Image credit: World Rowing
With the start of the Paris Olympics just a few weeks away the time has come for the Final Olympic Qualifying Regatta, aka “The Regatta of Death”. This is the last chance for 28 boats to book their place at the Olympic party. Held on the glorious waters of the Rotsee in Lucerne – the aptly-named Lake of the Gods – it is, perhaps, the hardest and most brutal set of races throughout the entire Olympic cycle. The maths is very straightforward (unlike the Continental Qualifiers which are anything but); finish in the top two and you’re in. If you don’t then that’s it – the Olympic dream is over for another four years.
Entries: 11
Italy will head into Lucerne as the overwhelming favourites to take the first of two final qualifying spots. Their crew of Matteo Lodo, Giovanni Abagnale, Giuseppe Vicino and Nicholas Kohl took victory at the Varese World Cup, handing the world champions from Great Britain their first defeat since the Tokyo Olympics. They couldn’t quite repeat the feat at the Europeans, but still secured a solid silver behind the British. Italy have prioritised this boat with Lodo and Vicino from the bronze medal Tokyo crew and Abagnale from the M2- that raced in Tokyo. Kohl is the only newbie in the crew; he won bronze at the U23 world championships in 2019 and started his senior career this season (no doubt Oxford University will be watching in interest as Kohl has already stated he’s going up to Oxford next year).
Behind the Italians it should be a great battle for the remaining qualification spot. Germany didn’t qualify this boat for Tokyo, and were last in Rio. This year they stand a really good chance of making the Olympic startline. Their crew of Frederick Brauer, Matte Grossmann, Kasper Virnekaes and Jaspar Angl were fourth at the Varese World Cup. Only Grossmann returns from the 2023 crew that finished a very disappointing 16th last season. Angl was in the M8 that qualified for Tokyo after finishing fifth in 2023 and Breuer and Virnekaes are both newcomers to the senior team having raced at the U23’s last season (Virnekaes winning a bronze medal in the BM8).
Switzerland were fifth at the European championships. Their crew of Joel Schuerch, Tim Roth, Patrick Brunner and Kai Schaetzle is unchanged from the crew that missed Olympic qualification by one place in 2023. They made a decent start to their 2024 campaign with a solid fifth at the Varese World Cup. Schuerch was in the crew that finished ninth in Tokyo and he and Roth were also in the M4- that reached the A-Final at the 2022 World Championships. Brunner and Schaeltze both raced in the M4X in 2022 finishing 11th . As mentioned in the M1X preview, Shaeltze is also entered in that event. Whilst it’s unusual for an athlete to be entered in two events at the FOQR it’s pretty unprecedented for those two events to be both sweep and sculling. I’m intrigued to see what actually happens.
One of the most experienced crews in the field is Poland. Three of the crew, Michal Szpakowski, Mikolaj Burda and Mateusz Wilangowski were in the crew that won the B-Final in Tokyo and Burda and Szpakowski also raced at the London and Tokyo Olympics. The final member of the crew is 22-year-old Bartosz Bartkowski. He raced on the U23 team from 2021-2023 with a best performance of fifth in the BM4X in 2021. He’s also made one senior appearance racing in the M4X at the second World Cup of 2022. The Poles had a somewhat mixed 2023; they finished fifth at the European championships, but their 13th at the worlds meant they missed Olympic qualification. They opened their 2024 campaign at the European championships in Szeged, winning the B-Final.
South Africa have qualified for the last two Olympics (with a superb fourth place in Rio) but face a severe challenge to make it three in a row. They were tenth at the 2023 world championships and return in 2024 with three of that crew, Luc Daffarn, James Mitchell and Henry Torr. The fourth member of the crew is Jake Green who raced in the M2x last season but was part of the M4- in 2022. Green raced in the M2- in Tokyo. Mitchell and Torr were the M2- in 2022 and finished 11th at the world championships.
Ukraine made the A-Final at the first World Cup and the European championships. They come with half of the crew that finished 11th in 2023 (Oleh Kravchenko and Sergii Gryn). They are joined by the M2X from 2023, (Dmytro Hula and Oleksii Selivanov).
12th at the 2023 world championships was Denmark. They are unchanged for 2024 with a crew of Magnus Valbirk, Kaare Mortensen, Magnus Rathborg and Bastian Secher. They raced at the first World Cup in Varese, winning the B-Final.
India produced their best-ever result when taking fourth in this boat class at the first World Cup of 2023. They return in 2024 with the same line-up, Jaswinder Singh, Bheem Singh, Punit Kumar and Ashish Ashish. Whilst I don’t expect them to make the top two I think they will give a lot of the “bigger” rowing nations a bit of a scare.
Prediction
Italy clear in top spot but as for the second place that’s a bit more tricky. I’m going for Switzerland.
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