The South African rowing team (RMB National Squad) is gearing up for their upcoming journey to Lucerne in Switzerland, where they will be competing to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. This will be the teams’ last chance to grab a spot for the Games in July/August. Among the team members are the talented men’s four consisting of Luc Daffarn, Jake Green, James Mitchell, and Henry Torr. In addition to the men’s four, the South African team will also boast the exceptional talent of Katherine Williams and Paige Badenhorst in the women’s double. The team is set to depart South Africa for Switzerland on Monday, 13th May.
The Final Olympic Qualification Regatta is held at the Rotsee Lake from the 19th to the 21st of May and offers only two qualification places per boat class for the Summer Olympics – the very last chance for athletes to secure their spot. The regatta is infamously dubbed “The Regatta of Death” by the World Rowing community, due to the extreme set of emotions on display at the event. There are those that rejoice in their qualification success, and there are others who will go home having missed out. The RMB National Squad states that they are positive and confident, with both the women’s double and the men’s four having had an excellent training block at their winter base camp in Tzaneen, Limpopo in the lead up to the event.
“The team have prepared exceptionally well and really hard. We arrive in Lucerne with ‘plenty nerves’ and a little more excitement. Our goal is to qualify two more boats for Paris Olympic Games and there is no better place to give it our best shot than on the Rotsee. We need our country’s support as both crews strive to leave it all out there on the Lake of Gods.” Tiago Loureiro, RMB National Squad Head Coach.
The RMB National Squad have successfully qualified boats at this regatta over the last two Olympic cycles, achieving gold medal places in the men’s four in both 2016 and 2020. This year there are 11 boats entered in the men’s four division whilst the women’s double has 7 entries. The first and second placed boats will secure their place at the Olympics. 9 crews to beat for the men, and 5 crews to beat for the women to secure their Olympic dream.
We wish the team all the best as they race to represent Team South Africa at yet another Olympic Games!
Catch the racing live stream on https://worldrowing.com.