Rowing is an officially recognized Commonwealth Games sport (in 2010 it was upgraded from a "recognized" to an "optional" sport). There were traditional rowing competitions at the Commonwelth Games in 1930, 1938–62 and 1986.

Rowing was included on the proposed program for 2026 in Victoria, in the form of beach sprints, the sprint format of coastal rowing, however it was not included on the revised program for the Glasgow Games

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Beach Sprint rowing are a head-to-head elimination style of racing, with a short sprint along the beach, a 250m row, and a 180-degree turn before rowing back to the beach and sprinting to the finish line.