The qualification events were the first to be held remotely since the World Rowing Indoor Championships began four years ago.

In total, 935 finalists have qualified, and they are set to compete online again from February 23 to 27 .

"This is one of the many unique aspects of live virtual racing - all athletes race live and in real time," said World Rowing sport manager Liz Soutter.

"Instead of travelling to one place and adjusting to the local time zone, athletes compete from home, but possibly at unusual hours."

Rowers will know their placing as their machine will be in race mode, which shows updates of positions on a monitor.

All competitors need to use a Concept2 machine.

A live tracker can also be set up on a laptop or an external device.

A stream will be available for three of the five race days including the finals on February 27, and it can be watched on the World Rowing website or YouTube channel.

World records were set in qualification, including from 13-year-old Zimbabwean rower Danielle Kaschula, who set five new world records in all in 2020.

Competing in the Americas qualifier earlier this month, Kaschula won the under-19 500 metres in a time of 1min 32.8sec - a record for the 13-14 age group.

Although not eligible to qualify for the World Championships from that event as an African, Kaschula submitted the score into the open qualification pathway to earn a spot in the final tournament.

Finland's Joel Naukkarinen was another impressive qualifier and qualified for all possible races - the men's 500m, 2,000m, one hour, men's team and mixed team events.

Last year, Paris staged the World Rowing Indoor Championships.