The Latin American Olympic qualifier, held November 16-18 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, saw 17 crews in five boat classes earn a berth to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing next August. Six men's singles, five women's singles, and three light men's and women's crews each made the cut, including first-time-ever Olympic rowing berths for Colombia and Venezuela, according to FISA Competitive Commission member Curtis Jordan, who attended and assisted in the administration of the regatta.
"There were some truly excited kids," he said. "It was a good regatta with some very competitive races. There were 18 countries attending, and nine countries qualified for the Olympics, a very good regatta for FISA and its efforts in Universality."
Tremendous thanks to Curtis for sending a collection of photos from the regatta; you can see them here:
Latin American Olympic Qualifier, Rio de Janeiro Brazil.
Qualifiers by event and country, in order of finish:
M1X:
Brazil
Mexico
Chile
Venezuela
Uruguay
Colombia
W1x:
Chile
Brazil
Cuba
Argentina
El Salvador
LM2x:
Cuba
Brazil
Uruguay
LW2x:
Cuba
Mexico
Brazil