Before Zhik made a single piece of rowing performance apparel, its gear was already in boat parks. Coaches had been borrowing from sailing for years: waterproof jackets, salopettes, and technical outerwear. Rowing’s traditional suppliers had never really specialised in them.
Founded in Australia in 2003, Zhik built its reputation in elite sailing and has spent two decades developing technical apparel for athletes who spend long hours exposed to wind, rain and cold water. Rowing coaches already knew the kit. What the brand did not yet make was the centre of the sport itself: race apparel.
From Paddle to Rowing
The route in came through paddle sports.
In 2024, Zhik began working with Paddle Australia and Canoe Racing New Zealand. The demands were different from those of sailing: lighter fabrics, greater breathability, and a greater emphasis on upper-body movement and performance when wet. The answer was Eco Spandex LT, a lightweight evolution of an existing Zhik fabric with four-way stretch and UPF 50+ protection.
That material became the foundation of Zhik’s first rowing racewear. Later that year, Rowing Australia invited the company to take part in its national apparel tender. Zhik had never made a rowing unisuit and had mere weeks to respond, but it developed two concepts from scratch.
“The demands of rowing: temperature regulation, movement, long sessions and wet weather, are problems we have been solving in other sports for years,” says Drue Kerr, Zhik’s Head of Design. “Most of the pieces were already there. The work was figuring out how to apply them to rowing specifically.”
The process came down to two brands. Zhik did not win, but something shifted internally about what the company believed it could do in the sport.
“We went into the process thinking we were exploring a category,” says Mat Belcher, Zhik’s CEO and a two-time Olympic gold medallist in sailing. “By the end of it, we felt like we had built products that genuinely deserved to exist in the sport.”
At that point, Zhik decided to commit.
The Staple and the Experiment
The Performance Unisuit is the foundation of the range: lightweight, breathable, high-stretch, designed for training and racing with a close fit and low-profile leg grips. Zhik placed it with more than 60 athletes across Australian state and national programmes before launch. Feedback consistently centred on fabric feel, freedom of movement, and comfort across long sessions.
The X Unisuit starts from a different question. Does a rowing suit need to be sewn together at all?
Its defining feature is that it is not. Rather than joining the panels with thread, every seam is fused, closer in principle to welding than to conventional construction. The idea grew from thinking about how seams behave over thousands of repetitions of the rowing stroke, and whether removing them changes the experience in ways athletes actually notice. The fabric is graphene-infused, contributing strength and temperature management. The suit also features a breathable mesh back and expanded silicone grip zones.
The X is not a replacement for the Performance. Some testers have preferred the familiar feel of the staple; others have preferred the fused construction. Zhik is still determining whether enough athletes notice the difference to make a difference.
External Validation
Zhik’s first formal rowing partnership came through Germany. The company already worked with the German Sailing Team when the German Coastal Rowing programme began looking for an apparel partner ahead of Beach Sprint’s Olympic debut at LA28. The relationship crossed federations naturally. Zhik had the outerwear and now had the unisuit to go with it.
“Winning a medal at the 2028 Olympic debut of Coastal Rowing Beach Sprint is our clear goal,” says German national coach Adrian Bretting. “To get there, we need the best partners, ones with deep expertise in performance gear for extreme environments. With Zhik, we’ve found the perfect fit.”
In March 2026, Rowing Canada Aviron announced a four-year agreement with Zhik as its Official Performance Apparel Provider, the outcome of a competitive tender held 18 months after the Australian process produced a different result.
“Our goal was to find a partner that could deliver world-class performance apparel while supporting the needs of our athletes and staff at every level,” said Chuck McDiarmid, Rowing Canada High Performance Manager. “Zhik’s reputation for technical innovation and quality made them a natural fit, and the feedback we’ve received from athletes, coaches, and staff has been overwhelmingly positive.”
The Mizuno Question
JRN put a less comfortable precedent to Belcher.
Mizuno entered rowing with considerable sporting credibility and major partnerships, including British Rowing and the Boat Race. Its visibility in the sport later receded. COVID complicated the timing, but the warning remains: a respected performance brand can enter rowing from the top and still struggle to build lasting relevance.
Belcher does not dismiss the theme.
“When you look at it from a pure performance sense, I spent 20 years in an Olympic sailing environment,” he says. “The understanding of what an athlete at that level needs, how they train, and what they will and won’t tolerate in kit transfers.”
But he is also clear about what that record does not guarantee. Rowing is connected to clubs, schools, universities and local relationships in ways that national team partnerships do not automatically reach. A logo on a national crew introduces the brand. It does not make an athlete choose it for a Tuesday morning session.
“We are not coming into it thinking we know what rowing needs,” Belcher says. “We need to listen. We need to build critical mass. We need to attend events.”
Beyond Racewear
Zhik’s case for rowing does not rest entirely on unisuits. The same crossover that already brought its jackets into boat parks extends to hydrophobic fleece, thermal baselayers and cold-weather outerwear: categories where rowing’s established suppliers have rarely competed seriously. Further winter products are being tested with partners like Rowing Canada.
The sport already has strong apparel companies with deep experience in customised racewear. What Zhik adds is a well-resourced technical brand willing to invest in the category properly, with a product range that extends well beyond race day.
“We only have one opportunity to build trust in the rowing community,” Belcher says. “We want to make sure we do that right.”
Rowing apparel is a category long defined by familiarity, but it is beginning to evolve. Zhik wants to be at the forefront of that.
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The Rowing Range
