Returning to competition after several years away presents a particular challenge for an experienced rower. Fitness can be rebuilt, but the process is rarely as simple as resuming an old training plan.
Vladyslav Avramenko began that process in the United States in 2025.
Before moving to the U.S. in 2022, Avramenko had spent years in high-performance rowing in Ukraine. He was a member of the Ukrainian national team and competed at the U19 and U23 World Championships. After the move, competition took a back seat while he adjusted to life in a new country.
The break lasted several years, but Avramenko never viewed it as retirement. By 2025, with his life in the U.S. on firmer ground, he was able to train and race seriously again. This October, that comeback will take him to the Head Of The Charles Regatta in Boston, where he is preparing to compete in the Men’s Championship Single.
Rebuilding without starting over
Avramenko began his return in Florida, first at Miami Rowing Club and later at Hollywood Rowing Club. After moving to Charlotte, North Carolina, he continued his preparation at Catawba Yacht Club.
The initial work focused on rebuilding aerobic capacity, strength and the ability to handle a consistent training schedule. But Avramenko was not starting from scratch. His years in Ukraine had given him a strong foundation in training and periodization.
“The fundamentals of how I train still come from my years in Ukraine. My coaches taught me the importance of volume, technical work, and building fitness gradually over a training cycle. I still rely on those principles, but I apply them differently now. I have more experience, I know my body better, and the races I’m preparing for are different.”
Rather than following a fixed program, Avramenko regularly reviews how he responds to training. Heart rate, sleep, and recovery provide part of the picture, alongside training records and his own assessment of how he feels and moves in the boat. He compares training blocks to see what produced progress and where adjustments may be needed.
“I need to understand what I’m trying to accomplish with each session. If I’m not recovering properly, there’s no value in forcing a hard workout simply because it’s on the schedule. I’d rather adjust the session and make sure the training is actually moving me forward.”
That approach extends to strength work and equipment. In the gym, the priority is strength that translates into a more effective stroke. On the water, he experiments with rigging and setup changes to see how they affect his ability to apply force and move the boat.
His current approach combines the principles he learned from his coaches in Ukraine with his own experience, his education in sports coaching, and the research he continues to follow.
From RowFest to the Head Of The Charles
Competing in the U.S. has also meant adapting to a different racing calendar. Summer events can include 1,000- and 2,000-meter races before the focus shifts toward longer head races in the fall.
The 2026 USRowing RowFest National Championships marked an important stage in Avramenko’s return. Racing for Catawba Yacht Club, he won the Men’s Open 1x over 1,000 meters and finished second in the Men’s Open 1x. The results offered a clear measure of his progress after several years away from racing and an important competitive step in the build toward the Head Of The Charles.
After the summer racing season, Avramenko returned to a heavier aerobic workload, gradually adding threshold sessions, longer intervals, and strength work. As the Head Of The Charles approaches, the training becomes more specific: sustaining power over a longer distance, changing pace when necessary, and maintaining an effective stroke as fatigue builds.
The Head of the Charles itself presents a very different test. Held in Boston, the three-day regatta brings together more than 12,000 athletes, with crews racing roughly three miles along a course shaped by turns, bridges, traffic, and overtaking.
For Avramenko, though, the more significant part of this year’s race is the field he has reached. In his first appearance at the regatta, he will compete in the Men’s Championship Single, the regatta’s championship-level event for men’s single sculls. Championship singles regularly attract athletes with experience at the Olympic Games and World Championships. Olympic champions have raced in these fields, and even they are not assured of winning against the level of competition the event attracts.
That puts Avramenko’s comeback into sharper perspective. In 2025, he was returning to serious competition after several years away. Now he is preparing to race in the Men’s Championship Single at the Head Of The Charles. For him, getting there is not the objective in itself. He intends to compete for the highest places.
There is also little room for error in a single. The athlete is responsible for the physical effort, steering, race line, and tactical decisions throughout the course.
“You have to manage more than the physical effort. You’re thinking about your line, steering the boat, dealing with traffic, and still trying to row efficiently. The difficult part is continuing to make good decisions once fatigue starts affecting both your technique and your concentration.”
As the regatta gets closer, Avramenko plans to reduce overall volume while maintaining intensity and speed. The aim is to arrive in Boston rested without losing the fitness built during the heavier weeks of training.
A different measure of the comeback
The Head Of The Charles is an important step in Avramenko’s return, but his ambitions extend beyond reaching the start line.
His years in Ukraine remain central to how he approaches training. What has changed is the amount of responsibility he now takes for planning his preparation, interpreting his training data, and deciding when the program needs to change.
The years away from racing did not erase the experience that came before them. Instead, they changed how he uses it.
“I came back because I never felt that I had reached my full potential in rowing. Now that I’m competing again, I can see that I’m still improving, and that makes me want to keep pushing the level higher.
“At first, the goal was to return to serious competition. That is no longer enough. I want to race against strong athletes, see where I stand, and keep improving from there.
“I still don’t know where my limit is. For me, that’s one of the most interesting reasons to keep going.”