Niagara will host Row Ontario's first-ever indoor rowing competition this fall, as the new RowOn Indoor Hat Trick debuts at Canada Games Park on Sunday, Nov. 15, 2026.
The festival-style event, run in partnership with Sport Niagara, is billed as the pilot for a new regatta format intended to expand participation and introduce the sport to new audiences, according to Sport Niagara.
The Hat Trick is built around the number three and is open to everyone from complete beginners to experienced rowers. Participants will take on three short events: Peak Power, a Three-Minute Test, and Step Up or Out.
Each event measures the same two things — how much power an athlete can produce and how long they can hold it. Peak Power asks rowers for three self-paced maximal surges within one three-minute window, with the highest single stroke in watts recorded as the score. The Three-Minute Test is a head-to-head, all-out race for distance, with the most metres winning. Step Up or Out is a power ladder that starts easy and rises every 30 seconds, with a rower's peak stage counting as their result.
"A first step" toward an indoor race schedule
Indoor rowing has the potential to take rowing to a new audience and really help grow the sport. We view hosting this pilot of the RowOn Indoor Hat Trick as the first step in building a meaningful indoor race schedule throughout the off-water months. It's also a very exciting moment for us as an organization since it will be the first indoor rowing event we've ever hosted.
Andrew Backer, CEO of Row Ontario, said in a statement that bringing the event to Ontario's rowing community would not have been possible without Sport Niagara's guidance and enthusiasm.
We're proud to partner with Row Ontario to bring the inaugural RowOn Indoor Hat Trick to Niagara. This innovative format is exactly the kind of event we want to help foster in our region; one that creates a meaningful competitive experience for athletes while also making the sport approachable for people who may be trying rowing for the first time.
Dan Kennedy, executive director of Sport Niagara, said the organization looks forward to welcoming Ontario's rowing community to Canada Games Park and helping launch what could become a regular fixture on the indoor rowing calendar.
Placing points will be awarded and summed across the three events, with scoring designed so that no athlete goes home empty-handed. Organizers say placings, a Power Efficiency Rating, a Hat Trick Award and club standings will all factor into the final results.
While indoor rowing is new to Row Ontario's race calendar, the discipline has a long history in the province, including the annual Canadian Indoor Rowing Championships and the Nancy Storrs Ontario Indoor Rowing Championships. In 2023, Mississauga hosted the World Rowing Indoor Championships, welcoming athletes from around the world.
Row Ontario is the provincial sport organization responsible for developing and promoting rowing across Ontario, supporting athletes, coaches, umpires, clubs and communities at all levels of the sport.
Further details on the RowOn Indoor Hat Trick, including the full event format, schedule and participation information, are expected from Row Ontario in the coming weeks.
