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: 10
This looks to be one of the most competitive of all the men’s events with as many as seven of the ten entries more than capable of grabbing a top-two placing.
China could well start as marginal favourites. They have made two changes to the crew that finished a disappointing 14th last year, brining in the Olympic M2X bronze medallists and 2019 world champions Liang Zhang and Zhiyu Liu. This duo were sixth in the M2X at last year’s worlds, qualifying that boat for Paris. It remains to be seen if they remain in that boat. If the Chinese are successful in qualifying the quad then Liu and Zhang will have to race in both events (the rules of the FOQR are that it is the athletes who qualify the boat and therefore if they compete at the Olympics then they have to compete in that event). Zhang and Liu are joined by Xudi Yi and Sultan Adilijiang who raced in this boat in both 2022 (finishing 12th) and 2023.
Australia hadn’t originally intended to send their M4X to the FOQR, but a strong showing at the opening World Cup, where they finished fifth, prompted a change of mind. They have a very talented and experienced crew racing, with Tokyo Olympic bronze medallists Jack Cleary and Caleb Antill. They are joined by Campbell Watts (who was fourth in this boat class in 2019) and U23 bronze medallist Alexander Rossi. Australia had a disappointing 2023 season with the quad (which included Cleary and Antill) only managing 11th and therefore missing Olympic qualification.
Estonia finished sixth at the European championships last month. They have some of the most experienced athletes across any event, with Allar Raja and Tonu Endrekson in the two and three seats. Both men have over 20 years’ experience on the senior international circuit and the 43-year-old Endrekson will be aiming to qualify for his sixth Olympic Games. They are joined by Mikhail Kushteyn and Johann Poolak. This line-up made the A-Final at both the European and world championships in 2022, but slipped back to eighth, and out of the Olympic qualifying places, at the 2023 Worlds.
Ukraine has made one change to the crew that finished eighth at both the Varese World Cup and the European championships; Sergi Gryn swaps one blade for two as he moves across from the M4- and returns to the boat he last raced in in 2019. He joins two of his crewmates from the 2019 boat, Olexandr Nadtoka and Ivan Dovhodko. The fourth member of the crew is Mykola Mazur, who was also in the M4- last season but moved to the quad at the start of 2024.
France has a crew that includes three members of the boat that finished eighth in 2022, Theophile and Valentin Onfroy along with Victor Marcelot. The fourth member of the crew is Yoann Lamiral. He made his senior debut this season, racing in the M2X at the European championships with Marcelot. The Onfroy brothers are two of the most experienced members of the French team; they were both in the M4- in Rio and after that raced together in the M2-, winning European silver in 2017 and 2018 and world bronze in 2018. At an Olympic level France haven’t qualified this boat since London.
Norway were 12th at the opening World Cup of 2024, but have a completely different line-up for the FOQR. The crew includes Olympians Kristoffer Brun, Jan Helvig and Erik Solbakken. Brun, a former lightweight, was LM2X world champion back in 2013 and Olympic bronze medallist in Rio. Helvig and Solbakken were both in the M4X that finished ninth in Tokyo. The final member of the crew is Jonas Juel. He was in the M4X in 2022 and 2023 and this season raced in the M2X with Solbakken at both the World Cup and European championships.
The USA enter the FOQR with an unchanged line-up from the crew that finished ninth at the 2023 world championships, Kevin Cardno, Liam Galloway, William Legenzowski and Dominique Williams. The USA last qualified this boat for the Olympics back in Beijing. Both Galloway and Legenzowski are former U23 World Championship medallists.
Czechia make two changes to the crew that finished ninth at the European championships with Jan Fleissner and Jan Cincibuch joining Jan Cizek and Jan Potucek (yes, there are four Jans in the crew!). Fleissner raced in the M4- at the Euros and Cincibuch was in the M2X .
Spain finished ninth at the opening World Cup with their line-up of Antonio Diaz Ramos, Jordi Jofre I Senciales, Gonzalo Garcia Ferraro and Manel Balastegui. Ramos was U23 BLM2X silver medallist last season and Balastegui is another former lightweight, eighth in the LM1X at last year’s world championships. Ferraro was Spain’s representative in the M1X last season and placed 21st at the worlds. Senciales raced the single the year before but with a similar result.
The final crew in the event are the young New Zealand crew of Jack Ready, Zac Rumble, Flynn Eliades-Watson and Ben Mason. All four of the crew were part of the New Zealand U23 team in 2022 with Ready and Mason winning bronze in the BM4X and Eliades-Watson a silver in the BM4-. Rumble rowed in the BM4+ that made the A-Final. As part of the senior team Mason raced in the M2X at the world championships last year, placing 11th, and Ready also raced the M2X at the final World Cup, placing tenth. This has the feel of a development crew for the Kiwis, but racing the FOQR will be good experience.
Prediction
This is actually really tough to call. I’m going for China and Estonia.
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