The 2008 Games are finally and truly underway - there have even been some gold medals awarded in other sports. To a rower, earning a major medal in a single morning is a completely foreign notion; maybe in a head race, but that's about it. Rowers had to settle for a hot day of hard heats.
Probably the biggest and most unexpected story of the day is the double scratch by Chinese mens' single sculler Liang Zhang. Liang apparently did a full warmup in his single, but missed his race in the second heat; he later said he thought he was in the third heat as the reason he did not show up at the line.. However, Liang was doubling up in the men's double, and though he may not have been aware of it on the water, failing to start in the single required also that he scratch the double, due to his having had qualified the single this year in Poznan. FISA's ruling read that "The qualification rules for the 2008 Olympic regatta require that: 'The rowers qualifying in a certain event at the three continental Olympic qualification regattas and the final Olympic qualification regatta in Poznan, must participate in that event if they participate at the Olympic Games.' CHN M1x Liang Zhang did not compete in his Heat, and under Olympic qualification rules is therefore not eligible to compete in the M2x in which he was also entered."
"Zhang earned men's singles berth in Shanghai's Asian Olympic qualifier in April and men's doubles in the last Olympic qualifier in Poznan of Poland in June. The duo finished first in the event in Poznan," a Xinhuanet report posted at the venue said.
It appears that Liang made a major, stupendous error of judgment, and in so doing dq'd two events for the host country. His withdrawal also set back the schedule for much of the day, as his heat waited on him for some time, and the resulting setback required several heats to catch up. A couple more delays due to bow numbers coming off, weeds in lanes, and what appeared to be a TV camera delay. In at least one case in the men's double heats, the crews sat on the line for a good 10 minutes, too long by any standard. Otherwise, and I don't say this with any sarcasm after reporting the previous issues, it appeared that the regatta was very well run, and the racing fair.
There is also some kind of wild backstory to this one, along the lines of: after Liang won the men's single in Poznan, and then decided to double into the men's double, that opened up another spot overall in the regatta, which ultimately went to the Greek sculler - who had previously lost his spot in the double when his partner was busted by doping folks for overly high levels of a hair restorer (which if I recall correctly, is a masking agent). The folks over at the Rowing Voice have the full scoop on this one.
Another less critical error occurred when the Canadian women's pair, which finished fifth of five in its heat, was given a "no time" result as a result of their shell not meeting the minimum weight requirement.
A damn hot and humid headwind characterized conditions for the racing, which started at 1:50pm local time; humidity was over 80%, with a dew point of around 80 degrees, so humid that photographers were struggling to keep their equipment from fogging up from the inside out. I would say air quality was better overall today, tho, as a bit of rain overnight cleared things up a bit; the acrid taste from the previous day was gone; Visibility was also down to around 750 meters at times, but you could see the length of the course on occasion today. To start the racing, it seemed appropriate that the first crew to reach and pull into the starting line was the Chinese women's single (all the moreso when the Chinese men's scullers were no-show for the rest of the day).
One thing you don't see too often: to deal with the weeds, the OC has a swimmer assigned to each lane; as each crew pulls into their lane, they are asked if they would like to have their hull checked for weeds; if so, the swimmer dives into the water, takes a deep breath, and goes under the boat to check.
The starter asked the crews using the following language each time, over and over: "Do you want to check your boat for weed?" Uh, no, thanks, I'm in training.
Several of the events are going to be extremely tight at the top - the top nine times in the men's four, for example, were all within three seconds expanse, whew. And in the heavily subscribed singles events, you have to dig deeper than finishing place to get to the facts. For example, Ken Jurkowski took the fourth of four quarterfinal qualifying spots in his heat - but had the eighth fastest time overall of the 24 advancing scullers.
Marcel Hacker always keeps things interesting in an already interesting event: after leading to the 500 meter mark and much of the way to the 1000 meter mark, he suddenly stopped pulling, allowing the Swedish sculler to run up a 12 second lead by the finish line.
The seeding process has led to some interesting outcomes, no question - for example, when was the last time the New Zealand W2x Evers-Swindell twins were not seeded for anything? The seeding process gives considerable weight to the World Cup series, then takes into account whether there were lineup changes (these would typically work against you), then proceeds through a few more checkpoints including 2007 World Championship results as a lesser factor.
The US draws for Sunday are again on the tough side; the US LW2x drew the defending World Champ Australians; the light men's four drew Denmark and Italy; and the women's quad (which is seeded) drew Great Britain. The women's eight ends up on the other side of the draw from Romania, but will race Canada, which had a great World Cup race; the US men's eight takes on Great Britain, China, and Germany; favorites Canada are in the first heat with Poland, Australia, and the Netherlands. In the eights, with one to go to Final A, there really isn't going to be an "easy" heat; the US-Canada heat in Athens was an epic battle that may well have decided the gold medal in the first race of the event. You might wonder if the crews involved wouldn't mind a rematch in the heats; either way, they'll have plenty to worry about from the crews they did draw, no question.
I mentioned yesterday that James Tomkins had been chosen as the Australian flag bearer; it turned our that Mahe Drysdale got a last minute nod to do the same for the New Zealand team, as did Mathias Raymond, Monaco's sole rower. This is great for the sport; they do like their rowing down under.
There are two brother duos in the men's pair; the Winklevoss twins are joined by the Skelin brothers (who are not twins). The two-man boats also produce some pretty significant age gaps; the Serbian pair has a 10-year age gap; the South African pair has a 12-year age gap; the Czech pair a 14-year gap; the NX double an 11-year age gap; and the Estonian double a 14-year gap. Yuri Jaansen is the oldest of the group, born in 1965.
US Quotes:
Brett Newlin, US M4-
"Our first goal was to get top three and advance and then it was to put as much heat on the other top crews as we could. "It was a good start. We have a lot to improve on, and I'm looking forward to the semifinal."
Michelle Guerette (Bristol, Conn.), Women's Single Sculls
"It feels good to do some work. I feel like we've been sitting around the hotel. It feels good to get going. It was really good to get out there with (Ekaterina) Karsten, who is a world champion. You know that her speed is on. You can see what the speeds are on this course, what's possible in this headwind. It was good to get the experience on the course."
"It was a little windy, a little hot, but the breeze helps me keep cool during the race, though. I kind of went hard to the 1000m point but paced it after that; it's a long week."
Anna Cummins (Bellevue, Wash.), Women's Pair
...on the women's pair race, "It's always an awesome opportunity to race against the world's best. It felt good to get that process started. Obviously, we have some things to work on and are really looking forward to a second chance in the rep on Monday and going for it in the eight tomorrow."
...on racing the women's eight tomorrow, "I couldn't be more excited than to have the chance to race in that eight tomorrow. To get the chance to race in two boats at the Olympics against the world's best - I'm really fired up for this eight's race tomorrow."
Portia McGee (Seattle, Wash.), Women's Pair
"The heats are a great opportunity just to line up without a lot to lose - go out, sit next to the other crews and just be in that situation before you get into the final races. We got one more race under our belt and got a chance to learn. We got a chance to see some of our competition. We knew they were going to be tough and they are."
"Germany's had a great year, and Romania always has a strong boat. It's pretty exciting to know we were in there with two pretty talented crews. They both had good races, and we felt like we had some really good parts against them."
"We came into last year's world championships not rowing together, and came out rowing together. It's a great opportunity to learn, we're coming on in leaps and bounds. We both take on respective roles in the boat. It's fun, it's just you and nobody else."
Tyler Winklevoss (Greenwich, Conn.), Men's Pair
"We tried to get out pretty quick and stay with the pack. We were there for a little while, but they kind of got away. We had trouble getting back in there. We're just going to try to regroup, get our bodies ready for the rep, and go on from there."
Women's 1x quotes:
Xiuyan ZHANG (CHN)
"I may look comfortable but there is no way I was completely in control of that race. My goal for these Olympics is that they will run smoothly and I will get a good result."
Emma TWIGG (NZL)
"The race turned out to be good at the end. It was harder than I expected; I was ready to compete, but this is the first race in a long time. The conditions are fine; there's a slight breeze but it didn't bother me. My mum, dad and brother are here - it's the first time my brother has seen me compete. The Olympic Regatta feels different and it was good to hear cheering in the last 500m. I don't really feel under pressure because I am the youngest in this event. It's kind of nice to be the underdog."
Ekaterina KARSTEN-KHODOTOVITCH (BLR)
"It was not so easy doing a race again after such a long break. I've had trouble getting used to the heat but it's better than when I arrived on 27th July. I trained in Germany but had no special preparation for the climate. It's interesting to be in the Olympic Village; there's a good atmosphere and lots of people around. My husband is having fun talking to people about different lifestyles and exchanging pins."
Rika GEYSER (RSA)
"I struggled a little - it's very hot. At the opening ceremony the atmosphere was great, especially the echo as we came through the tunnel and the noise as we entered the stadium. I expected it to be a late night and have no regrets about being there."
Gabriella BASCELLI (ITA)
"My preparation went very well and for once without pain or struggle. My main goal is to get to the finish and my main opposition is Karsten. I met Steve Redgrave in 2002 and he has been my mentor since then - he helps everyone and is good at mental training."
Men's 1x quotes:
Lassi KARONEN (SWE)
"It was hard in the beginning because Marcel Hacker (GER) is quick off the start. I had a big push in the middle and he dropped out. Then I controlled it totally but you get really tired anyway! My aim is to reach the Final and I hope to be in the top three. I watched the Opening Ceremony on TV - it was fantastic - but I couldn't stay up for every country."
Alan CAMPBELL (GBR)
"This is my first race since Lucerne, and I raced quite conservatively for me because I normally blast off the start. I was well prepared and had a surge of pace in the last 200m which felt good. I have no injury problems apart from the usual leg pains, etc. My priority is to recover and get ready for the quarter-final. I'm going to take each day as it comes, like stepping stones, and plan to put in more and more along the way and get faster and faster. Hopefully there'll be no hiccups - fingers crossed, legs crossed, toes crossed, everything crossed."
Women's 2- quotes:
Yuliya BICHYK (BLR)
"The race was wonderful and it was very unexpected to win because we have not been performing well this season. It's nice to be in a warm place because in our country we are not spoiled by the weather! We had a break from competing between 2004 and 2007 but we've kept training. Last year our coach decided to put us together again and it seems to be working very well. Our goal is to confirm our performance of last year when we won the World Championships in Munich."
Viorica SUSANU (ROU)
"This was an impressive race; it followed our normal tactic to start slowly, pass everyone and go faster and faster. We passed the Germans at 1000m and just kept going away. I already have four Olympic medals - two from Sydney and two from Athens. I'm hoping to win two here again since I'm also in the women's eight. Everything here and in the Olympic Village is great and the Chinese people are very helpful."
Men's 2- quotes:
Tom LEHMANN (GER)
"For me this was very hard - this hot weather. This season I rowed my first World Cup series and this is my first Olympics. Although we are so young we try to ignore the pressure but we feel it. We're happy to have come third and qualify directly to the semi-final and hopefully we'll do better in our next race. The Olympic Village is incredible, I've seen nothing like this before. The experience is unbelievable. My family is not here but they are supporting us strongly. We didn't go to the Opening Ceremony because we needed to focus on today's race but we watched it until the German Team came in."
Nikola STOJIC (SRB)
"We expected New Zealand to win but also saw in training that we were going faster than the Czechs so our aim was for second place. To prepare we had two weeks' training camp in Bled where the weather was hotter and less humid, so it was a good preparation, and we have been here for a week. We didn't go to the Opening Ceremony because of today's race but we watched it on TV along with athletes from tennis, volleyball, swimming and others."
Women's 2x quotes:
Anna BEBINGTON (GBR)
"The race did not go to plan, it was not too good. We had a good start but the Chinese and Czechs pushed through in the middle and we did not respond to that. We've got something to work on tomorrow to get it right for Monday. We'll have to throw everything at it to get into the final. The conditions are good, there is a slight crosswind but no white waves."
Elise LAVERICK (GBR)
"It's good finally to row in this Olympic Regatta; it's been a long time coming. It's quite hard to focus because although this is a smaller event than the World Championships we're against the top ten crews so it will never be easy. We had a tough race and will have to pull out all the stops."
Men's 2x quotes:
Stanislau SHCHARBACHENIA (BLR)
"Starting with the World Championships we've tried to build up to our peak for the Olympic Games. New Zealand are favourites but they are only favourites because they have good competitors like us. We are going to keep making it hard for them until the end. We have good relations with the rest of our team and we get more and more young rowers each year. Our families are not here but phone and watch us on TV. I hope they will read this quote! The Chinese are helpful and funny - even if we don't understand each other it's fun to try to communicate."
Stephen ROWBOTHAM (GBR)
"Today we've learned how tough Olympic competition is, but also that we are in good shape because we won our heat. We can only do one race at a time and will not predict what will happen next. But we've competed together in 13 regattas and won medals in 11 of those, so there's no reason why we can't win a medal here. The headwind slowed us down, so the times don't look so good. The climate doesn't make a difference during the race, but makes it harder to recover after the finish. We think our main competitors are the Kiwis but Belarus have already shown that they are tough and ready to fight. And of course there's also Slovenia and France. The Chinese are so helpful - they even followed us into the toilet to show us where the paper was."
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