What is "repechage"

n. (context sports English) A heat (as in rowing or fencing) in which the best competitors who have lost in a previous round compete for a place or places yet left in the next round.

n. a race (especially in rowing) in which runners-up in the eliminating heats compete for a place in the final race

Repechage (; , "fishing out, rescuing") is a practice in series competitions that allows participants who failed to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to continue to the next round.