Olympic rower here - You're right there has been a shift towards Concept2 Comp blades in sculling (and with that a reconfiguration of oar, inboard, and outboard

Olympic rower here - You're right there has been a shift towards Concept2 Comp blades in sculling (and with that a reconfiguration of oar, inboard, and outboard length). It seems sweeping is still firmly committed to big blades and I would say the oar length is fairly standardized in boat classes within ~1cm. It will be interesting to see how many scullers (or sweepers) adopt the comp blades at the next World Championships and Olympics. I wouldn't consider those blades an "older" design, though feel free to correct me as I may not know my history here.