2024 Paris Olympics Rowing Roundup

By Cameron Buchan  

Cameron Buchan is a six-foot nine-inch Scottish rower whose athletic career started in basketball but transitioned to rowing while attending a US prep school. He went on to row at Northeastern University and joined the British national squad, competing in the 2017 World Rowing Championships. Buchan started a successful YouTube channel with over 30,000 subscribers, featuring rowing tips, adventures, and his dog Yam, where he welcomes viewers by saying, “I try to go as fast as I can in a rowing boat and take you along with me on the journey!” In July he offered his picks on rowing crews to watch at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Here he offers a recap of all the rowing action.

The 2024 Paris Olympics has come to a close, and rowing has again delivered a stunning display of strength, strategy, and endurance. Rowers from around the world competed fiercely, with every stroke needing to count to bring them closer to Olympic glory. From seasoned champions defending their titles to new talents making their mark on the global stage, this year’s regatta was filled with unforgettable moments. In this roundup, we recap the highlights, medalists, and surprises that made the rowing events in Paris truly remarkable.

M1x

Starting off with the men’s single scull, I think this event ended up being the race with the biggest changes throughout. A word that had been thrown around a lot over the regatta was “redemption.” With the water conditions being close to ideal, Germany’s Ollie Zeidler had the best opportunity to show us his raw speed. He set an Olympic record in the semifinal and blasted out of the blocks in the final, finishing over five seconds ahead of second place. Around the 1000-meter mark in the A final of the men's single race, the results looked relatively predictable with Olympic champion Stefanos Ntouskos of Greece in third and Simon van Dorp of the Netherlands in second. From seemingly out of nowhere, Yauheni Zalaty, the neutral athlete, went from sixth to second in the last 500 meters pushing Van Dorp down to third place.

W1x

In the women’s single, there was a similar showing of dominance by Karolien Florijn from the Netherlands. Over the Olympiad Florijn had been on average 5.85 seconds ahead of second place. The amount of pressure on her shoulders to continually repeat this must have been immense. There seemed to be no issue though, with Florijn taking the gold, beating defending Olympic Champion Emma Twigg of New Zealand, who took silver.

W4x

Moving on from a race that was relatively predictable, we had one of the closest races of the regatta—the women’s quad. From around 500 meters to go you would have been confident that the Dutch were going to be crowned Olympic champions. With more than half a length to make up and course running out you’d be forgiven for thinking that the results were already decided. Even into the last 100 meters the Dutch still looked to have enough of a lead to hold off the charging women from Great Britain (GBR). It was one of the most impressive lifts of speed I have seen. Taking more than a couple of seats in less than ten strokes and winning on the surge, GBR won by 0.15 seconds and were crowned Olympic champions.

M4-

In the men’s four, it was an historic win for the USA—the first gold medal in the four since 1960. The GBR men came into the Olympics hopeful for a gold medal to match their performance at the 2023 world championships and beating US men by two seconds. However, the USA crew showed that their experience, as well as their years of rowing as teammates, proved pivotal in their success in turning over the deficit to win the gold medal with New Zealand taking the silver and Great Britain the bronze.

M2-

Lastly, the men’s pair. Another race with a lot of drama. Throughout the Olympic regatta there were multiple different winners from almost every World Cup and World Championships, making the prediction of who would win to be quite up in the air. Showing strong results throughout the World Cup series, the GBR pair of Tom George and Ollie Wynne-Griffith headed into the regatta as favorites. Following them would be a mixture between the Swiss, Spanish and Irish. The Sinkovic brothers from Croatia had been counted out of this race due to their less dominant performances throughout the season, but this may have been part of their plan the whole time—the surprise attack. From around 750 meters to go the Sinkovic brothers were down but looked as though they were on a mission. Rating higher and holding a higher speed they were on the move. They were more than two seconds down, so there was still a lot of work to do, but they kept closing the gap. A wobble and a slight crab tore the speed away from the leading GBR pair and opened up the gate for the Sinkovic brothers to be crowned Olympic champions once more.

As the curtain fell on the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the rowing regatta left us with a wealth of memorable moments and inspiring performances. From thrilling photo finishes to surprising upsets, this regatta showcased the very best of what the sport has to offer. Notably, 96% of all crews used Concept2 oars and sculls, and 98% of all medalists used Concept2, underscoring the importance of precision equipment in achieving peak performance. As we look back on the successes and stories that emerged, it's clear that this year’s Olympic regatta has set a high bar for the future. Now only four more years to wait until the next one!