Manuel Suarez and 18-year-old Orlando Sotolongo had each won silver medals in their respective coxless fours and quadruple sculls events here this week before leaving the team, while Leosmel Romos and Wilber Turro dropped out before the regatta began.

Cuban coach Juan Carlos Reyes revealed this morning how the team had left the rest of the squad, adding that they had already been in touch with team mates still here via Facebook since their successful arrival in the US.

He criticised their decision due to the impact it had made on the rest of the squad.

"From a human perspective, every human has innate values and we need to help out our team mates and we shouldn't be drawn to engage in stuff like this because of money," he said.

"We need to naturally help our team mates and this is something that obviously does not sit well with us.

This follows similar defections by baseball players Luis Yander La O and Yadiel Hernandez during a warm-up tournament in North Carolina, with the duo each having been due to form part of the Cuban squad here at the Games,

Relations are currently improving between the US and Cuba following the historic recent agreement to reopen embassies.

But because this has brought fears that the US may end its policy to grant any Cuban who sets foot on American soil to remain in the country, more Cubans appear concerned with leaving than ever to take advantage of the greater opportunities provided there.

There are many instances of Cuban athletes making similar defections from Canada in the past, including Jorge Enrico Blanco who did so shortly after winning a boxing gold medal at the Winnipeg 1967 Pan American Games.

Eight members of the Cuban delegation defected when Winnipeg hosted the Games a second time in 1999, while two female footballers followed suit in 2011 after an Olympic qualifying match with Canada in Vancouver.

Speaking this morning before news of the rowers departure had broken, Toronto 2015 chief executive Saad Rafi said they have a "protocol" they follow to avoid defections, something "dealt with through our integrated security unit and if necessary, through the relevant National Olympic Committee".

No official reaction will be made by the Pan American Sports Organization, the body's first vice-president Ivar Sisniega told insidethegames today, but they will speak with the Cuban National Olympic Committee (CNOC) about the incident if required.

Cuban officials are yet to respond to insidethegames' requests for a reaction to the incident.

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