How to watch the 2024 Olympic rowing online or on TV

Cuba's Yariulvis Cobas Garcia during a training session for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
(Image credit: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

The Olympic rowing competition in the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics is currently underway, putting athletes to water across a grand total of 14 different events.

Quick links

US: Peacock | NBC
UK: iPlayer | BBC (free with license fee) | Discovery Plus
AU: Stan Sports | 9Now (free)
Watch abroad with a VPN

Sports fans in Australia or the UK will be able to watch the Olympic rowing races for free on 9Now or iPlayer, which is certainly a real treat. But never fear if you're away from home during the tournament, because you can watch the Olympic games from anywhere with a VPN.

Olympic rowing has been part of the quadrennial sport competition's line-up for over a century, ever since the second iteration of the modern Olympic games in 1900. 

In 2024, seven men's and seven women's events include a range of sculling and sweep rowing in different combinations, with a grand total of 502 athletes competing in total.

So for the water sports and rowing fans amongst you, here's how to watch the 2024 Olympic rowing events online or on TV, including informatino as to what the events are, when they take place and which channels or streaming services you'll need to use to tune in

How to watch the Olympic rowing in the US

For viewing the Olympic rowing events I'd recommend using Peacock, the movie, TV and sports streaming service run by NBC. 

That's because NBC, the official broadcaster of the Olympics in the US, is using Peacock as a one-stop shop for almost all of its coverage. The streaming service is set to host live streams of every single Olympic sports, so you can easily tune in to see as much Olympic rowing as you want.

In addition Peacock will let you set reminders for upcoming events that you want to catch, and let you view four different Olympic streams at once if you think you can keep on top of it all.

You can sign up for Peacock for $5.99 per month, but that's for the commercial plan and the $11.99-per-month Premium Plus plan lets you avoid these.

How to watch the Olympic rowing in the UK

The free broadcaster of the 2024 Paris Olympics in the UK is the BBC, so that's where you'll need to go to watch the Olympic rowing.

The BBC will let you watch in two ways. Its primary broadcast is through both BBC One and BBC Two, with the two TV channels juggling a stream of live coverage during the games. The BBC promises that, between the two, you'll get 250 hours of live footage.

Alternatively, you can go to iPlayer to watch Olympics Extra, a secondary sports broadcast showing events that don't make it onto the main stream. You can also use iPlayer to stream BBC One and BBC Two over the internet, making it a good choice for viewers on the go.

As per previous years' coverage, the BBC will jump between different sports regularly, so you won't be able to use its options to watch 24/7 rowing. 

There is another option that'll let you see the rowing in its entirety, but it's not free. Discovery Plus is set to show a lot more of the Olympic games, and while it usually costs £6.99 per month for its Standard plan, a temporary deal lets you sign up for £3.99 monthly until the end of the year.

How to watch the Olympic rowing in Australia

The official streaming service for the Olympic rowing in Australia will certainly make a splash because unlike many other options around the world, it's free.

This option is 9Now, a streaming service which will let you watch live streams of all the various Olympic sports over the internet.

On TV, Nine's various channels could broadcast certain Olympic events, but it likely won't spend too long on any one sport. So if you want to catch as much rowing as possible, 9Now is your way to go.

How to watch the Olympic rowing everywhere else

If you're going to be away from your normal TV setup but still want to watch the Olympic rowing events, you might run into some problems. Thankfully, you can solve this exact issue with a Virtual Private Network (VPN). 

A VPN lets you change your IP address to that of the area of what you want to watch, meaning you can tune in to your favorite sports, TV shows or other content even if you're not there. Our favorite is NordVPN, which is the No. 1-rated VPN in the world right now according to our sister site, TechRadar.

How to use a VPN to watch any stream

  • Download the app at NordVPN
  • Choose the location of the streaming service you want to watch (UK, US, etc)
  • Navigate to the streaming service and start watching!
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Olympic rowing schedule

Saturday, July 27

  • Men's single sculls heats
  • Women's single sculls heats
  • Men's double sculls heats
  • Women's double sculls heats
  • Men's quadruple sculls heats
  • Women's quadruple sculls heats

Sunday, July 28

  • Men's pair heats
  • Women's pair heats
  • Men's lightweight double sculls heats
  • Women's lightweight double sculls heats
  • Men's four heats
  • Women's four heats
  • Men's single sculls repechage
  • Women's single sculls repecahge
  • Men's double sculls repechage
  • Women's double sculls repechage

Monday, July 29

  • Men's eight heats
  • Women's eight heats
  • Men's pair repechage
  • Women's pair repechage
  • Men's lightweight double sculls repechage
  • Women's lightweight double sculls repechage
  • Men's quadruple sculls repechage
  • Women's quadruple sculls repechage
  • Men's single sculls semi-finals
  • Women's single sculls semi-finals

Tuesday, July 30

  • Men's four repechage
  • Women's four repechage
  • Men's single sculls quarter-finals
  • Women's single sculls quarter-finals
  • Men's double sculls semi-finals
  • Women's double sculls semi-finals

Wednesday, July 31

  • Men's single sculls semi-finals
  • Women's single sculls semi-finals
  • Men's pair semi-finals
  • Women's pair semi-finals
  • Men's lightweight double sculls semi-finals
  • Women's lightweight double sculls semi-finals
  • Men's quadruple sculls finals
  • Women's quadruple sculls finals

Thursday, August 1

  • Men's eight repechage
  • Women's eight repechage
  • Men's single sculls semi-finals
  • Women's single sculls semi-finals
  • Men's double sculls finals
  • Women's double sculls finals
  • Men's four finals
  • Women's four finals

Friday, August 2

  • Men's single sculls finals
  • Women's single sculls finals
  • Men's pair finals
  • Women's pair finals
  • Men's lightweight double sculls finals
  • Women's lightweight double sculls finals

Saturday, August 3

  • Men's single sculls finals
  • Women's single sculls finals
  • Men's eight finals
  • Women's eight finals

All you need to know about the Olympic rowing

When does the Olympic rowing begin?

The first day of the Olympic rowing competition is Saturday, July 27, which will see six events begin (three more begin one day after and the final two a day after that).

The rowing will continue all the way until Saturday, August 3, which is when the last finals of the competition will fall.

Which Olympic rowing events are there?

In total there are 14 Olympic rowing events, split evenly between men's and women's. Here are the 7 different types of activity, each of which will have a men's and women's competition:

  • Single sculls
  • Pair
  • Double sculls
  • Lightweight double sculls
  • Four
  • Quadruple sculls
  • Eight

What is the Olympic rowing repechage round?

Certain 2024 Paris Olympic events have introduced what is known as the 'repechage' round.

In Olympic rowing this is basically a second-chance round, giving athletes who didn't qualify from the heats a second chance to get into the quarter-final competition.

Where does the Olympic rowing tournament take place

The Olympic rowing events are due to take place at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, in Vaires-Torcy.

This purpose-built water arena is just to the east of Paris, and it'll also host the Olympic canoeing events at the same time.

How to watch other Olympic sports

If you want specific information on other Olympic sports, here are guides we have to the other activities which will be shown as part of the Paris Olympic games:

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Tom Bedford
Streaming and Ecommerce Writer

Tom is the streaming and ecommerce writer at What to Watch, covering streaming services in the US and UK. His goal is to help you navigate the busy and confusing online video market, to help you find the TV, movies and sports that you're looking for without having to spend too much money.