Written from firsthand experience with a deviated septum and checked against clinical sources. We make Ventriq Nasal Strips, so we are always upfront that a strip relieves symptoms rather than fixing the structural problem. Read our methodology or our editorial policy.
Our number one pick for rowing: the Ventriq Sport Nasal Strips. They hold through sweat and keep the airway open through the hardest parts of a piece.
If you row, the best nasal strips are ones built for sport: strong spring tension to hold the nasal valve open and an adhesive that survives sweat, spray off the water and cold air without lifting. A strip will not turn you into a faster erg tester or raise your VO2 max, but it lowers the resistance your nose creates on every stroke, which matters most during the long steady state pieces where nasal breathing is realistic and worth protecting. If you have a structural issue like a deviated septum, a strip compensates for some of that restriction before you even sit down on the erg.
I started using nasal strips for sleep after a Consultant Otolaryngologist at a private hospital in Dublin diagnosed me with a significantly deviated septum and recommended septorhinoplasty. I played rugby for over a decade and my nose took plenty of damage along the way, broken more than once in collisions. I put the surgery off to keep playing, and I built Ventriq to give myself a way to breathe properly in the meantime. I noticed the difference at night first, then during training. Anyone who has pushed through a hard piece on the erg or a head race on the water will know the exact moment I mean: your nose cannot keep up, you switch to your mouth, and your breathing turns ragged just when you need it under control.
Why Nasal Breathing Matters in Rowing
Rowing asks a lot from your aerobic system and then asks for a sprint on top of it. A 2000 metre race is roughly six to eight minutes of about as hard as you can go, and longer head races push past twenty minutes at a still demanding pace. Training is built around long steady state pieces at a lower intensity, mixed with interval sessions and full effort tests where your breathing rate climbs fast. Nasal breathing is very achievable during the steady state work and much harder once the rate goes up, which is exactly the pattern a strip is designed to support.
Nasal breathing slows your breathing rate, warms and humidifies the air before it reaches your lungs, and triggers a calmer autonomic response than mouth breathing. The nose also produces nitric oxide as air passes through it, which acts as a bronchodilator and a vasodilator, helping open your airways and relax your blood vessels for better oxygen uptake at a tissue level. Rowers spend a lot of time outdoors in cold air too, and a congested or restricted nose makes cold air feel even harder to move.
The catch is that the nose struggles to move enough air once effort climbs toward maximal. That is a normal limit everyone shares. For someone with a structural issue it is worse. A deviated septum reduces the cross sectional area of one nasal passage, and combined with the nasal cycle, where the tissue inside your nose alternates which side is more congested on a roughly four hour rotation, the restricted side can feel almost fully blocked during a hard piece.
How Nasal Strips Help Rowers
A nasal strip works on the outside of the nose. It spans the lower cartilage and uses a spring action to lift the lateral nasal wall outward, widening the internal diameter at the nasal valve, which is the narrowest point in your entire airway. You can feel that same pinch if you press gently on the side of your nose while breathing in hard on an erg sprint.
For a rower with a deviated septum, the strip helps most on the side where the deviation crowds the valve area. For a rower with no structural issue, the main benefit is stopping dynamic valve collapse, where the cartilage gets pulled inward under heavy breathing load. In both cases the practical payoff shows up during the long steady state sessions, where holding nasal breathing keeps your effort calmer and easier to sustain, and in the recovery between interval pieces.
I use the Ventriq Sport Nasal Strips for training and racing. They are stiffer than a standard sleep strip, built to stay put through sweat, and the adhesive holds whether you are grinding through an erg session in a warm gym or getting spray off the water on an outdoor row.
Our pick for rowing
Ventriq Sport Nasal Strips
Drug free strips built to stay put through sweat and hold the nasal valve open, so you keep breathing through your nose when the effort ramps up. From EUR 20, with buy more save more packs.
Shop Ventriq SportSleeping or recovering instead? See Ventriq Sleep, or read how to choose the right strip.
What to Look for in a Rowing Nasal Strip
Not all nasal strips are built the same, and for rowing a few things actually matter:
- Adhesive strength: standard strips give up as soon as you sweat or catch spray off the water. You need a strip made for sport, with an adhesive designed to grip wet skin through a full session.
- Spring tension: more tension means more lift and a more open airway. A soft strip made for sleep will not give you the same airflow under a heavy breathing load.
- Fit and position: a strip that sits too high on the bony part of your nose does nothing. It has to sit across the lower cartilage where the nasal valve is.
- Skin tolerance: if you are training most days between the erg and the water, you want a strip that does not leave your skin raw after you peel it off.
I have tried a lot of strips over the years. Most were fine for sleep but failed the moment sweat or spray got involved. The Ventriq Sport strip holds better and keeps lifting the airway open through a full session.
Does It Actually Improve Performance?
I will be straight about this. The research on nasal strips producing measurable performance gains in trained athletes is mixed. Some studies show small improvements in perceived effort and breathing efficiency. Others show no meaningful change in VO2 max or power output under laboratory conditions. A strip is a breathing aid, not an engine upgrade.
What I can tell you from my own experience is that the subjective difference is real. Breathing through your nose during long steady state pieces feels less effortful and less drying, and it is easier to hold your composure when you are not gasping through your mouth. Whether that turns into a better erg score depends on the rower and the session. If you want the deeper look at the evidence, I have covered it in Boost Your Workout: How Nasal Strips Enhance Athletic Performance.
Nasal Strips if You Have a Deviated Septum
If you have a deviated septum and you row regularly, nasal strips are probably more useful for you than for the average rower. You are starting every session with your airway already restricted, so anything that gives part of that width back levels the field a little. External strips work best when the restriction sits at the nasal valve rather than deep inside the nasal cavity, which is a common pattern after any knock to the nose. I have written more on this in Best Nasal Strips for a Deviated Septum.
If your breathing also wrecks your sleep and slows your recovery after hard sessions, How to Sleep Better with a Deviated Septum covers what has worked for me overnight.
My Recommendation
For rowing, get the Ventriq Sport Nasal Strips. They were built for sport and they stay on through sweat, spray and cold air. If your main need is breathing and recovering better overnight after training, the Ventriq Sleep Nasal Strips are the right pick for bedtime, and plenty of rowers use both: sport strips for training and racing, sleep strips overnight. If you also cycle as part of your cross training, the same thinking applies to nasal strips for cycling. For getting the fit right in the first place, see how to choose the right nasal strip. If heavy training leaves you snoring at night, have a look at Do Nasal Strips Stop Snoring and Best Nasal Strips for Sleeping.
The Bottom Line
For rowing, the Ventriq Sport Nasal Strips are our number one pick. They keep nasal breathing efficient in the early strokes and the recovery after a hard piece. A strip lowers airway resistance and will not raise your engine, but easier breathing helps you settle rate and rhythm.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are nasal strips allowed in rowing competition?
Yes. Nasal strips are a mechanical breathing aid with no drug action, so World Rowing and national federations do not restrict them. You will see athletes wearing them at regattas and on the erg.
Can I use a nasal strip on the indoor rowing machine?
Yes, and it is one of the best places to test one. Erg sessions are done in a warm gym with steady, controlled effort, so you get a clear read on whether the strip is actually helping you keep breathing through your nose during long pieces.
Where exactly should I place a nasal strip?
Position it across the fleshiest part of your nose, over the lower cartilage rather than the bone. If you feel the spring tension lifting your nostrils when you breathe in, it is in the right place. Sit it too high and it does nothing.
Do nasal strips help with a 2000 metre test?
A 2000 metre test sits close to maximal effort for most of its duration, and at that intensity almost everyone shifts to mouth breathing regardless of strip or septum. Where a strip helps more is in the warm up, the steady state pieces either side of the test, and in recovery, keeping your breathing calmer and less rushed when the rate is not maxed out.
Do I need a deviated septum for nasal strips to work?
No. Dynamic nasal valve collapse, where the side of the nose pulls inward under hard breathing, is common even in people with a perfectly straight septum. A strip prevents that collapse and improves airflow either way.
Will a nasal strip stay on in cold air or spray off the water?
A quality sport strip is designed to hold through sweat, cold air and light spray for a full outing. If conditions are very wet, wiping the skin clean and dry before you apply it will help it grip for the whole session.
