Four U.S. Boats Qualify for Olympics at Final Qualification Regatta in Lucerne

Four U.S. boats earned their spots in the upcoming Olympic Games Tuesday at the 2024 World Rowing Final Olympic & Paralympic Qualification Regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland.
 
The men's double sculls, women's quadruple sculls, and men's eight all won their finals, while the men's single sculls took second to qualify for the Olympic Games Paris 2024. In total, the U.S. now will have 12 boats racing in the Olympic Games and two in the Paralympic Games later this summer.
 
The first crew to earn its spot in Paris on Tuesday was the men's double sculls duo of Ben Davison (Inverness, Fla./University of Washington/California Rowing Club) and Sorin Koszyk (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./Cornell University/California Rowing Club). Davison and Koszyk sat in third position through the midway point of the race before making their move in the third 500 meters. With two to qualify, Australia's Marcus Della Marta and David Bartholot took the early lead on Serbia's Nikolaj Pimenov and Martin Mackovic. The Australians continued to hold a slight advantage on Serbia at the 1,000-meter mark, with the U.S. just one-second off the pace. Davison and Koszyk moved into first during the third 500 meters, overtaking Australia and Serbia. The Americans pulled away over the final 500 meters to earn the victory in a 6:23.14. Serbia overtook Australia to take second in a 6:26.47, with the Aussies finishing third in a 6:28.33. For Davison, the victory earned him his second trip to the Olympics, while Koszyk qualified for his first Olympic Games. This marks the first time the U.S. has qualified a men's double for the Olympics since 2008.
 
"The race went as we thought it would," Davison said. "We knew the other boats were going to push the pace to the 1k. We just needed to weather the storm in the first half, stay within striking distance, and then go to work. It was great to get the boat qualified today. This is something that has been on the top of our minds since the world championships last summer. I'm ecstatic to be going back to the Olympic Games, but I am most happy that my family will be able to come and watch this time."

Lauren O'Connor (Belleville, Wis./University of Wisconsin/ARION), Teal Cohen (Dallas, Texas/ University of Washington/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Emily Delleman (Davenport, Iowa/Stanford University/Craftsbury Green Racing Project), and Grace Joyce (Northfield, Ill./University of Wisconsin/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) overtook Ukraine in the final sprint to win the women's quadruple sculls and earn a spot in Paris. Ukraine took the early lead on Poland and the U.S. and continued to row at the top of the field through the 1,500-meter mark. The Americans overtook Poland in the second 500 meters to move into second position and a qualification spot as the crews hit the halfway point of the race. The U.S. continued to move away from the rest of the pack during the third 500 meters, with Canada moving into third position. In the final 250 meters, the U.S. chased down the Ukrainian crew to win the race in a 6:28.04, with Ukraine finishing in a 6:28.27. Canada finished third. With the victory, all four U.S. women qualified for their first Olympic teams.
 
"We were confident going into our race that if we executed what we had been practicing, we would end up in a good place," Cohen said. "We knew it was going to be super tight and come down to the final few strokes, and we were prepared for that challenge. It's a dream come true to qualify for Paris. It is all of our first Olympics, so it feels extra special."
 
In the final race of the day, the U.S. men's eight of coxswain Rielly Milne (Woodinville, Wash./University of Washington/California Rowing Club), Pieter Quinton (Portland, Ore./Harvard University/California Rowing Club), Evan Olson (Bothell, Wash./University of Washington/Seattle Scullers/Penn AC), Peter Chatain (Winnetka, Ill./Stanford University/California Rowing Club), Chris Carlson (Bedford, N.H./University of Washington/New York Athletic Club), Clark Dean (Sarasota, Fla./Harvard University/Boston Rowing Federation), Christian Tabash (Alexandria, Va./Harvard University/University of California, Berkeley/USRowing Training Center – Sarasota), Nick Rusher (West Bend, Wis./Yale University/California Rowing Club), and Henry Hollingsworth (Dover, Mass./Brown University/California Rowing Club) left nothing to chance, taking the lead in the first 500 meters and never letting the other crews challenge for the top spot. The U.S. held a length lead over Canada at the midway point and continued to pull away from the field over the back half of the race, winning in a 5:35.97. Italy was able to chase down Canada in the sprint to take second in a photo finish by just 0.01 seconds, clocking a 5:39.52 to Canada's 5:39.53. Dean earned his second Olympic berth, while the rest of the boat qualified for their first Olympic Games.

"We had a good race," Quinton said. "We wanted to go out there and execute our race, and we were able to do that today. We had to take the long route to qualify for Paris, so it is extra special to have gotten it done today. It's a huge honor to represent the United States at the Olympics, and I'm thrilled to be doing it in this boat with this group of guys."
 
In the men's single sculls, Jacob Plihal (Vashon Island, Wash./Northeastern University/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) finished just behind Romania's Mihal Chiruta to earn his spot in Paris. In what was a tight race throughout, Ireland's Konan Pazzaia took the early lead, with both Chiruta and Plihal less than one second off his pace 500 meters into the race. Chiruta moved into the lead during the second 500 meters, with Pazzaia in second, Plihal in third, and Norway's Kjetil Borch, the defending Olympic silver medalist, sitting in fourth, just a second off the lead. During the third 500 meters, Chiruta and Plihal gained separation from the remainder of the scullers, taking command of the two qualifying spots. Plihal continued to challenge the Romanian over the final 500 meters, but Chiruta was able to hold on for a 0.19-second victory. Chiruta finished with a time of 6:59.44, with Plihal clocking a 6:59.63. Italy's Davide Mumolo finished third. Plihal qualified for his first Olympic Games and will be the first U.S. men's single sculler to compete at the Olympics since 2012.

"Today's race was a scorcher," Plihal said. "It was a battle all the way down the course against a field of scullers with incredible pedigree. Coming away with second place and a qualifying position is pretty surreal. The reality of qualifying really hasn't set in all that much yet. It's been an action-packed couple of days with a lot of intense racing, so lots to process still. I'm super excited to have qualified the single for the USA for the first time since 2012 and to have Ben and Sorin punch their tickets in the double was great, too. I'm devastated for the guys in the quad. Even though they narrowly missed out on qualification, I want to acknowledge that theyv'e been a big part of driving the progress we've seen in USA men's sculling the last few years and played a critical role in the success we saw today."
 
While four U.S. boats made it through to Paris on Tuesday, three were unable to qualify for the Games. The men's quadruple sculls crew of Dominique Williams (Madison, Conn./University of Pennsylvania/Penn AC), Will Legenzowski (Vista, N.Y./Brown University/California Rowing Club), Liam Galloway (Ridgefield, Conn./Yale University/New York Athletic Club), and Kevin Cardno (Huntsville, Ala./University of Alabama, Huntsville/Texas Rowing Center) came up 0.13 seconds short, finishing third behind Norway and Estonia in the final. Five crews were within two seconds of each other as the race hit the midway point, with Norway holding less than a one-second advantage over Estonia and the U.S. another half-second behind. The Americans were even with Estonia in the third quarter of the race, taking a slight lead as the crews entered the final 500 meters. The U.S. and Estonia kept trading positions during the final sprint with the Estonians pulling their bowball ahead in the final strokes. Norway won the race in a 5:50.89, with Estonia crossing in a 5:52.20 and the U.S. in a 5:52.33.
 
In the final of the PR1 men's single sculls, Andrew Mangan (Buffalo, N.Y./Stanford University/Texas Rowing Center/West Side Rowing Club) finished fifth, failing to qualify for the 2024 Paralympic Games. With only one to qualify for Paris, Mangan got off the line in sixth position. While he was able to move into fifth during the second 500 meters, he was never able to challenge France's Alexis Sanchez, who took command in the first few strokes and walked away from the field. Sanchez built more than a seven second lead in the first 500 meters and was never challenged, winning the race in a 9:22.76. Brazil's Rene Campos Pereira finished second, more than 14 seconds behind. Mangan clocked a 10:19.29.
 
The PR2 mixed double sculls of Russell Gernaat (Grand Rapids, Mich./Lake Casitas Rowing Club) and Madison Eberhard (Buffalo, N.Y./Canisius University/ West Side Rowing Club) also finished fifth in their final, missing out on this year's Paralympic Games. The U.S. dropped to fifth off the line and could not stay in contention for a top-two qualification spot. France, Israel, and Germany separated themselves from the pack in the first 500 meters, with France's Perle Bouge and Benjamin Daviet taking a slight lead during the first half of the race. The French crew continued to build its lead over Israel's Saleh Shahin and Shahar Milfelder in the third 500 meters, but Israel made a big push during the final sprint to challenge the French crew. France was able to hold on for the 0.23-second win, clocking an 8:25.52. Israel held off a late charge by Germany's Paul Umbach and Jasmina Bier to finish second. The U.S. finished with a time of 9:17.01.
 
For complete results, please visit World Rowing's website at www.worldrowing.com.
 
With the U.S. qualifying four boats for the Olympic Games in Lucerne, 12 boats will be racing at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 and two will be competing at the Paralympic Games Paris 2024. This marks the most boats the U.S. has qualified for the Olympic Games since also qualifying 12 for London 2012. The U.S. previously qualified eight Olympic and two Paralympic boats at last year's world championships including the women's single sculls, women's double sculls, lightweight women's double sculls, women's pair, men's pair, women's four, men's four, women's eight, PR3 mixed double sculls, and PR3 mixed four with coxswain.
 
The full Olympic team will be nominated by June 7 and complete Paralympic team will be nominated by July 1. For information, updates, and athlete features, visit our Row to Paris page.

Click here for the current rosters of the 2024 World Rowing Olympic & Paralympic Qualification Regatta Team, 2024 Olympic Team, and 2024 Paralympic Team.

Rowing at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 will take place July 27-August 4. The Paralympic Games Paris 2024 are scheduled from August 28 to September 8, with Para rowing events beginning August 30.

USRowing would like to thank our national team sponsors including our Official Boat Supplier for the U.S. Senior, Under 23, and Para Rowing National Teams, Filippi Lido; our Official Apparel Provider, 776BC; our Official Partner, Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc., our Exclusive Supplement Supplier, Thorne HealthTech; our Official Performance Electronics Outfitter, Nielsen-Kellerman; the National Rowing Foundation; and TrainingPeaks, the Official Training and Coaching Software of USRowing's High Performance Team.