Team Veteran's 213m Power Week Challenge

The first stroke back is the strange one. Your hands know the handle. Your legs still know the drive. Then the screen posts a number, and it belongs to someone you don’t quite recognise yet.

Team Veteran: 213m Power Week was built for that exact gap. It’s a free one-week indoor rowing challenge from Invictus Australia and Rowing Australia, hosted on Row Nation: three sprint sessions, each under 20 minutes, all pointed at a single benchmark distance of 213 metres. It launched in the lead-up to the 2025 World Rowing Virtual Series, and it works just as well any week you need a reset.

Because the real obstacle after time away is rarely the engine. It’s trusting the engine again. A week of short, honest sprints gives that trust something concrete to stand on.

Three sessions, one distance

Sprint power responds quickly to structured work, and 213 metres is the right size of test: short enough to dare, long enough to count.

Day 1: Acceleration Repeats. 6 × 20-second sprints from a dead stop, with 90 seconds of rest. A dead stop is the honest start. There’s no rhythm to hide in, so the first three strokes tell you exactly what your legs have today.

Day 2: Power Overload. 4 × 300m at approximately 90% effort, with 3 minutes of rest. Rowing just past the benchmark distance teaches your body to hold power beyond the point where it wants to fade.

Day 3: 213m Pressure Test. 2 × 213m all-out efforts with 3 minutes of rest, then 4 × 20-second sprint bursts with 90 seconds of rest. This is where the week pays out. The starts from Day 1 and the endurance from Day 2 show up here as finishing speed.

That’s the whole programme. Try Day 1 on your next row: strap in, let the flywheel stop completely, and see what those first three strokes say.

Who it’s for

Veterans and serving personnel first. Then everyone around them: families, supporters, and the clubs, gyms, RSLs and community hubs that run local events. No prior rowing experience is required. The entry cost is a Concept2 rowing machine, 20 minutes, and the willingness to give it your best.

How to join

The challenge is hosted on the Row Nation platform and free for anyone to complete.

Join Team Veteran: 213m Power Week

Once registered, you can run the week as many times as you like, track each benchmark, and watch the 213m number move.

Why it matters

The sprint week is one piece of a wider collaboration between Invictus Australia and Rowing Australia: expanding access to indoor rowing across the veteran community, and launching Team Veteran Row Clubs in more locations nationwide. Want to run the challenge at your club, or start a Team Veteran Row Club in your region? Email info@rownation.co and we’ll help you get it moving.

That first stroke back never stops feeling strange. It just takes 213 metres for the number on the screen to start looking like yours again.

Find your next structured programme in the Row Nation app →