The 2K erg test

Two thousand metres is the distance rowing measures itself by. It is the trial score that decides crew selection, the number on every recruiting spreadsheet, and the six to nine minutes that most indoor rowers organise their winter around.

This page collects everything Target Splits knows about it: the split each goal time needs, how to distribute that effort across the four 500s, and what a score is and is not evidence of.

Why the 2K hurts more than it should

2000 m sits almost exactly on the boundary between an aerobic and an anaerobic effort. The first 500 m is fast because you are fresh and the flywheel is cheap to accelerate; the third 500 is slow because that early spend has come due. Almost every bad 2K is the same story — a first 500 rowed four or five seconds under target pace, paid back with interest between 700 m and 1500 m.

The defence is arithmetic. If you know the split you need and the time the clock should read at halfway, you can tell within the first minute whether you are rowing your race or someone else’s.

Target splits for every 2K time

Every time below has its own page with a 500 m split table, watts, three pacing plans and equivalent times at other distances.

2K time Target split Watts 1000 m at
5:10 1:17.5 752 W 2:35.0
5:20 1:20.0 684 W 2:40.0
5:30 1:22.5 623 W 2:45.0
5:40 1:25.0 570 W 2:50.0
5:50 1:27.5 522 W 2:55.0
6:00 1:30.0 480 W 3:00.0
6:05 1:31.2 461 W 3:02.5
6:10 1:32.5 442 W 3:05.0
6:15 1:33.8 425 W 3:07.5
6:20 1:35.0 408 W 3:10.0
6:25 1:36.2 393 W 3:12.5
6:30 1:37.5 378 W 3:15.0
6:35 1:38.8 363 W 3:17.5
6:40 1:40.0 350 W 3:20.0
6:45 1:41.2 337 W 3:22.5
6:50 1:42.5 325 W 3:25.0
6:55 1:43.8 313 W 3:27.5
7:00 1:45.0 302 W 3:30.0
7:05 1:46.2 292 W 3:32.5
7:10 1:47.5 282 W 3:35.0
7:15 1:48.8 272 W 3:37.5
7:20 1:50.0 263 W 3:40.0
7:25 1:51.2 254 W 3:42.5
7:30 1:52.5 246 W 3:45.0
7:35 1:53.8 238 W 3:47.5
7:40 1:55.0 230 W 3:50.0
7:45 1:56.2 223 W 3:52.5
7:50 1:57.5 216 W 3:55.0
7:55 1:58.8 209 W 3:57.5
8:00 2:00.0 203 W 4:00.0
8:10 2:02.5 190 W 4:05.0
8:20 2:05.0 179 W 4:10.0
8:30 2:07.5 169 W 4:15.0
8:40 2:10.0 159 W 4:20.0
8:50 2:12.5 150 W 4:25.0
9:00 2:15.0 142 W 4:30.0
9:15 2:18.8 131 W 4:37.5
9:30 2:22.5 121 W 4:45.0
9:45 2:26.2 112 W 4:52.5
10:00 2:30.0 104 W 5:00.0
10:30 2:37.5 90 W 5:15.0
11:00 2:45.0 78 W 5:30.0
11:30 2:52.5 68 W 5:45.0
12:00 3:00.0 60 W 6:00.0

How to pace it

There are three plans worth knowing, and each landmark page above gives you all three at your own target pace:

  • Even split. The same split for all four 500s. The most efficient way to cover the distance and the right default for a first attempt at a time.
  • Negative split. Start a second or so down and descend each 500. Physiologically the most reliable route to a personal best, psychologically the hardest to commit to.
  • Fly and die. Fast first 500, long hold on. Rarely chosen deliberately; frequently what happens anyway. Our guide to fly-and-die pacing covers when it is and is not defensible.

Reading your score

A 2K time means nothing without context. Sex, age, weight class and how long you have trained all move the goalposts, and the same score can be a selection-winning result in one category and an ordinary one in another. Start with rowing split benchmarks, then check Concept2’s rankings for where a time actually sits.

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