2024 WR Rowing Olympic Qualifier Americas Continental Qualification Regatta: Preview, schedule and athletes to watch
Rowing fans across the world will turn their eyes to the Americas as they prepare for the continental Olympic qualifier in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
From 14-17 March, 75 athletes across 58 crews will go head-to-head for 14 Olympic quotas at the 2024 Rowing Olympic Qualifier Americas Continental Qualification Regatta.
Several of the crews racing in Rio were medallists at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games and will again face similar competition in Rio.
Five spots will be secured by the men’s and women’s single sculls, with two available in both the lightweight men’s and women’s double sculls.
Though just the single sculls and lightweight double sculls will have the opportunity to obtain Olympic quotas in Rio, five more classes of boats are on the roster to compete at Paris 2024, including the men’s and women’s pair, double sculls, coxless four, quadruple sculls and eight.
The final opportunity for rowers to obtain quotas for Paris 2024 will come in May at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland.
As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024
Kenia Lechuga of Team Mexico competes at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on July 23, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan.
Athletes to Watch at the Rowing Olympic Qualifier
Men’s single sculls
In a field of 19 crews - the largest of the regatta - Brazil’s Lucas Verthein Ferreira emerges as the athlete to beat, having claimed gold at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games. Ferreira comes to the regatta having already competed at an Olympic Games, following his 12th-place finish at Tokyo 2020, and will be a strong favourite as he races on home waters.
Uruguay's Bruno Cetraro Berriolo also competed in Tokyo, but in the men’s lightweight double sculls where he placed sixth. He has since made the switch to single sculls and is now aiming to qualify for his second Games in a different boat.
Women’s single sculls
Mexico’s Kenia Lechuga is a two-time Olympian who finished 12th and 16th at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, respectively. In 2023, she added Pan American Games gold and World Championships silver to her resume and will be a favourite in the qualifier in Rio.
Men’s lightweight double sculls
Chile’s Cesar Abaroa and Eber Sanhueza joined forces for Tokyo 2020 and are hoping to return to the Olympics in Paris. The pair took silver at Santiago 2023 behind Mexico’s Miguel Carballo and Alexis López.
Coming in just over a second behind Chile’s lightweight double were Argentina’s Alejandro Matias Colomino and Pedro Jose Kirk Dickson, who will also be racing in Rio.
Lightweight women’s double sculls
In the lightweight women’s double sculls, 2023 Pan American Champion Isidora Niemeyer looks like the one to beat. In Santiago, she raced with partner Antonia Heise, but this week she will be joined by new partner Josefa Vila Betancur as the Chileans set their sights on Paris.
The United States took second place in that race, but Argentina's Santiago 2023 bronze medallists Sonia Baluzzo Chiaruzzo and Evelyn Maricel Silvestro will also be in the hunt for quotas.
The full list of entries can be found here.
Evelyn Maricel Silvestro and Milka Kraljev of Team Argentina compete during the Lightweight Women's Double Sculls at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on July 24, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan.
Schedule and how to watch
The regatta runs from the morning of Thursday, 14 March through the late morning of Saturday, 16 March, with a spare day blocked off on the 17th. All times are in local Rio de Janeiro time (GMT-3 or EST+1)
14 March 2024
9:00 am - 9:20 am: women’s single sculls heats
9:20 am - 9:50 am: men’s single sculls heats
9:50 am - 10:10 am: lightweight men’s double sculls heats
10:10 am: lightweight women’s double sculls heats
4:00 pm - 4:20 pm: men’s single sculls repechage
15 March 2024
8:30 am - 8:40 am: women’s single sculls repechage
8:40 am - 8:50 am: lightweight men’s double sculls repechage
8:50 am - 9:10 am: men’s single sculls semi finals
16 March 2024
8:30 am - 8:40 am: men’s single sculls finals C
8:40 am - 8:50 am: women’s single sculls finals B
8:50 am - 9:00 am: men’s single sculls finals B
9:00 am - 9:10 am: lightweight men’s double sculls finals B
9:40 am - 9:50 am: women’s single sculls finals A
9:50 am - 10:00 am: men’s single sculls finals A
10:00 am - 10:10 am: lightweight women’s double sculls finals A
10:10 am - 10:20 am: lightweight men’s double sculls finals A
10:30 am: Award ceremony
17 March 2024
Spare day
Find the official schedule here.