South Africa’s rowing squad secured their first qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics when the men’s pair finished third in their semifinal at the world championships in Belgrade on Thursday.
Veteran John Smith, a gold medallist from the 2012 London Games, and young buck Chris Baxter, a gold medallist at the 2022 U-23 world championships, delivered a well-timed race as they came from near the back of the field to take third in the faster of the two semifinals.
They were fourth at the 500-metre point, before advancing to third at the halfway 1,000m mark, where they consolidated their position over the second half of the race.
The top three from the two semifinals advanced to Saturday’s six-lane A-final. The top seven boats in this class book their spots in Paris, with the seventh being the winner of the B-final.
Smith and Baxter clocked 6 min 55.67 sec, behind defending champions Romania (6:51.21) and Ireland (6:54.70).
Britain, third last year, won the first semifinal in 6:59.61, ahead of Switzerland (7:01.60) and Tokyo Olympic bronze medallists Denmark (7:23.24).
South African rowing has not won a senior world championship medal since 2017, but perhaps in their favour is five of the country’s eight medals since 2001 have come in the men’s pair.
Winning Olympic spots was the RMB-sponsored squad’s primary goal in Serbia.
The men’s four of Henry Torr, Luc Daffarn, James Mitchell and Sandro Torrente ended sixth in their Thursday semifinal in 6:55.35, a result that sent them to Saturday’s B-final.
To win their Olympic ticket they need to avoid finishing last, but that means finding at least eight seconds on the next slowest crew, Switzerland, who ended one spot ahead of them in 6:47.32.
The slowest four in the other semifinal was Denmark in 6:44.85.
The women’s double sculls crew of Katherine Williams and Paige Badenhorst race in their semifinals on Friday.
The Games requirement for the men’s four and women’s double sculls classes is top 11.
Murray Bales-Smith ended fifth in his lightweight men’s single sculls semifinal, also on Thursday, crossing the line in 8:08.90. He too will compete in the B-final, but the Games roster doesn’t accommodate his boat class.
South African rowers nail men's pair Olympic qualification at world champs
Image: Supplied
South Africa’s rowing squad secured their first qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics when the men’s pair finished third in their semifinal at the world championships in Belgrade on Thursday.
Veteran John Smith, a gold medallist from the 2012 London Games, and young buck Chris Baxter, a gold medallist at the 2022 U-23 world championships, delivered a well-timed race as they came from near the back of the field to take third in the faster of the two semifinals.
They were fourth at the 500-metre point, before advancing to third at the halfway 1,000m mark, where they consolidated their position over the second half of the race.
The top three from the two semifinals advanced to Saturday’s six-lane A-final. The top seven boats in this class book their spots in Paris, with the seventh being the winner of the B-final.
Smith and Baxter clocked 6 min 55.67 sec, behind defending champions Romania (6:51.21) and Ireland (6:54.70).
Britain, third last year, won the first semifinal in 6:59.61, ahead of Switzerland (7:01.60) and Tokyo Olympic bronze medallists Denmark (7:23.24).
South African rowing has not won a senior world championship medal since 2017, but perhaps in their favour is five of the country’s eight medals since 2001 have come in the men’s pair.
Winning Olympic spots was the RMB-sponsored squad’s primary goal in Serbia.
The men’s four of Henry Torr, Luc Daffarn, James Mitchell and Sandro Torrente ended sixth in their Thursday semifinal in 6:55.35, a result that sent them to Saturday’s B-final.
To win their Olympic ticket they need to avoid finishing last, but that means finding at least eight seconds on the next slowest crew, Switzerland, who ended one spot ahead of them in 6:47.32.
The slowest four in the other semifinal was Denmark in 6:44.85.
The women’s double sculls crew of Katherine Williams and Paige Badenhorst race in their semifinals on Friday.
The Games requirement for the men’s four and women’s double sculls classes is top 11.
Murray Bales-Smith ended fifth in his lightweight men’s single sculls semifinal, also on Thursday, crossing the line in 8:08.90. He too will compete in the B-final, but the Games roster doesn’t accommodate his boat class.
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