Abraham Quads Shining on World Stage

Back in 2014, World Rowing profiled the Abraham quadruplets at the World Junior Rowing Championships. It was the first international event for the Chilean siblings – Alfredo, Antonia, Ignacio and Melita – but far from the last.

Fast forward 12 years, and the Abrahams are still on the world stage, and arguably at their best yet. At the 2026 World Rowing Cup I in Seville, Antonia and Melita won bronze in the women’s pair, only their third World Rowing Cup medal ever. They followed up two weeks later in Plovdiv with silver.

Meanwhile, their brothers finished seventh in the men’s double sculls, their best World Rowing Cup result for years and a return to international racing for the first time since 2024.

“Our season is going very well. We are very proud of our work this year. After the Olympics in Paris, we changed a lot of things, like our coach, the strength training, and the training programme. These last two years were very different for us. We are more relaxed mentally – this is very important for our performance this year,” explains Melita.

She and her sister are thrilled that Ignacio and Alfredo are competing internationally again and planning for the 2026 World Rowing Championships.

“I’m happy because we are always in these international competitions alone, so to see my brothers race is amazing for me,” Melita adds.

The siblings insist there is no rivalry between them when it comes to their racing.

“They support us, and we support them. We complement each other,” says Alfredo. “They are an inspiration for us. They push us to be better because we are so competitive.”

“Our mom always pushed us to be together, and we always did everything as a four, including tennis, basketball, athletics or weightlifting, until we reached rowing and never looked back. It was easier for us to win on an international level since we were juniors, as we always supported each other as a foursome,” Melita says.

The Abrahams have been at the vanguard of Latin American rowing over the past decade, and in the 2026 World Rowing Cup season so far have competed alongside rowers from Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela in a strong showing from Central and South America. Mexican lightweight single sculler Kenia Lechuga is a particular friend of the Abraham sisters, training alongside them regularly. In Seville, Lechuga was there to help the Abrahams celebrate their medal.

“She always is laughing, and she always is happy,” Melita says. “For me it’s a very inspiring woman.”

Antonia agrees, adding: “We push together our performance, and it’s so important for me and for Melita to stay with good people, and Kenia is so strong.

Kenia and I are the women who are pushing Latin American rowing and sports, especially in women’s sports. I feel a responsibility to inspire.”

The sisters run annual rowing camps for young rowers in the region, aiming to push the next generation to follow in their footsteps. Ignacio and Alfredo are also conscious that their rowing careers could encourage others in the future.

“We’ve fixed the way for the new generations, and we are here for this and for us and for the country,” says Alfredo.

“We want people to know that it’s possible to pass the knowledge we have from outside, because it’s difficult in Chile to know what the rowing world is because the country is so far. But people need to know it’s possible to achieve if you focus and do things well,” adds Melita.

All four siblings are looking ahead to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. Paris 2024 was Antonia’s first Olympics, and Melita’s second – she also raced in the lightweight women’s double sculls at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. They admit that Paris was a big deal for them, but want to use the experience to target a medal at the LA28.

Only two women have ever won Olympic medals for Chile, and only one of them was gold – Francisca Crovetto, taking the win in women’s skeet shooting in Paris – and the dream of matching that result is driving the Abrahams on.

“In Paris, we finished ninth and since then, have been making changes and working hard to reach our best now at 28 to compete and grow,” Antonia says.

The quadruplets are enjoying being back on the international scene as a foursome. They have already won an international medal as a quartet, sitting in the middle of the Chilean mixed eight, which won silver at the 2023 Pan-American Games, but are clearly keen to try and race together more. They say they would love to race the mixed double sculls if coaches and race timings allow – Ignacio would race with Antonia, and Alfredo with Melita – but they are unsure who would win.

In the meantime, they will continue to blaze a trail for Latin American rowing, united, as they have been since birth.