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: 4
The maths is very simple – two through and two out. With all due respect to the Austrian’s they will come into Lucerne as the weakest of the four crews. They raced at the 2023 world championships, finishing tenth and this season were sixth at Varese and fifth at the Europeans. Whilst many neutrals would love to see the Austrians make it to Paris, the harsh reality is I think the battle for the top two spots will be a three- boat contest between Italy, Canada and the USA.
The USA were the crew that finished in the worst possible place at the 2023 worlds – sixth with only the top five qualifying for the Olympics. They will certainly come to Lucerne with fire in their bellies as they are the only nation to have competed in the M8 at every Olympic Games bar the boycotted Moscow Games in 1980 (although they’ve not won a medal since Beijing). They’ve made a few changes to their line-up from last year; U23 bronze medalist Christian Tabash joins the crew, as does Nicholas Rusher from the fourth-placed M8 from 2022. The third new member of the crew is Evan Olson who finished fifth in the M2- last year and finally Reilly Milne replaces James Catalano in the coxes seat. They join the returners from 2023, Henry Hollingsworth, Clark Dean, Chris Carlson, Peter Chatain and Pieter Quinton.
Canada is another nation with a huge pedigree in this event as champions in Beijing and runners-up in London. However, they have failed to qualify the M8 for the last two Olympics and that’s been a reflection of some of the difficulties Canadian men’s rowing has been going through over the last seven or eight years. They finished a disappointing eighth last year and have made two changes to their line-up for 2024. Joining the crew are Terek Been and John Walkey. Been was in the M8 that finished fifth in 2022 and last season raced in the M4X. Walkey was U23 world champion in the BM4- in 2021 and made his senior debut at the final World Cup of 2023, finishing eighth in the M2-. Three of the crew, Jakub Buczek, Gavin Stone and Will Crothers were in the M4- in Tokyo and Crothers also raced at both the London and Rio Olympics (winning a silver medal in the M8 in 2012). The rest of the crew are all from last year’s boat, Joel Cullen, Ryan Clegg, Curtis Ames and cox Laura Court.
The final crew in the event is Italy. They have less of an Olympic pedigree in the M8 than either the USA or Canada. They didn’t race in Tokyo and finished in last place in Rio and you have to go all the way back to 1936 for the last time an Italian M8 stood on the Olympic podium. But, they will fancy their chances of at least qualifying for Paris. They were fourth at both the Varese World Cup and the European Championships, although for Lucerne they have tweaked their line-up, bringing in Olympian Gennaro di Mauro (after he missed out on the M1X spot) and Davide Verita’ (who was in the M4- last season). They join Matteo Della Valle, Jacapo Frigerio, Emanuele Gaetani Liseo, Salvatore Monfrecola, Leonardo Caprina, Vincenzo Abbagnale and cox Alessandra Faella.
Prediction
This should be a great contest, with only the Austrians unlikely to be contending for a top-two place. I’m picking the USA in first with Italy holding off the Canadians for the second qualifying spot.
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