Uruguay puts rowing at the heart of its South American Games campaign

Felipe Klüver and Bruno Cetraro, Olympic diploma winners, will lead Uruguay’s 338-athlete delegation at the South American Games in Santa Fe, Argentina, where competition begins on September 12.

The rowing team includes 11 men and six women and enters the event with strong medal prospects. Cetraro and Klüver finished sixth in the double sculls at Tokyo 2020, earning an Olympic diploma, and helped win gold in the quadruple sculls at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago.

Klüver also won the 2025 world title in the lightweight single sculls and finished runner-up this year. At Santa Fe, Cetraro will compete in the double sculls, quadruple sculls, coxed eight and single sculls. Klüver will race in the double sculls, quadruple sculls, coxed eight and lightweight single sculls.

Uruguay’s delegation also features long jumper Emiliano Lasa, middle-distance athlete Deborah Rodríguez and longboard surfer Julián Schweizer. Lasa will seek another medal after winning an Olympic diploma at Rio 2016 and silver at the 2019 Pan American Games. Rodríguez won bronze in Lima and silver in Santiago in the 800 metres, while Schweizer took silver in Lima.

The team includes veteran sailor Ricardo Fabini, who will compete in the mixed Snipe class with his 14-year-old daughter Marina. Fabini first competed at the Olympics in Barcelona in 1992 and won the Snipe world title in 1989. In cycling, Guillermo Thomas Silva will compete after becoming the first Uruguayan to win a stage of the Giro d’Italia and wear the pink jersey. Uruguay will enter 34 disciplines and one additional event as an invited country, aiming to improve on its performance at Asunción 2022.