Entries Set for Final Olympic Qualification Regatta

Entries are now set at the 2021 World Rowing Final Olympic Qualification Regatta, where six U.S. boats will try to earn spots in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

As a country, the U.S. qualified eight Olympic boats for Tokyo at the 2019 World Rowing Championships, and beginning on May 15, the U.S. men's single sculls, men's double sculls, lightweight men's double sculls, lightweight women's double sculls, men's pair and men's quadruple sculls will have a chance to join those boats at the Games by earning the final qualification spots for Tokyo.

In total, more than 400 athletes from 49 nations are scheduled to compete in the regatta, which runs May 15-17 in Lucerne, Switzerland.

In the men's single sculls, John Graves (Cincinnati, Ohio/Trinity College), a six-time senior national team member, earned his spot in Lucerne with an open-water victory at the first U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Rowing at the end of February in Sarasota. Graves is one of 26 scullers vying for the final two Olympic qualification spots. The men's single has, by far, the most entries at the regatta.

Zachary Heese (Pelham, N.Y./University of Virginia) and Jasper Liu (Phoenix, Ariz./University of Pennsylvania) won the trials of the lightweight men's double sculls by more than five seconds to earn the right to compete at the qualifier. Heese and Liu, who were boatmates in the lightweight men's quadruple sculls in 2019, are part of an 18-boat field in Lucerne. A top-two finish will earn them a spot in Tokyo.

Like its lightweight counterpart, the men's double sculls also has 18 crews entered in the event. The duo of Kevin Cardno (Huntsville, Ala./ University of Alabama, Huntsville) and Jonathan Kirkegaard (DeForest, Wis./Purdue University) held on to win their final at the trials in Sarasota by just under one second. Cardno and Kirkegaard will need to finish in the top two in Lucerne to qualify for Tokyo.

In the lightweight women's double sculls, Michelle Sechser (Folsom, Calif./University of Tulsa) and Molly Reckford (Short Hills, N.J./Dartmouth College) laid down a dominant performance at the trials in Sarasota, winning the final by more than eight seconds. The duo came back a few weeks later at the second 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Rowing in West Windsor, N.J., to test their speed in the open weight women's double event. Sechser and Reckford finished second, using that racing to gain valuable experience ahead of the qualifier. In Lucerne, the duo is part of a 16-boat field, with the top three finishers earning spots in Tokyo.

In the men's pair, Tom Peszek (Farmington Hills, Mich./University of Michigan) and Mike DiSanto (Boston, Mass./Harvard University) raced uncontested at the trials in New Jersey to solidify their right to compete at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta. Peszek, a 10-time national team member, is trying to make his second Olympic Games. He raced the pair at the London 2012 Olympics, finishing eighth. DiSanto, a six-time national team member, finished fourth in the eight at the Rio 2016 Olympics. Peszek and DiSanto are one of 14 entries in the event.

Fresh off a fourth-place finish at the first World Rowing Cup race of the year, the men's quadruple sculls crew of Charles Anderson (Upper Darby, Pa./Temple University), Justin Keen (Hatfield, Pa./Penn State University), Eliot Putnam (Littleton, Mass./Cornell University) and Sorin Koszyk (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./Cornell University) are one of 12 boats racing at the qualifier. Racing in its first international regatta together, the crew missed the medal stand by a bow-ball in Croatia and hopes to use that racing experience as a springboard to claim one of the final two spots for Tokyo.

Racing at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta gets underway on Saturday, May 15, with heats and repechages for events with more than 13 entries. Sunday will feature the remaining repechages, quarterfinals and semifinals. Finals will be held on Monday. Racing gets underway at 10 a.m. local time each day.

Click here for the U.S. Final Olympic Qualification Regatta roster and bios.

The Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will be held July 23-August 9, with rowing events slated to start on the morning of July 23. Click here for the 2020 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Qualification Process Quick Guide.