New Trier Grad Peter Chatain Rows Team USA Men's Eight Into Finals At 2024 Paris Olympics

WINNETKA, IL — A Winnetka native has advanced to the final round of the men's eight rowing event at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Peter Chatain, a New Trier Township High School graduate, made his Olympic debut, rowing in the No. 6 seat as Team USA led from the start in their heat Monday.

Chatain and his teammates, Rielly Milne, Pieter Quinton, Evan Olson, Chris Carlson, Clark Dean, Christian Tabash, Nick Rusher and Henry Hollingsworth outpaced the Netherlands in the final 500 meters to secure a half-length victory.

That means they have qualified directly for Saturday’s final at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.

Chatain’s rowing talent runs in the family. His father, Christopher Chatain, was a collegiate All-America sailor and a two-time Flying Dutchman national champion.

A Stanford University alum and San Francisco Bay Area resident, Chatain is also an Eagle Scout.

"I was 12 when I attended my first weeklong rowing camp and 14 when I started rowing at New Trier," Chatain said. "As an Eagle Scout, I built signs for the North Branch of the Chicago River where we rowed."

Chaitain also practices Vipassana meditation and is interested in reading and artificial intelligence ethics, according to US Rowing.

During his time at Stanford, Chatain consistently rowed in the 6th or 7th seat, sometimes known as the "engine room," of the varsity eight-man boat, which finished in third place at the 2021 Pac-12 Championships and in 13th place at the 2022 IRA Championships. He was named Pac-12 Rowing Athlete of the Year as a junior.

Chatain's international career started with a silver medal at the 2021 Under-23 World Championships, followed by second place in the eight at the 2024 World Rowing Cup III and first place in the eight at the 2024 World Rowing Final Olympic & Paralympic Qualification Regatta at Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, in May.

Watch video of the July 29, 2024, Paris Olympics heat »