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: 13
This looks to be a bit more straightforward for a top-two place than the singles. The Danish and Dutch pairings look to be a step above the rest of the competition. Denmark, with Fred Vystavel and Joachim Sutton are the Olympic bronze medallists. They had a somewhat disappointing 2023 after battling with injury; an eighth place at the Europeans was followed by 12th at the World Championships. They’ve come back with a bang in 2024, taking bronze at the Varese World Cup. The Netherlands has the experienced pairing of Nikki Van Sprang and Guillaume Krommenhoek. This duo won the B-Final in Tokyo and were both in the M8 that won world championship silver in 2022. Last season Van Sprang helped the M4- qualify for Paris with a fourth place and Krommenhoek did the same for the M8, picking up another World Championship silver. This season they raced at the Europeans, finishing in a solid fifth place.
Behind these two the crews with the best shot at upsetting the odds are Germany, Julius Christ and Soeneke Kruse, who were eighth in Varese, Lithuania, Dovydas and Domantas Stankunas (13th at the 2023 Worlds and ninth at the Europeans this season), and Serbia, Dusan Slavnic and Viktor Pivac (eighth at the European Championships)
Other crews to namecheck include Czechia, Tomas Sisma and Dalibor Nedela, tenth at the Euros, and the very experienced Hungarian pair of Adrian Juhasz and Bela Simon (20th at the 2023 Worlds and 14th at this year’s Europeans).
Prediction
The Dutch to lead the Danes home, some distance clear of the rest of the field.
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