Olympic and Paralympic Games—Paris 2024
These Olympic Games were conducted from 27th July to 12th August with a limited 3 year preparation given the postponement of the Tokyo Games to 2021. The rowing was conducted from 27th July to 3rd August at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium. Conditions were good for rowing all week.
The Paris Olympics were a disappointing regatta for the Australians. It was the nation's worst performance since the 1988 Games when it did not win a medal. The priority given to both the men's and women's eights over the fours sadly did not pay off. The women's eight finished fourth and the men's eight sixth. Rowing Australia will commission an independent review into the declining fortunes of the sport.
The highlights included the bronze medal of the women's pair of Annabelle McIntyre and Jessica Morrison in a race against a dominant Dutch combination. There were no surprises when the Dutch proved their number one ranking. Tara Rigney raced well in the single but could not match the ferocious finish of the Lithuania sculler who narrowly finished third ahead of Tara. Careful planning for Los Angeles will obviously be undertaken to avoid another result like 2024. Emphasis on developing the next generation of rowers will be a priority.
The Paralympics, conducted from 30th August to 1 September, were a different story with Australia winning it's first Gold medal at a Paralympics in the new event, the PR3 Mixed double scull. Eric Horrie, in his fourth Paralympics at the age of 44 years, won a bronze medal in the PR1 single. More on these events later.
Nikki Ayers and Jed Altschwager display their gold medals - photo from World Rowing
Erik Horrie on the right - photo from World Rowing
Women's Pair off the start - image from Word Rowing website
Tara Rigney - image from the World Rowing website
Olympic Rankings
The Dutch were the stand out nation at this regatta with four gold medals. Using the total number of medals to rank nations, the Dutch and English shared the lead. Australia was equal twelfth. 15 nations reached the podium in a good spread of medals.
| Ranking | Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | The Netherlands | 4 | 3 | 1 | 8 |
| 2 | Great Britain | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| 3 | Romania | 2 | 3 | 5 | |
| 4 | New Zealand | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 5 | Germany | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 5 | Ireland | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 5 | USA | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 8 | Croatia | 1 | 1 | ||
| 9 | Italy | 2 | 2 | ||
| 10 | Canada | 1 | 1 | ||
| 11 | Greece | 2 | 2 | ||
| 12 | Australia | 1 | 1 | ||
| 12 | Lithuania | 1 | 1 | ||
| 12 | Poland | 1 | 1 | ||
| 12 | Switzerland | 1 | 1 |
Men's Pair - image from the World Rowing website
Paralympic Rankings
The United Kingdom dominated this regatta taking three of the five gold medals. It was a superb performance by their disciplined and well prepared team. Australia and Israel shared second place with one gold and one silver each. The full medal ranking can be found through this link.
| Ranking | Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Great Britain | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
| 2 | Australia | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 3 | Israel | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 4 | China | 1 | 1 | ||
| 5 | Norway | 1 | 1 | ||
| 6 | Ukraine | 1 | 1 | ||
| 7 | USA | 1 | 1 | ||
| 8 | France | 2 | 2 | ||
| 9 | Germany | 1 | 1 |
Jed Altschwager and Nikki Ayers win their heat in world record time - photo from World Rowing website
Selection
The 2023 World Championships were the primary qualification event for the Olympic Games with the secondary qualification event for the Australians being the Final Qualification Regatta at Lucerne in 2024.
Australia qualified the following boats at 2023 World Championships:
| Olympic | Paralympic |
| Men's Pair | PR1 Mix |
| Men's Four | PR3 Mix2x |
| Men's Eight | PR3 Mix4+ |
| Women's Scull | |
| Women's Pair | |
| Women's Double Scull | |
| Women's Four | |
| Women's Quad Scull | |
| Women's Eight |
Australia allowed a women's lightweight double scull, men's scull, men's double scull and men's quad to try out for qualification at the Lucerne Final Qualification Regatta in May. Sadly, none of these crews qualified although both the women's lightweight double and the men's double finished tantalizingly close in third place, just one place off the qualifying quota of two. These crews were:
Women's Lightweight Double Scull - Bow: Anneka Reardon (ACT)Str: Georgia Miansarow (NSW)
Men's Scull - Oscar McGuinness (NSW)
Men's Double Scull - Bow: Dave Bartholot (NSW), Str: Marcus Della Marta (NSW)
Men's Quad Scull - Bow: Jack Cleary (WA), 2: Caleb Antill ACT), 3: Campbell Watts (NSW), Str: Alexander Rossi (WA)
Australia raced in Paris with nine boats and 37 athletes poised to go, the fifth strongest team. Strongest of 57 National Olympic Committee (NOC) teams will be Romania (12/45), then the United States (12/42), Great Britain (10/42), the Netherlands (10/33), Australia (9/37), New Zealand (9/20), Italy (8/35), Germany (7/23), Ireland (7/16) and finally Switzerland (6/17).
Olympic results by event
Men's Lightweight Double Scull
Women's Lightweight Double Scull
Women's Four - image from the World Rowing website
Australian Team - Olympics
Women's Scull - Fourth
Tara Rigney (NSW)
Cch: Ellen Randell (NTC)
Women's Double Scull - Seventh
Bow: Amanda Bateman (VIC)
Str: Harriet Hudson (NSW)
Cch: Ellen Randell (NTC)
Women's Quad Scull - Eighth
Bow: Ria Thompson (QLD)
2: Rowena Meredith (NSW)
3: Laura Gourley (NSW)
Str: Caitlin Cronin (QLD)
Cch: Tom Westgarth (NTC)
Women's Pair - Bronze
Bow: Jessica Morrison OAM (VIC)
Str: Annabelle McIntyre OAM (WA)
Cch: John Keogh (NTC)
Women's Four - Ninth
Bow: Olympia Aldersley (SA)
2: Jean Mitchell (VIC)
3: Lily Alton (QLD)
Str: Molly Goodman (SA)
Cch: Tom Westgarth (NTC)
Women's Eight - Fourth
Bow: Katrina Werry (VIC)
2: Lucy Stephan OAM
3: Bronwyn Cox (WA)
4: Georgina Rowe (NSW)
5: Jacqueline Swick (WA)
6: Giorgia Patten (WA)
7: Sarah Hawe (VIC)
Str: Paige Barr (VIC)
Cox: Hayley Verbunt (VIC)
Cch: John Keogh (NTC)
Men's Pair - Thirteenth
Bow: Patrick Holt (NSW)
Str: Simon Keenan (VIC)
Cch: Rhett Ayliffe (NTC)
Men's Four - Sixth
Bow: Timothy Masters (NSW)
2: Jack Robertson (VIC)
3: Fergus Hamilton (VIC)
Str: Alexander Hill OAM (SA)
Cch: Lyall McCarthy (NTC)
Men's Eight - Sixth
Bow: Benjamin Canham (VIC)
2: Joshua Hicks (NSW)
3: Spencer Turrin (NSW)
4: Angus Widdicombe (VIC)
5: Jack Hargreaves (NSW)
6: Alexander Purnell (NSW)
7: Angus Dawson (SA)
Str: Jack O'Brien (NSW)
Cox: Kendall Brodie (NSW)
Cch: Mark Prater (NTC)
Due to the illness of Josh Hicks before the final, Tim Masters replaced him in that race. Coach Mark Prater took the opportunity to make other seating changes for the final including swapping stroke and four.
Emergencies
Jackson Kench (NSW)
Kate Rowan (NSW)
Samantha Morton van Eyergen (QLD)
Olympic team management
Team Manager - Wayne Diplock (NTC)
High Performance Manager - Paul Thompson MBE (NTC)
Head coach women - John Keogh (NTC)
Head coach men - Rhett Ayliffe (NTC)
Women's eight in repechage - image from the World Rowing website
Women's double - image from the World Rowing website
Australian Team - Paralympics
PR1 Men's Scull - Bronze
Erik Horrie OAM (NSW)
Cch: Chad King (NTC)
PR3 Mixed Double Scull - Gold
Bow: Nikki Ayers (ACT)
Str: Jed Altschwager (SA)
Cchs: Christine McLaren (SA) and Chad King (NTC)
PR3 Mixed Coxed Four Squad - Fifth
Bow: Susannah Lutze (VIC)
2: Alexandra Viney (VIC)
3: Thomas Birtwhistle (NSW)
Str: Toby Goffsassen (QLD)
Cox: Hannah Cowap (NSW)
Cch: James Loveday
Para team management
Para Head Coach - Chad King (NTC)
Emergencies
Lisa Greissl (NSW)
Nick Bartlett (VIC)
Daily Results Summaries - Olympics
Day 1 results - Sat 27th July 2024
Day 2 results - Sun 28th July 2024
Day 3 results - Mon 29th July 2024
Day 4 results - Tues 30th July 2024
Day 5 results - Wed 31st July 2024
Day 6 results - Thurs 1st August 2024
Day 7 results - Fri 2nd August 2024
Day 8 results - Sat 3rd August 2024
Women's Quad - image from World Rowing website
Daily Results Summaries - Paralympics
Day 1 results - Friday 30th July 2024
Day 2 results - Saturday 31st July 2024
Day 3 results - Sunday 1st August 2024
PR3 Mixed Coxed Four during training - image from World Rowing website
Paralympic Results by Event
Erik Horrie winning his repechage - Image from World Rowing website
The win in the PR3 Mixed Double came as no surprise given that Ayers and Altschwager entered the race as clear favourites. In their heat they broke the Paralympic best time for the event and in 2023 at Varese, they broke the World best time. However it was a close race where their experience was on display. They did not flinch when challenged and confidently made their move at the right time. It was a masterful performance.
Erik Horrie had a slow start and gradually worked his way through the field and crossed the line fourth. His experience and knowledge of his capabilities were used to perfection to scull his best race. Then controversy struck the Paralympics. The third placed Italian sculler was found to have used communication equipment during the race. World Rowing reported as follows:
The reigning Paralympic Champion was also beaten in the PR1 men’s single sculls, when Great Britain’s gold rush started. Benjamin Pritchard got out ahead and led the entire race to become Paralympic champion, while Tokyo 2020 gold medallist Roman Polianskyi took silver. The bronze medal went to Italy's Giacomo Perini, but the Italian was found to be using communication equipment during the race, in breach of the rule 28 of World Rowing's Rules of Racing. As a result, he was excluded from the event and ranked last, and the bronze medal was therefore awarded to Australia’s Erik Horrie. The Italian Federation has decided to appeal this decision.
Erik Horrie was then awarded the bronze medal and he was incredibly humble and grateful. He thanked his family and his team. When pressed on the controversy, Erik merely noted that there were rules to be followed in racing.
It was a great day for Australian Paralympic rowing.