Peloton instructor Alex Karwoski is competing for a spot to represent Team USA in rowing at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.
Update – Alex & Tyler finished 6th in the finals, so unfortunately will not be competing for Team USA in the 2024 Olympics.
The U.S. Rowing Olympic trials are scheduled for April 4-7, 2024 in Sarasota, Florida, and Alex will be competing in the Men’s Pair event alongside his former teammate Tyler Nase. The two already competed in the qualifying event on April 4, and advanced to the finals, which will be held on April 7 at 9:30am ET. If the two win the event, they will compete in the 2024 summer games!
In the qualifying event, Alex & Tyler finished in 6:30.62 – around 11 seconds behind the winners who had a time of 6:19.74. This was for a time trial of 2,000 meters.
Note that qualifying for men’s pairs is slightly different from certain other rowing events, in which winners during the ongoing Olympic Trials would advance to the May 2024 World Rowing Final Olympic Qualification Regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland. Because the U.S. has already earned an Olympic spot for the Men’s pair race, the winner of the event on April 7 will advance straight to the Olympics.
Alex served as an alternate in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, and also competed in the 2016 Rio De Janeiro Summer Olympics, where he earned 4th place in the “eights” event – a boat of eight athletes.
Alex shared a bit of context around his journey during the pre-show of his 30 minute Endurance Row on March 27.
He moved to New York City in August of 2021 – just after the Tokyo Olympics, which had been delayed a year – to start business school. He was just coming off of what he referred to as numerous grueling five year training cycle as an athlete in competitive rowing (preparing for the 2020 Olympics). Prior to that he had spent years training for the 2016 Olympics. After over a decade of competitive rowing & multiple Olympics, he was ready to start a new chapter, away from rowing.
Alex completed his first semester of business school and then secured an internship for his second semester. While he was on vacation, he received a message from Peloton asking if he was interested in joining the company – and at the time thought it was a joke. He joined Peloton while finishing business school.
The fact that Peloton hired Alex to instruct rowing kept him engaged in the sport, all while joining the Peloton community and launching Peloton rowing. This led to another opportunity to compete in the Olympic trials; he spent a week away training with his teammate Tyler and the pair are now in Florida for the big race.
Alex closed the pre-show by thanking Peloton and members for keeping him in the sport, which ultimately led to this incredible opportunity. Alex put the team’s chances of advancing to the Olympics somewhere between 0-2%; but to quote one of his favorite movies of all time: “So you’re telling me there’s a chance.”
You can read more information about 2024 U.S. Rowing Olympic trials – including how to watch the event – via the Olympics website; and find more detailed information about the event via the U.S. Rowing website.
The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, are scheduled to take place from July 26 to August 11, 2024
Best of luck to Alex & Tyler!
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