Phil Clapp breaks 1,000m indoor rowing world record

Clapp is now a two-time world record holder, holding Concept2 RowErg records in both the 1,000m and 500m distances

Phil Clapp has shattered the 1km Concept2 RowErg world record with a time of 2:38.2. Rowing at an average stroke rate of 40 and achieving a peak power output of 707 watts, Clapp beat the previous record of 2:39.3, set by strongman James Hall in October 2022, by 1.1 seconds.

The 1,000m world record is Clapp’s second milestone within the past year, having also set the 500m world record in March 2024 with a time of 1:09.8.

Clapp has an impressive history in both national and international indoor rowing competitions. As the 2023 2,000m British Champion, he also secured the 500m world title at the World Rowing Indoor Championships for four consecutive years (2020–2023). In 2024, he won the 1,000m British Super Sprint Champion title at Super Sprint Sunday during the British Rowing Indoor Championships, finishing with an outstanding time of 2:45.1. Clapp also won gold at Super Sprint Sunday in the 100m (0:13.2) and 250m (0:33.8) events.

Speaking on Instagram about breaking the record, Clapp said: “Months and years of training culminated today, reaching a level I’ve only ever matched on two 500m efforts. It has been over 4 years since I achieved 2:39.6.”

“The past four months of training have been very consistent, building up to six weeks of racing multiple 1km efforts; both on land and water, at the British [Rowing Indoor Championships] and beach sprint assessments. All of these previous efforts needed to be controlled in the knowledge further performance efforts were required. Today I just let rip from stroke one.”