The boats are up to 20 metres long and weigh a total of 96 kilograms and drew fascination at the Laguna Grande in San Pedro de la Paz.

"While men don't compete in collective boats as much as women do, a very good chemistry was achieved by bringing them together," said Cuban head coach Joan Manuel Paula.

"However, it's a bit more challenging to coordinate nine people at the same time.

"It was a bit more difficult to row in this category, considering that the male delegation had a preparation in Europe for the World Championship, and the women stayed in Cuba.

"Therefore, we only had a week to prepare, but we managed to do it."

Host nation Chile confirmed their place in the final, set to take place on Wednesday (October 25), with a leading time of 5min 58.47sec in the first heat.

They featured quadruplet siblings Ignacio, Antonia, Melita, and Alfredo Abraham to beat the United States' crew by 0.04.

Sisters Christina and Victoria Hostetter also featured in the Chilean line-up alongside Francisco Lapostol, Isidora Soto, and Oscar Vásquez.

Cuba were victorious in the other heat as they clocked in after 6:10.47.  

The losing teams from the heats will have to race in the repechage for the last two spots in the final.

The US are favoured for the fixture and will share the waters with Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, and Paraguay.

Rowing has featured at every single edition of the Pan American Games alongside diving, swimming, water polo, basketball, baseball, road cycling, track cycling, artistic gymnastics, dressage, equestrian, jumping, wrestling, athletics, boxing, fencing, football, shooting, and weightlifting.