 50 monthly Hydrow Membership. That makes the Hydrow USD 2,595 in year one and USD 3,795 across three years.
Do any US boathouses actually run WaterRowers?
There is no public audit of rowing machines across US clubs. WaterRower is mainly sold for home and studio use. Clubs that need scores for USRowing testing use Concept2 because that is the machine named in the testing guidance.
Can I get test scores out of each machine into a club management system?
Concept2 workouts can move through ErgData into the Concept2 Online Logbook. Row HQ can import Concept2 scores from a CSV file today. WaterRower connects to its own apps through Bluetooth. Hydrow keeps workout history in its service. Check the export options you need before choosing a machine for club testing.
What are the world record 2k erg times, and what machines were they set on?
Heavyweight men: 5:35.8, Josh Dunkley-Smith of Australia, March 2018, Senior Australian Rowing Team Trials. Lightweight men: 5:56.7, Henrik Stephansen of Denmark, January 2013, ratified by Guinness World Records. Heavyweight women: 6:21.1, American Brooke Mooney, 2021, breaking the previous mark by 1.5 seconds. All three records were set on Concept2 RowErgs. There is no ratified record book on WaterRower or Hydrow for any senior open class.
Keep every erg score in one place
Row HQ keeps each athlete's erg scores with their training record. Coaches can see progress without chasing spreadsheets. Set up your program free for up to 20 members.
- Jason and the Row HQ team
Sources & references
- USRowing announces extended partnership with Concept2 through LA2028 — USRowing
- USRowing National Team Testing (2k and 6k Concept2 score submission) — USRowing
- Concept2 RowErg product page (US) — Concept2
- Concept2 2025 Year in Review (141,735 new athletes, 79.7B m, 210+ countries) — Concept2 (accessed May 17, 2026)
- New 2k world record 5:35.8 (Josh Dunkley-Smith) — Concept2
- Concept2 Online Logbook — Concept2
- WaterRower Original Oak with S4 Bluetooth Monitor (US) — WaterRower US
- How much does a Hydrow cost? (US pricing breakdown) — Hydrow (accessed May 17, 2026)
- Hydrow founder Bruce Smith interview — Evening Standard
- Why Sir Steve Redgrave uses the Concept2 rower — Fitness Etc