Men’s Eight Wins Heat, Advances to Final at 2024 Olympic Games

The U.S. men’s eight won its heat to advance directly to Saturday’s final, while the men’s pair advanced to the semifinals on Monday at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

The men’s eight crew of 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) pulled away from the Netherlands in the final 500 meters to win the first of two heats by about a half-length to earn a spot in Saturday’s final. 

“It was an exciting one,” Quinton said. “We knew it was going to be a tight race. We were definitely expecting the Dutch to come at us hard, so we knew we had to be ready from the start. We want to execute our own race, and our race is designed to put pressure on the other crews. We expected the Dutch to try to do the same to us. We knew it was going to be a tight one the whole way down. We were prepared for anything, but our goal was 100 percent to win that race and make sure we could dictate the rest of the week in preparation for the final.”

With just one to advance, the U.S. crew got off the line fast and had about a deck lead at the 500-meter mark. The Dutch crew had cut into the advantage by the midway point, with the boats crossing basically even. But, the American crew was able to meet the challenge and began to take control of the race with about 800 meters to go. By the 1,500-meter split, the U.S. had increased its advantage to a little more than a seat and continued to extend the lead over the final sprint. At the line, the U.S. finished with a time of 5:29.94, with the Netherlands taking second in a 5:31.82. Great Britain easily won the second heat to advance to the final, clocking a 5:37.04 to finish five seconds ahead of Australia.

“Nothing crazy, just making sure we are on the same page the first 15 strokes to really get the boat moving and then don’t let the opponents have a chance to breathe. Make sure that they are always under pressure,” Milne said about getting off of the start line.

The women's eight of coxswain Nina Castagna (Cincinnati, Ohio/University of Washington/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Charlotte Buck(Nyack, N.Y./Columbia University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Olivia Coffey (Watkins Glen, N.Y./Harvard University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Claire Collins(McLean, Va./Princeton University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Meghan Musnicki(Naples, N.Y./Ithaca College/California Rowing Club), Regina Salmons(Methuen, Mass./University of Pennsylvania/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Madeleine Wanamaker(Neenah, Wis./University of Wisconsin/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Margaret Hedeman(Concord, Mass./Yale University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), and Molly Bruggeman(Dayton, Ohio/University of Notre Dame/USRowing Training Center – Princeton) finished second in its heat behind Romania and now will race in the repechage on Thursday. The American crew got off the line in second position behind Romania and just ahead of Italy. Romania continued to increase its margin as in the second quarter of the race, as the U.S. started to pull away from the Italians. The Americans continued to row away from Italy but were never able to close the gap with the Romanians. At the line, Romania finished with a time of 6:12.31. The U.S. clocked a 6:19.00. The Americans will face Italy, Australia, Canada, and Denmark in the repechage, with the top four advancing to the final.

“I think that it was good for us to get one of those under our belt,” Buck said. “We switched our lineup from Lucerne, so it was the first time for us down the track in this lineup, and I think that we have good, solid, takeaways from there. I think that the rep is a really good opportunity for us. There is no risk to trying out something for the next level of our race plan.”

“I've had the lucky pleasure of getting to race with Charlotte four times now in the women’s eight, and she just has such an indominable rhythm in the stroke seat, so coming through that middle 1,000 (meters), there is such a trust in the length and the power that all nine of us are putting down, and it is such a great feeling to be able to turn my brain off and just haul on it knowing that she's putting the lines in the coloring book where they need to be,” Salmons said.

The U.S. men’s pair of Oliver Bub (Westport, Conn./Dartmouth College/California Rowing Club) and Billy Bender (Norwich, Vt./Dartmouth College/California Rowing Club) finished third in the repechage to advance to Wednesday’s semifinals. With three to advance, the U.S. moved into a qualifying position off the line behind Switzerland’s Andrin Gulich and Roman Roeoesli, the defending world champions, and Italy’s Giovanni Codato and Davide Comini. The three crews moved away from Australia in the second 500 meters to solidify their qualification positions. The U.S. was able to take a slight lead over Italy with a little less than 500 meters to go, but the Italians responded and came back to finish second at the line. Switzerland won the race in a 6:47.38, with Italy clocking a 6:50.31. The U.S. finished a second back in a 6:51.32 and will race in the semifinals. Bub and Bender will face crews from Lithuania, Croatia, Spain, South Africa, and Switzerland in Wednesday’s first semifinal.

“We identified the start as a weakness off of trials and off world cup II,” Bub said. “We made some changes and just didn’t execute yesterday, but it’s not always easy to say, ‘let’s go faster.’ Sometimes you go for more and you don’t necessarily hit it right, but I think we were able to execute on it better today, so a little more confidence heading into the semi after that start than the one in the heat.”

“Just trying to build speed through the first 300 (meters), 350 even, as opposed to just shooting out and trying to get into a sustainable rhythm,” Bub continued. “Some of these crews are really fast off the line, and we saw that yesterday but also at world cup II, so it’s not going to be just 10 strokes that is going to keep us in there. We’re going to need to really put our foot down for more than a minute at least.”

The U.S. women's quadruple sculls crew of 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) finished fifth in the repechage and will race in the B final on Wednesday for overall places 7-9. With two to advance, the American boat got off the line in third position and was still within contact of the two leading crews at the midway point of the race. China got off to the early lead, with Switzerland sitting just off their pace. The U.S. tried to stay in the hunt during the third quarter of the race, but China and Switzerland began to pull away from the remainder of the field. In the final 500 meters, the Swiss boat was able to pass China to earn the victory in a 6:26.82, with China taking second in a 6:28.72. The U.S. fell to fifth, finishing with a time of 6:34.04. The U.S. will take on Australia and Romania in the B final.

“We had a plan going in that I think was pretty well executed,” Joyce said. “I'm really proud of us as a crew. The result was disappointing and not what we wanted, but we have another race in two days, so we're still in it for the placement of it. I think we had good execution today; we just fell off the pace at the end there, so now it's just what do we take from today to keep moving forward.”

“We saw in our last race that boats go really fast off the start here at the Olympics, faster than any international competition, and so after our first race, we knew that we wanted to be in the race right off the bat, so we really channeled everything we had into that first 1,000 meters to be with the pack and gave a lot of what we had," Delleman said.

Five U.S. boats will be in action on Tuesday including the men’s and women’s single sculls, men’s and women’s double sculls, and women’s four.

Women’s single sculler Kara Kohler (Clayton, Calif./University of California, Berkeley/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), a three-time Olympian who finished fourth in the event at the 2023 World Rowing Championships, won her heat on Saturday to advance to the quarterfinals. Kohler will take on scullers from Peru, Brazil, Australia, Bulgaria, and Ireland in the first of four quarterfinals, with the top three finishers advancing to the semifinals. Australia’s Tara Rigney, the 2023 World Championships’ bronze medalist in the event, also won her heat. Bulgaria’s Desislava Angelova finished fifth at last year’s world championships.

First-time Olympian Jacob Plihal (Vashon Island, Wash./Northeastern University/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) advanced to Tuesday’s quarterfinals of the men’s single sculls thanks to a second-place finish in his heat. Plihal will take on scullers from Algeria, Germany, Romania, Belgium, and Paraguay in the second of four quarterfinals, with the top three advancing to the semifinals. Germany’s Oliver Zeidler, who won the world title in 2022 and 2023, and Romania’s Mihai Chiruta, who finished seventh at last year’s worlds, both won their heats to reach the semifinals.

In the women’s double sculls, Kristi Wagner (Weston, Mass./Yale University/ARION) and Sophia Vitas (Franklin, Wis./University of Wisconsin/USRowing Training Center – Sarasota), who won bronze at last year’s world championships and won the world cup race in Lucerne in May, finished third in their heat to advance to Tuesday’s semifinals. The duo will race against Norway, Australia, Romania, Great Britain, and China in the second semifinal, with the top three advancing to the final. Romania’s Ancuta Bodnar and Simona Radis, the defending Olympic champions and 2023 world champs, easily won their opening race, while Australia and Great Britain finished second in their heats.

Ben Davison (Inverness, Fla./University of Washington/California Rowing Club) and Sorin Koszyk (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./Cornell University/California Rowing Club) finished third in the their heat of the men’s double sculls, qualifying directly for Tuesday’s semifinals. Davison and Koszyk will take on crews from Germany, New Zealand, Ireland, Norway, and France in the second semifinal, with the top three boats moving to the final. Ireland’s Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch, who won bronze at last year’s world championships, won their heat, with New Zealand and Norway taking second in their opening-round races.

The women's four of Kaitlin Knifton (Austin, Texas/University of Texas/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Mary Mazzio-Manson (Wellesley, Mass./Yale University/Craftsbury Green Racing Project), Kelsey Reelick (Brookfield, Conn./Princeton University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), and Emily Kallfelz (Jamestown, R.I./Princeton University/Cambridge Boat Club) finished fourth in its heat on Sunday and will take on Denmark, Ireland, China, and Australia in the repechage, with the top two finishers advancing to the race for the medals and the remaining crews heading to the B final for overall places 7-9. China and Ireland were the two third-place finishers from the heats.

Rowing at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 will take place July 27-August 3. Medal races in the men’s and women’s quadruple sculls will be held on Wednesday, along with semifinals in the pairs and lightweight double sculls. Click here for a complete race schedule.

In total, the U.S. qualified 12 crews for the Olympics including the women's single sculls, men's single sculls, women's double sculls, men's double sculls, lightweight women's double sculls, women's quadruple sculls, women's pair, men's pair, women's four, men's four, women's eight and men's eight. The U.S. leads the way with Romania in qualifying the most boats to race in Paris.

Of the 42 athletes who will be competing in Paris, 17 are returning Olympians with three Olympic medals amongst them. Thirty-eight have competed on previous senior national teams, while four will be making their senior team debuts.

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.