Final Olympic & Paralympic Qualification Regatta Underway in Lucerne

While 10 U.S. crews have already qualified for the upcoming 2024 Olympic or Paralympic Games, eight more boats began their quest Sunday to secure spots for Paris at the 2024 World Rowing Final Olympic & Paralympic Qualification Regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland.

The men's single sculls, men's double sculls, lightweight men's double sculls, men's quadruple sculls, women's quadruple sculls, and men's eight are looking to earn their spots for the Olympic Games Paris 2024, each needing a top-two finish in Lucerne to qualify. The PR1 men's single sculls and PR2 mixed double sculls will be trying to earn spots in the Paralympic Games Paris 2024. The top two PR2 mixed doubles will qualify for Paris, while only the winning PR1 men's single will move on.

In the men's double sculls, Ben Davison (Inverness, Fla./University of Washington/California Rowing Club) and Sorin Koszyk (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./Cornell University/California Rowing Club) easily advanced to tomorrow's semifinal by winning the third of three heats. With three to advance, the U.S. crew took an early lead on Portugal before pulling away from the field in the middle 1,000 meters. The U.S. clocked a 6:18.46 to finish more than eight seconds ahead of Greece's Nikolaos Cholopoulos and Ioannis Kalandaridis. Poland finished third to also advance to tomorrow's semifinals. Sweden's Hugo Nerud and Jonas Richter won the first heat in a 6:22.19, with Serbia's Nikolaj Pimenov and Martin Mackovic winning the second heat in a 6:25.20.

"Today's race went to plan, which was to win and progress," Davison said. "We will continue to build through the semi tomorrow then into the final Tuesday."
 
With only six boats entered in the event, the U.S. women's quadruple sculls crew of Lauren O'Connor (Belleville, Wis./University of Wisconsin/ARION), Teal Cohen (Dallas, Texas/ University of Washington/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Emily Delleman (Davenport, Iowa/Stanford University/Craftsbury Green Racing Project), and Grace Joyce (Northfield, Ill./University of Wisconsin/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) won their preliminary race for lanes on Sunday, clocking a 6:22.23 to best the Ukranian crew by 0.18 seconds. Ukraine led a tight race with the U.S. through the 1,500-meter mark before the American crew was able to pull its bowball ahead in the final few strokes. The U.S. finished with a time of 6:22.23, with Ukraine clocking a 6:22.41. Canada made a late push to finish third in a 6:23.21. The six crews will race again on Tuesday with Olympic qualification spots on the line.
 
The U.S. men's eight also won its preliminary race for lanes on Sunday. The crew of coxswain Rielly Milne (Woodinville, Wash./University of Washington/California Rowing Club), Pieter Quinton (Portland, Ore./Harvard University/California Rowing Club), Evan Olson (Bothell, Wash./University of Washington/Seattle Scullers/Penn AC), Peter Chatain (Winnetka, Ill./Stanford University/California Rowing Club), Chris Carlson (Bedford, N.H./University of Washington/New York Athletic Club), Clark Dean (Sarasota, Fla./Harvard University/Boston Rowing Federation), Christian Tabash (Alexandria, Va./Harvard University/University of California, Berkeley/USRowing Training Center – Sarasota), Nick Rusher (West Bend, Wis./Yale University/California Rowing Club), and Henry Hollingsworth (Dover, Mass./Brown University/California Rowing Club) took an early lead on Canada in the opening 500 meters and then pulled away in the middle half of the race to win by more than three seconds. The U.S. clocked a 5:33.54, with Canada crossing in a 5:36.71. Italy finished third, with Austria rounding out the four-boat field. The four crews will race again on Tuesday for spots in the Olympics.
 
With the top four finishers in each heat of the men's single sculls advancing to tomorrow's quarterfinals, Jacob Plihal (Vashon Island, Wash./Northeastern University/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) finished second behind Ireland's Konan Pazzaia to move on to the next round. Racing in the first of five heats, Plihal got off the line in third position before moving into a dead heat with Ukraine's Mykola Kalashnyk for second as the scullers hit the midway point of the race. Plihal stayed close to Pazzaia through the 1,500-meter mark before cruising to an easy second-place finish. Pazzaia clocked a 6:58.93, with Plihal finishing in a 7:04.44. Norway's Kjetil Borch, the defending Olympic silver medalist, posted the fastest time in the heats, winning the second race in a 6:56.22 ahead of Italy's Davide Mumolo. Great Britain's George Bourne posted the second fastest time of the morning, winning the fourth heat in a 6:56.73.
 
With two to advance to the final, the men's quadruple sculls crew of Dominique Williams (Madison, Conn./University of Pennsylvania/Penn AC), Will Legenzowski (Vista, N.Y./Brown University/California Rowing Club), Liam Galloway (Ridgefield, Conn./Yale University/New York Athletic Club), and Kevin Cardno (Huntsville, Ala./University of Alabama, Huntsville/Texas Rowing Center) finished second in the first of two heats. The U.S. got off the line in third position before moving into second place at the midway point of the race. Norway took an early lead on Ukraine and then was able to hold the U.S. at bay over the final 1,000 meters. Norway clocked a 5:48.58, with the U.S. finishing in a 5:50.99. Australia won the second heat over Estonia by a little less than one second, clocking a 5:48.92.

"We had a good race in terms of execution and professionalism, and now it's up to us to preform to the best of our abilities on Tuesday," Legenzowski said. "If I had to pick three guys to race with in a tight race, it would be the three guys that I'm here with right now."
 
In the lightweight men's double sculls, Sam Melvin (Huntington Beach, Calif./Columbia University/New York Athletic Club) and Cooper Tuckerman (Bozeman, Mont./Dartmouth College/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) will race in tomorrow's repechages after finishing third in their heat. With two to advance to the final, Melvin and Tuckerman got off the line in fourth position before moving into third at the midway point. While Germany's Jonathan Rommelmann and Paul Leerkamp began to pull away from the field in the third 500 meters, the race for second place tightened up as Austria, Poland, and the U.S. were separated by just 0.22 seconds as the crews came into the final 500 meters. Over the final stretch, Poland's Daniel Galeza and Jerzy Kowalski were able to pull away to earn the second spot in the final. Germany won the race in a 6:21.77, with Poland taking second in a 6:23.64. The U.S finished in a 6:25.28. France's Ferdinand Ludwig and Hugo Beurey won the first heat in a 6:22.28, with Greece taking second.
 
In the PR1 men's single sculls, Andrew Mangan (Buffalo, N.Y./Stanford University/Texas Rowing Center/West Side Rowing Club) finished third in his heat and now will race in a repechage on Monday. Mangan raced in third position to entire way down the course. France's Alexis Sanchez, who finished ninth at last year's world championships, won the race in a 9:30.43 to advance directly to Tuesday's final. Mangan clocked a 10:08.83. Brazil's Rene Campos Pereira won the second heat in a 9:48.70.
 
In the PR2 mixed double sculls, Russell Gernaat (Grand Rapids, Mich./Lake Casitas Rowing Club) and Madison Eberhard (Buffalo, N.Y./Canisius University/ West Side Rowing Club) also finished third in their heat and will race in tomorrow's repechages. Israel's Saleh Shahin and Shahar Milfelder, who won the B final at last year's world championships, won the first heat in an 8:21.60 to move directly into the final, with Gernaat and Eberhard finishing in a 9:08.00. Germany's Paul Umbach and Jasmina Bier won the second heat in an 8:35.17.
 
For complete results, please visit World Rowing's website at www.worldrowing.com. Live race tracker and live audio is available for all races on World Rowing's website, and live video streaming for all A final races will be available Tuesday on the World Rowing website.
 
The full Olympic team will be nominated by June 7 and complete Paralympic team will be nominated by July 1. Click here to see a quick guide to Olympic and Paralympic qualification. For information, updates, and athlete features, visit our Row to Paris page.

Click here for the current rosters of the 2024 World Rowing Olympic & Paralympic Qualification Regatta Team, 2024 Olympic Team, and 2024 Paralympic Team.

Rowing at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 will take place July 27-August 4. The Paralympic Games Paris 2024 are scheduled from August 28 to September 8, with Para rowing events beginning August 30.

USRowing would like to thank our national team sponsors including our Official Boat Supplier for the U.S. Senior, Under 23, and Para Rowing National Teams, Filippi Lido; our Official Apparel Provider, 776BC; our Official Partner, Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc., our Exclusive Supplement Supplier, Thorne HealthTech; our Official Performance Electronics Outfitter, Nielsen-Kellerman; the National Rowing Foundation; and TrainingPeaks, the Official Training and Coaching Software of USRowing's High Performance Team.