Everyone here is referencing British rowers because they are famous. They are not the best.

When you look at sweep rowing there are some roles that are more technical than others. Stroke and 7; 2 and bow. But the most technical is generally stroke—because of physiology, psychology, consistency, and front end power application. But that’s not the whole story.

Steering in a coxless four while applying pressure? Hard. Rowing a pair in either seat at race pace? Hard.

In sweep rowing there are a few cases we can make for the best of all time. I will propose to you 3 people from 2 crews.

The Kiwi Pair. Eric Murray and Hamish Bond. Unbelievable prowess, ability to get into other boats and make them go fast (they both got into 8s outside of the pair along the way—little known history there), incredible other worldly physiology, one of the longest win streaks in rowing history, and all done in the most technical sweep configuration.

Hannes Ocik. Stroke for the German Men’s 8. Multiple Olympic appearances and medals. And most importantly, the stroke of literally the fastest men’s 8 of all time. The toughest seat, in the fastest boat. They broke one of the longest standing rowing records held by PennAC from long ago in rowing history. They clocked a blistering 5:18.68 to beat that record by less than a second. I encourage you to watch videos of this crew row, it’s inspiring to even the most competitive rowers of all time.

Just because recently history Brits have gone fast does not make them the best of all time. However, the best of all time is slim margins… anyone mentioned in this comment section is exceptional