By the time the duo arrived at the U.S. non-qualified Olympic trials, they had three regattas and months of training alongside fast national team crews under their belt.

“That gave us a big advantage,” Daly said. “We were much more comfortable, we knew what things worked, what things didn’t. By the time we got to trials, we were going through motions of what we had already established.”

On April 12, they won the regatta with over a six second margin of victory, allowing them to finally shift their sights to the goal of competing in the Olympics.

But even more so than at the U.S. trials, they are truly facing the unknown in Switzerland.

This final qualification opportunity features entries from all of the countries that were unable to qualify at the 2011 World Championships in Bled, Slovenia. The fact that none of these crews have qualified does not indicate a lack of speed. Neither Campbell nor Daly competed in the lightweight double in Bled, and other countries could similarly feature rowers who had previously competed in other events.

“It’s hard to say what the field will look like,” Campbell said. “People place a premium on going to the Olympics and will do a lot of crazy things to get there.”

“It’s going to be a hard regatta,” Daly said. “The regatta itself is very stressful. We’re going to be with people. Some are going to be in a better position, some in worse. We just have to stay in our own bubble, do what’s been working for us.”

—Staff writer Christina C. McClintock can be reached at ccmcclin@fas.harvard.edu.