Rowing in full force at the 2023 PanAmerican Games in Santiago, Chile

The 2023 Pan American Games are scheduled to take place in Santiago, Chile, from October 20-November 5, with the rowing events being contested from Saturday 21 to Wednesday 25 October in Concepcion, Chile.

Seventeen countries are prepared to compete for what is the pinnacle event in the American continent. Athletes will compete in a total of 15 events, including a mixed eight, with athletes doubling up into the boat from other events. Chile, Argentina and the United States have qualified boats in all boat classes.

Earlier this year, host nation Chile and the USA were the stand-out nations at the Qualification Regatta in San Pedro de la Paz, Chile, each picking up four gold medals, and a total of eight medal each overall. Chile is the heavy favourite to repeat on their performances from the qualification regatta, with the top names to follow being Melita and Antonia Abraham, fresh off qualifying their boat (the Women’s Pair) for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. They will compete in the women’s double sculls at this event, and in the mixed eight with their two brothers.

In the lightweight men’s double sculls, all eyes will be on another crew that qualified their boat for the Paris Olympics : Alexis Bladimir Lopez Garcia and Miguel Angel Carballo Nieto of Mexico, who had a fantastic international season and will come in as a favorite – but Uruguay and Argentina are always strong in this event.

The traditional powerhouses from USA and Canada will send what we can call B-Teams, with a few athletes that have competed at the recent World Rowing Championships in Belgrade. But the experience of Canada’s Kristen Kit, the Tokyo 2020 gold medallist in the women’s eight, coxing both the men’s and women’s eights in Chile, will certainly be very valuable to these young crews.

The US team includes Alexander Hedge, Ezra Carlson, and Grace Joyce, who all recently raced at the 2023 World Rowing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. Carlson and Hedge were part of the men’s eight in Serbia and will be racing in three events in Chile – the men’s pair, men’s eight, and mixed eight. Joyce raced in the women’s quadruple sculls in Belgrade and will compete in the women’s single sculls and women’s quadruple sculls in San Pedro de la Paz.

The men’s single sculls sees Lucas Verthein Ferreira of Brazil and Bruno Cetraro Berriolo of Uruguay going head-to-head, while Kenia Lechuga of Mexico is the favorite to win the women’s single sculls, fresh off her medal at the 2023 World Rowing Championships in the lightweight women’s single sculls.

Racing will start today, Saturday 21 October and continue onto Wednesday 25 October.