Strong through the first half of a rowing race, then fading stroke by stroke?

Many rowers know this feeling: the first 500 m off the start is fierce, then after 1000 m every stroke feels empty and the power keeps dropping. Power is the wattage on the rowing machine screen. The first reaction is usually not enough endurance, or not enough strength. They train it, and still fade. Why?

Look at the data first. Split times from the 2000 Olympics and the 2001 and 2002 World Championships: 948 performances. Every boat followed the same pattern: the first 500 m was 3.3% faster than the race average, the second 500 m was 1% slower, the third 500 m was the slowest at 1.7% slower, and the last 500 m came back to average. So fading in the second half is normal; even the best crews fade. The question is how much, and when.

The fade comes down to where the energy comes from. On-water testing of 8 rowers: 87% of the energy came from aerobic metabolism, the part your heart and lungs keep supplying throughout; the remaining 13% was anaerobic, which is what powers those few dozen strokes off the start. The harder you go out, the earlier you use it up, and through the middle 1000 m only the aerobic engine is left to carry you. Without enough aerobic base, the third 500 m collapses.

How are the medals decided? 106 finals and 636 boats from the 2017 to 2021 World and European Championships: medal-winning boats went out a little less hard at the start, 102.1 vs 102.6; came back stronger over the last 500 m, 100.5 vs 99.7; and varied less across the race. The difference is in how the effort is distributed, not in who goes hardest in the first half.

Should you train strength? Yes. Testing 41 World Championship finalists, maximal strength and maximal power both correlated 0.95 with 2000 m performance, and aerobic capacity 0.88. But "strong in the first half, fading in the second" has nothing to do with how strong you are; it's about your aerobic engine and how you distribute your effort.

Train four things. Aerobic base: lots of low-to-moderate intensity rowing, with one or two long pieces a week close to race intensity. Pacing sessions: first 500 m 2% fast, middle 1% slow, build back over the last 500 m. Keep training strength: don't lose maximal strength, though the sets can be fewer. Second-half work: hold stroke rate and technique when fatigued, and train the last-500 m acceleration on its own.

Anyone can go hard in the first half. What you need to train is holding up through the middle 1000 m, and building back over the last 500 m.

What are your four 500 m splits over 2000 m? Post them in the comments and I'll see where you drop off.