Cuba Qualifies Two Boats for Rowing at Santo Domingo 2026

Cuba secured two rowing spots on Thursday for the 2026 Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo, achieving the feat at the qualifying tournament held in Petén, Guatemala.

Leah Almeida stood out in the women’s single sculls final A, finishing in an honorable fourth place with a time of 8:53.33 minutes. In the men’s single sculls, Henry Joan Heredia Dubois also placed fourth, clocking 7:47.06, according to Ángel Luis García, president of the Cuban Rowing Federation, reporting from the venue.

“Those are the boats qualified in this Thursday session,” confirmed García, who also serves as the event’s technical delegate.

“The 4X boats do not grant spots for Santo Domingo 2026,” added García, who is also vice president of the Central Caribbean Confederation.

He referred to the men’s team—composed of Roberto Paz, Leduar Suárez, Henry Heredia, and Reidy Cardona—which claimed the gold medal with a time of 6:21.06 minutes in the final A.

The women’s quartet of Lisandra Verdecia, Anyel Cruz, Natalie Morales, and Loraidis Echavarría achieved a similar result, taking the silver medal with a time of 7:17.11 minutes, just behind the Mexican crew, which won gold with 7:09.63.

The Cuban team’s goal is to secure qualification in all 13 rowing events scheduled for Santo Domingo 2026.

Boats from nine nations are competing in the Petén qualifying event, which concludes next Sunday.