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: 6
Hot favourites in this event is Ukraine. They have a highly experienced line-up and returned to 2024 with the same line-up that won the European championships last season, Daryna Verkhogliad, Nataliia Dovgodko, Anastasiia Kozhenkova, Kateryna Dudchenko. However, despite winning the European title, they ended the 2023 season on a disappointing note, finishing eighth and missing that vital Olympic qualifying spot. They made a good start to their 2024 campaign with a win at the Varese World Cup and were runners-up to the British at the European championships.
France were fourth at the European championships, their best ever result in this boat class at the Euros. Their crew is Violaine Aernoudts, Jeanne Roche, Helene Lefebvre and Elodie Ravera-Scaramozzino. Lefebvre, Aernoudts and Roche were in the 2023 crew that finished 12th. Ravera-Scaramozzino raced in the W2X at the Tokyo Olympics and spent part of the 2023 season racing in the Beach Sprints winning a silver medal in the CW1X.
Canada were Olympic bronze medallists way back in Atlanta, but since then they’ve only qualified for one other Olympics – Beijing – where they finished last. They will have high hopes of making the top two in Lucerne. They have made two changes to the crew that finished tenth last year with Shannon Kennedy and Carling Zeeman remaining and being joined by Marilou Duvernay Tardif and Katie Clark. The latter two were the W2x last season, placing 15th. Zeeman is the most experienced of the quartet and raced in the W1X at both the Rio and Tokyo Olympics. She was world silver medallist in the quad back in 2013 (the last time Canada won a world championship medal in this boat class).
Poland’s crew includes Tokyo silver medallist Marta Wieliczko and she leads a young crew of U23 internationals, including U23 world champion Barbara Jechorek along with Dominika Baranowska and teenager Anna Khlibenko. They raced at the Europeans, finishing ninth.
New Zealand has a mix of youth and experience. The experience comes from Tokyo Olympian Georgia Nugent-Leary. She was in the crew that finished eighth. She’s joined by sisters Laura and Kathryn Glen who were both in the BW4X in 2019. The final member of the crew is Isabella Carter who makes her international debut. The Glens and Carter are all members of Avon Rowing Club.
The final crew in the event is the USA. They have two of the crew that finished 11th last season, Grace Joyce and Lauren O’Connor. They are joined by Emily Delleman who was in the ninth-placed quad in 2022 and Teal Cohen who raced in the W4- in 2022. The USA are one of only two countries (the other being Germany) that have raced in this boat class at every Olympics (since it became a coxless quad in 1988– and they only missed the Moscow Olympics in the W4X+ due to the boycott), so there will be a huge amount of pressure on the US to continue that run.
Prediction
Ukraine and France to take the two slots.
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