Pre-Olympic years yield some especially intense racing at the World Championships. While medals are always on the line, this year it was also about qualifying for the 2016 Games in Rio. Some results were predictable (but no less exciting) - the 10th straight gold medal for the US Women's 8, the NZ Men's 2- continued dominance in their event, and Ondrej Synek and Mahe Drysdale battling for gold in the Men's 1x.
One somewhat more surprising result was the US Women toppling the Germans in the 4x - a first ever gold for the US in that event. America historically has been very much a sweep nation though there are signs, and this was a big one, that this is changing.
For the topic of this article, it was a photo of the US Women's 4x that best illustrates the point. What is most striking about the picture is how low in the boat the athletes are holding their bodies. What they're doing is exactly what we're looking to illustrate: you want to move your your body horizontally through the core.
Looking at the USA W4x, it would seem that this is an elementary concept, but it still seems to be a staple of the standard coaching "tool set" to tell athletes to "sit up" or "sit tall" in the boat.
Since a picture is worth 1000 words and row2k has a fantastic gallery of still shots from the Worlds, we wanted to showcase the rowing style of many of this year's World Champions. Note particularly their posture during different parts of the stroke. And if you want to watch the whole race as it unfolds, go to www.worldrowing.com.
Sunday A Finals:
Saturday A Finals: