2023 Pan American Games Get Underway Saturday

The 2023 Pan American Games get underway on Saturday at Laguna Grande in San Pedro de la Paz. Competing in every boat class, the U.S. will have 21 athletes racing in 15 boats including the men's and women's single sculls, double sculls, lightweight double sculls, quadruple sculls, pair, four, and eight, as well as the mixed eight.

Grace Joyce (Northfield, Ill./University of Wisconsin/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) will represent the U.S. in the women's single sculls. Joyce won gold in the event at April's 2023 Pan American Games Qualification Regatta and recently raced at the 2023 World Rowing Championships in the women's quadruple sculls. At the last Pan American Games in 2019, Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, and Chile won gold, silver, and bronze, respectively. The U.S. took fifth overall.

Jacob Plihal (Vashon Island, Wash./Northeastern University/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) will represent the U.S. in the men's single sculls. Plihal won gold in the event at the 2023 Pan American Games Qualification Regatta, raced in the men's quadruple sculls at the 2022 World Rowing Championships, and will now be one of 18 entries this weekend in the men's single. In 2019, Cuba, Mexico, and Argentina won gold, silver, and bronze, respectively. The U.S. finished sixth.

Madeleine Focht (Long Beach, Calif./California State University, Long Beach/ARION) and Veronica Nicacio (Vancouver, Wash./University of Portland/ARION), who won gold in the event at the 2023 Pan American Games Qualification Regatta, will represent the U.S. in the women's double sculls. In 2019, Team USA won silver, with Cuba finishing two seconds in front to win gold. Argentina took bronze.

Mark Couwenhoven (Parkton, Md./University of Maryland-Baltimore County/Penn AC) and Casey Fuller (Newtown, Conn./Fairfield University/Saugatuck Rowing Club) will represent Team USA in the men's double sculls. At the 2023 Pan American Games Qualification Regatta held earlier this year, Fuller, with then partner Luke Rein (Barrington, R.I./College of Charleston/Penn AC), won the B final to finish seventh overall. In 2019, the U.S. finished second in the B final for eighth overall.

Elizabeth Martin (Lexington, Mass./ Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Riverside Boat Club) and Mary Wilson (Dover, Del./Duke University/Vesper Boat Club/Penn AC), who won bronze in the event at the 2023 Pan American Games Qualification Regatta, will represent the U.S. in the lightweight women's double sculls. In 2019, the U.S. finished seventh overall. Martin, who also will race the women's eight, raced in the lightweight women's quadruple sculls at the 2022 World Rowing Championships.

In the lightweight men's double sculls, Sean Richardson (Beverly, Mass./University of Massachusetts/Riverside Boat Club) and Alex Twist (Boston, Mass./ University of Puget Sound/Riverside Boat Club), who won the B final in the event at the 2023 Pan American Games Qualification Regatta, will represent Team USA. Richardson, who also will race the men's eight, raced in the lightweight men's quadruple sculls at the 2022 World Rowing Championships. In 2019, the U.S. finished third in the B final for ninth-place overall.

Isa Darvin (Madison, Wis./University of Wisconsin/Penn AC) and Hannah Paynter (Lyme, Conn./Princeton University/ARION) will represent the U.S. in the women's pair. At the 2023 Pan American Games Qualification Regatta held earlier this year, Darvin, with then partner Cristina Pretto (Prospect, Conn./Trinity College/Penn AC), took second. In 2019, the U.S. finished fourth, with Chile, Canada, and Mexico taking the top three spots.

In the men's pair, the U.S. will be represented by Ezra Carlson (Eureka, Calif./University of Washington/ Craftsbury Green Racing Project) and Alexander Hedge (Morristown, N.J./Columbia University/ Craftsbury Green Racing Project), who won gold in the event at the 2023 Pan American Games Qualification Regatta. Both Carlson and Hedge recently represented Team USA in the men's eight at the 2023 World Rowing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. In 2019, the U.S. finished sixth in the pair, with Chile, Brazil, and Argentina taking gold, silver, and bronze.

In the women's quadruple sculls, the U.S. will be represented by Focht, Katherine Horvat (Philadelphia, Pa./Yale University/ARION), Joyce, and Nicacio. The foursome won silver at the 2023 Pan American Games Qualification Regatta earlier this year. In 2019, the U.S. won bronze, with Chile and Cuba winning gold and silver, respectively.

In the men's quadruple sculls, the U.S. will be represented by Couwenhoven, Fuller,

Cooper Hurley (Andover, Mass./University of Delaware/Penn AC), and Rein. The boat finished sixth at the 2023 Pan American Games Qualification Regatta, narrowly receiving a bid to San Pedro de la Paz. In 2019, the U.S. also finished in sixth, with Argentina, Chile, and Cuba taking the top three spots.

Darvin, Lauren Miller (Saint Cloud, Minn./University of Minnesota/ARION), Paynter, and Pretto will represent Team USA in the women's four. The boat won silver at the 2023 Pan American Games Qualification Regatta earlier this year.

Fuller, Rein, Hurley, and Nick Ruggiero (Haddonfield, N.J./University of Delaware/Penn AC) will represent Team USA in the men's four. The boat finished fourth at the 2023 Pan American Games Qualification Regatta. In 2019, the U.S. took fifth, with Argentina, Cuba, and Brazil winning gold, silver, and bronze.

Colette Lucas-Conwell (Paris, France/University of Virginia/California Rowing Club/New York Athletic Club), Darvin, Focht, Horvat, Martin, Miller, Nicacio, Paynter, and Pretto will represent the U.S. in the women's eight. The U.S. will be one of six entries.

In the men's eight, Lucas-Conwell, Carlson, Couwenhoven, Hedge, Fuller, Hurley, Ruggiero, Richardson, and Twist will represent Team USA. In 2019, the U.S. took sixth, with Argentina, Chile, and Cuba winning gold, silver, and bronze.

Lucas-Conwell, Carlson, Couwenhoven, Darvin, Hedge, Plihal, Miller, Paynter, and Pretto will represent the U.S. in the mixed eight. A new boat class being contested for the first time this year, the U.S. will be one of nine entries.

The Pan American and Parapan American Games is the largest multi-sport event in the Americas, where the best athletes from all over the continent compete. It is held every four years, with Chile hosting for the first time in its history in 2023.

Racing at the 2023 Pan American Games will start on Saturday, October 21, at 8 a.m. local time. Medal races will begin on Monday, October 23. Click here for schedules, start lists, results, and event updates. Live streaming for the five-day regatta will be available via the PanAm Sports Channel.