Racing Gets Underway Friday at the Paralympic Games Paris 2024

Both U.S. crews will be in action on Friday as racing at the Paralympic Games Paris 2024 gets underway at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.

The U.S. will have two boats – the PR3 mixed double sculls and PR3 mixed four with coxswain – racing in Paris, having qualified both crews through the 2023 World Rowing Championships last year in Belgrade, Serbia. All seven athletes who will be competing in Paris are first-time Paralympians.

The PR3 mixed double sculls crew of Todd Vogt (Rochester, N.Y./University of Buffalo/Portland Boat Club) and Saige Harper (Easthampton, Mass./Sacred Heart University) will take on crews from Australia, India, Ukraine, Thailand, and France in the first of two heats Friday morning, with the winner moving to Sunday’s final and the remaining boats heading to Saturday’s repechage. Harper and Vogt finished fourth at the 2024 World Rowing Cup III in Poznan, Poland. Vogt won a silver medal in the event with Gemma Wollenschlaeger at the 2023 World Rowing Championships, while Harper was part of the silver-medal four at last year’s world championships. Australia’s Jed Altschwager and Nikki Ayers won the world title in 2023 and also won gold at the world cup race in Poznan earlier this summer. They are the top seeds in the event in Paris.

The PR3 four with coxswain of Emelie Eldracher (Andover, Mass./Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Ben Washburne (Madison, Conn./Williams College), Alex Flynn (Wilmington, Mass./Tufts University), Gemma Wollenschlaeger (St. Augustine Beach, Fla./Temple University), and Skylar Dahl (Minneapolis, Minn./University of Virginia) recently won a silver medal at the 2024 World Rowing Cup III in Poznan. All but Wollenschlaeger were part of the crew that won silver at the 2023 World Rowing Championships last year in Belgrade, Serbia. In both cases, the U.S. finished behind Great Britain.

“We’re all feeling really, really excited,” Dahl said. “Our swing rows we’ve been having, our practices, have been going really well. We’re just talking about how much fun we are going to have out there. That’s the goal.”

The U.S. will be racing against Brazil, Australia, France, and the Republic of Korea in the second of two heats on Friday, with the top two finishers moving directly to the final and the remaining boats heading to the repechage. France finished third at World Cup III earlier this year. The British boat, which will race in the first heat, has won the event 13 years in a row at the world and Paralympic levels. The U.S. won silver behind Great Britain in the event at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

“It’s been a lot, overwhelming sometimes, but really fun,” Dahl said of the Paralympic experience so far. “It helps that our crew, and a few of the other crews we are racing against, were here last summer as well at the Row for Paris (Regatta). This whole venue is pretty familiar, so it’s one less variable to worry about, so that’s been really nice. It feels pretty comfortable here.”

Rowing at the Paralympic Games continues Saturday with repechages. Finals will take place Sunday. Click here for a complete race schedule.

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.