“The Final Olympic Qualification Regatta is notoriously challenging, especially since only two crews in most boat classes secure Olympic spots, creating a high-pressure environment for athletes.
Despite these challenges, our team performed admirably over the past few days. We managed to make the A Finals in all three events we entered and successfully qualified the Women’s Four for the Paris Olympics.
The team’s strong performance can be attributed to the rigorous preparation conducted both in Cork and during our camp in Varese. This thorough preparation undoubtedly contributed to our success.
With the addition of the Women’s Four, we have now qualified a record number of seven boats for the Olympics, along with one boat for the Paralympics. This brings our total of eight boats qualified, with 18 athletes set to compete in Paris this summer, making it the largest team we have ever sent to the Olympics.
Notably, Konan Pazzaia, who was part of our U23 Men’s squad last year and won a gold medal in the Men’s Double at the U23 World Championships, finished an impressive 6th out of 32 scullers. His near qualification at such a young age highlights his immense potential for the future.
Unfortunately, Sanita did not achieve the result she deserved despite convincingly winning her heat and semifinal.
The strongest of 57 National Olympic Committee (NOC) teams will be Romania and the United States (12 boats), Great Britain and the Netherlands (10 boats), Australia and New Zealand (9 boats), Italy (8 boats), Ireland and Germany (7 boats) and finally Switzerland (6 boats).
Rowing Ireland had come from having one crew in 2012 and three crews in 2016, to qualifying six crews in 2020 and eight (including a Para crew) in 2024.
Our coaches team, medical staff, and team managers have been instrumental in this success, dedicating significant effort to training the crews and providing invaluable assistance throughout the training camp and the racing week.
We will review the overall situation and soon finalise the official Olympic team and prepare it for the Games.
As we shift our focus to the Olympic Games in July, we are preparing for our next challenge at World Cup II in Lucerne this coming weekend. We aim to get as much information as possible and achieve positive results there to bolster our preparations for Paris.
A big thanks to our invaluable supporters Sport Ireland, Sport North Ireland and our NGB.”