Rowing's Final Olympic Qualification Regatta concluded today in Poznan, Poland, with a day of nail-biting racing that saw 19 nations qualify 29 more boats for the Beijing regatta and 87 new Olympians leave the regatta course with racing in Beijing on their minds.
A grand total of 100 nations competed in rowing's Olympic Qualification process which began at the 2007 World Rowing Championships in Munich and continued through 2007 and 2008 with continental qualification events around the world, culminating in the final Olympic Qualification regatta in Poznan. This is 15 nations more than the 85 from Athens and 75 from Sydney, and is a huge step forward in rowing's global appeal.
Fifty-eight nations will be represented in the sport of rowing this summer in Beijing, three more than at the Athens Olympics in 2004. The 29 boats qualified today bring the tally that will compete in Beijing to 204 and the total number of athletes to 550.
It was a good day for the Netherlands, Canada and Australia, who each qualified three more boats for Beijing. Australia now has a full house with 14 boats qualified, while Germany and the USA will each send 13 boats to the Olympics. It was also a good day for Portugal and Lithuania: both nations came into the regatta with no Olympic qualifications but the gutsy performances of the Portuguese lightweight men's double and Lithuanian men's single sculler secured their countries' entry ticket to the Shunyi Olympic Rowing and Canoeing course.
The boats that qualified in the 14 Olympic boat classes today are as follows:
Women's single (W1x): AUS, ITA, SRB
Men's single (M1x): USA, LTU, EST
Women's pair (W2-): FRA, GBR
Men's pair (M2-): CAN, ITA
Women's double (W2x): UKR, AUS
Men's double (M2x): CHN, RUS
Men's four (M4-): AUS, CHN
Lightweight women's double (LW2x): NED, USA
Lightweight men's double (LM2x): NZL, POR, CAN
Lightweight men's four (LM4-): GER, IRL
Women's quad (W4x): RUS
Men's quad (M4x): BLR, SLO
Women's eight (W8+): CAN, NED
Men's eight (M8+): NED
For full regatta results, click here.
Most crews will head home immediately from the regatta to begin final preparations for the Olympic Regatta, which starts on August the 9th, just 51 days from now. Some crews will stay on to race in the final stage of the Rowing World Cup series, which runs from 20 to 22 June. This regatta will see one crew become the Cup winner in each of the 14 Olympic boat classes and one nation receiving the overall World Cup.