Last Updated: 03.Jun.2016

At the end of April, the Men’s quad of Ben Davison, Ben Dann, John Graves, and Peter Graves and the Men’s double, with Steve Whelpley and Willy Cowles, qualified to compete in the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta, or as it's more commonly called:  the “Regatta of Death.” This was the last opportunity for the United States to qualify these boat categories for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This regatta is considered one of the most competitive events for elite rowing, with many of the winners usually winning Olympic medals later in the summer. Only the top two boats from these events would qualify.

Although both boats showed impressive speeds through the regatta, neither were able to snag one of the top two spots. The Men’s quad finished 4th, with a time of 5:45.7, very close behind Russia, Canada, and New Zealand. In the quad’s repechage, there was 0.6 seconds separating 1st from 4th--showing the level of extreme competition between these crews and quality of the athletes in this race. All of these crews are very capable of being strong competitors at the Olympic games. Unfortunately, two only get to go: Russia and Canada.

The Men’s double came 6th, with a time of 6:28.67, behind Norway, Serbia, Czech Republic, Poland, and Argentina. The men’s double is one of the most of competitive events in Olympic rowing. Even though Steve and Willy finished 6th, they threw down some of their fastest times and performances through the regatta - highly commendable.

Both crews competed in the second World Cup the week after the Last Qualification Regatta. Most crews that have already qualified for the summer Olympics competed in this event. The Quad had a fast heat, competed in the repechage, but narrowly missed out on the final. They were 0.14 seconds out of advancing to the final. After the previous weekend of intense racing, it was an impressive feat to even compete, as most crews that raced the weekend before didn’t race in the World Cup. It was a similar story for the Men’s double, where they just missed out on the final with a 4th place finish in the repechage. LM1x Hugh McAdam also contested World Cup II, competing in the Men’s lightweight single. He finished 3rd in the B final, with a time of 7:09.