LONDON - Six years, five world championships and an Olympic gold medal in Beijing.
It's all just history now because tomorrow morning the United States' women's eight will not be thinking about what the teams and lineups that came before them have done, but only what they will do in this final at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
U.S. women's head coach, Tom Terhaar, has been saying the same thing for the last three world championships - winning at the world championships is great, but everything is about the Olympics.
At 12:30 tomorrow afternoon, he will have the answer as the women's eight races for the gold at Eton Dorney against Australia, The Netherlands, Canada, Romania and Great Britain. Certainly based on the success Terhaar has had with every lineup he puts in his eight, the U.S. is the favorite to win.
The U.S. crew of Mary Whipple (Orangevale, Calif.), Caryn Davies (Ithaca, N.Y.), Caroline Lind (Greensboro, N.C.), Eleanor Logan (Boothbay Harbor, Maine), Meghan Musnicki (Naples, N.Y.), Taylor Ritzel (Larkspur, Colo.), Esther Lofgren (Newport Beach, Calif.), Susan Francia (Abington, Pa.) and Erin Cafaro (Modesto, Calif.) won their heat Sunday by more than seven seconds over Australia, which had to qualify for the final in the repechage.
Most observers consider Canada to be the threat to test the U.S. to the finish line. They also won their heat on Sunday. But Terhaar made it clear after the heats were finished that he respects Canada but keeps a careful eye on Romania.
"I respect the hell out of (the Canadians)," Terhaar said Sunday. "I like the coach. I like the athletes. They're just good people. We want to win of course, but a rivalry, no.?? Romania is the one I'm always watching out for. What do they have, three Olympic gold medals in a row? They've medaled pretty much every Olympics since it was created. They're the ones I keep an eye out for.
"Making the final is always a big deal, getting it out of the way. They raced really hard and well and it was a good first step. This is an Olympic final and people turn it up. Who knows who will win. We hope to race whoever shows up."
While the women's eight is the primer race for tomorrow, the U.S. has three medal hopefuls rowing to advance and one crew, the lightweight men's four, rowing in the B final for places 7-12.