The biggest news of the day must be the denial of both the Chinese and German men's eights from the A final; the German eight won gold in 2006, and silver in 2007, but had been completely replaced this summer in a very controversial and extremely late overhaul of the entire men's sweep program. Meanwhile, the Chinese eight failed to live up to the promise of their 2008 World Cup campaign, where they placed second in Lucerne and third in Munich.
The difference between a shot at the medals and the B final came down to only 0.05 second for the Chinese, as the Poles held off a smoking Chinese sprint in the final strokes. The US men won the race after leading to the 1000, and briefly letting the Australian crew push through to the lead in the third 500. The crew did appear to be rating fairly low at the time, and when they wound it up they blasted away from the field, picking up almost 3 seconds on the Australians in the final 50 strokes. "We made some improvements from the heat to the rep, and there are things we can work on over the course of the next four days, just building as the races go on," Matt Schnobrich said.
In my blog this morning, I wrote about and posted a photo of the bowman of the Dutch eight lying down in the bow section, with the two-man holding his oar. My theory was that bowman Olivier Siegelaar might have been clocked in the nose by his oar, as he was lying down holding his face. The announcement came today that he had been "substituted due to illness and has been replaced by Reinder Lubbers. He may rejoin the crew to compete again at the regatta subject to his recovery and a satisfactory medical review of his condition." Spare Lubbers stepped in and helped the crew get the job done, as they placed third in the rep and head to the A final on Sunday.
Jeremy STEVENSON (AUS)
"Our goal was to get out in front in this race and stay there. We had a great third 500m where the boat was very responsive. In our heat we had a mechanical failure and had to stop before we crashed into Canada. Our motto is 'Length, Power, Timing.' It feels really good to be at the Olympics. I know there is a lot of pressure from the media but that helps us to stay alert."
Light Doubles
The US crew of Goldsack and Hykel started proceedings quite well in the first race of the day, winning their rep with a nice push in the final 500 meters. The US wound it up a little bit to take the win, while the other crews really did not, as there was a good 18-second gap between third and fourth, with three to qualify. If you're in position, it's almost always worth it to give a little to win, as the rush and confidence a V gives back a lot. "We had a really solid piece," Renee Hykel said after the race. "We got the job done and are looking forward to the semifinal."
Helen CASEY (GBR)
"In the Olympics to race is really hard, so that was not comfortable. Differently from our heat, this time our job was to go out and win. We had a really good first 1500m but then we ran out of beans a little bit too early. In the boat, Hester (Goodsell) is the strategic brain. Obviously I have to be aware of that, but I just set up the rhythm and go. Now I feel I've given everything but there's more to come. We could pace ourselves better to give us a chance for a sprint at the end."
Hester Goodsell, (GBR)
It didn't go quite to plan with that crab at the end, but we won the race, that was the aim. Of course there is more, we are still standing. If we had given everything we wouldn't be standing."
Chrysi BISKITZI (GRE)
"We didn't start the race so well even though we were very confident. During these races we try to focus on ourselves and not the others. I'm glad as a lightweight that we are not living in the Olympic Village with so much food available!"
Alexandra TSIAVOU (GRE)
"This is my first Olympics but the way to race is the same. There's more pressure on me than usual but I am working on it. Chrysi (Biskitzi) and I are compatible; we don't have the same types of body so Chrysi can recover some weight for me and this works well."
Men's double quotes:
Manuel BREHMER (GER)
"It was a hard battle and we are lucky that we won because my partner is a very good fighter."
"It was important to win for two reasons. One is a better lane, which might only be a small advantage. The other is important psychologically to beat the Australians."
Jonathan Koch, GER
"It's important to have broken the Australian defense, they will have that in their heads in the final."
On looking exhausted: "I guess I am a little bit more sensitive to the weather."
Eyder BATISTA VARGAS (CUB)
"The opposition, especially Hungary, is very strong, and Portugal also has a very good boat. It was good to come second. We are both quite small so have no problem with weight. Communication is very important in our boat; we both decide on the tactics."
Zsolt HIRLING (HUN)
"We're usually an A-Final team and we've improved a lot since Poznan. In the last quarter something went wrong but we really don't know what yet; we don't understand why we came fourth."
Pedro FRAGA (POR)
"Our heat was more difficult than the repechage. Today it was good to get close to the teams and we managed to sprint at the end and win, just as we did in Poznan at the Qualifying Regatta. Now we have more will to win and more motivation. We had one and a half months to prepare for the Olympics after Poznan but a lot of other teams have had a year. We are in good shape and want to get the best result for Portugal. The Olympic Village is spectacular and a lot of fun."
Lightweight Men's Four
A commanding second 1000 by the Irish crew let them pile up an open water lead by the finish line, followed by the Dutch and US in the other two semifinal qualifying positions. As you'll read below, the Irish are happy to keep moving through the regatta, with a big meal as the reward. The US crew went off the line in fourth in three to advance rep, but shortly after 500 gone had passed the fading Egyptian crew, and by the race's end was able to qualify very comfortably.
Ivo SNIJDERS (NED)
"This was much better than in our heat when we had a weak start. We were much happier at the start today and felt really solid. We'll need to improve to make the Final. We know we are good enough to be in the top five but have to prove it to ourselves. No one is the brains of this boat, we try to leave the brains out of it! Maybe that's what went wrong in our heat - too much thinking."
Gearoid TOWEY (IRL)
"We usually have a very good second half of a race, so when we were second at 1000m we were confident we could win. It is a different kind of wind today than in our heat. Our main focus in a race is to keep strong and long. It's frustrating to have all the food around in the Olympic Village, especially Peking Duck. But I know that next week I will be able to eat loads of high fat and unhealthy food."
"We wanted to start faster, so we went crazy off the start. We had a good solid rhythm, everybody did what they were supposed to do." On being Ireland's rowing medal hope: "I wouldn't call us that, we don't think about that, we just want to achieve our best and see where it takes us."
Paul Griffin IRL:
"We had a good row but I wouldn't look too much into that. I said before we came here there were probably 10 boats with a medal chance, all we have done today is eliminate one. I am happy with today because it gives us a chance to correct a poor performance on Sunday."
Quads
Kathrin Boron of Germany probably doesn't find herself in too many reps, but it's not hard to believe when her crew goes and wins one she does end up in. Even so, Jen Kaido seemed able to look across and see Boron, and not sweat it too much, at least on the evidence of her crew's row, which was hard fought but very composed. Although the US crew rowed in second place most of the way, and never really looked under serious threat of failing to move on, it still took about 1200 meters for things to sort out such that the crew could feel like anything was locked up, and all four of the qualifiers pushed all the way to the finish, save perhaps the Germans, who were just churning out front.
"We knew it was going to be a hard race, and we knew we were going to have to go harder than we had ever gone before," stroke Margot Shumway said. "I think we did that. We were aggressive from the start. We're such a young crew that every time we go out and do a piece we learn something that helps us."
The Canadian crew fought for a spot in the mix in the second 500, but couldn't haul themselves into the pack, and when it eluded them for too long, were unable to keep themselves from falling off the pace. Immediately after the race all four rowers were looking ahead to the B final, and to the next four years; onward!
We followed this race from the launch today, so check the galleries for a heap of photos. As it turned out the race was umpired by US official Bob Appleyard.
Boron:
On qualifying: "We didn't even talk about qualification, that was too trivial. Today we performed better and the feeling of leading in the race was clearly more fun. England and China will be serious opponents in the final but we'll just give it a go and see. Of course I want to win gold. If you have already got four medals at home you only want a fifth one."
On whether she would like a bronze to add to her 12 golds and five silvers: "That is exactly what my daughter said but I told her I really don't want that one. Whatever happens, this is really true, Sunday will be my last international race."
Stephanie SCHILLER (GER)
"That was a good race! We wanted to win and we've done it. We can still improve for the Final. Racing at the Olympics is quite different from other regattas. There are a lot of people in the tribune and it helps a lot."
Janine HANSON (CAN)
"Out there we raced as a team and did the best we could. All of our passion and skill were in that race and we're happy with the result. In Canada we don't have a sculling programme. Our coach Carsten Hassing came only two years ago and qualified us. We hope he will be hired again. Everything at the Olympics is unbelievable; it's so exciting to wear the Canadian uniform and to be able to race for our country."
Krista GULOIEN (CAN)
"We want to come back; we are not done yet with the Olympics."
Men's quotes:
Allar Raja (EST)
It was a very hard race, much harder than the first. With 700 to go, it started to get quite difficult, we started to lose more power. We are going to get as much rest as we can, and hopefully we will have a better race than today. It's going to be very difficult to get a medal, but not impossible."
Kaspar TAIMSOO (EST)
"As the results show, we felt a lot better now than in our heat. We got onto a good rhythm and found good speed. This has given us confidence for the semi-final. The Olympic Village is more than amazing; it's just so different on all levels. There is lots to do and we can chill out, play games, meet other athletes and have less time to get nervous. This helps us concentrate better when we are at the venue."
Pairs
The draw for the second rep included at least a couple crews that came into the week with medal hopes, and they ran away with the race early. China and Germany had cleared open water on the US and Canada late in the second 500, and although the US crew didn't let them get any further away in the third 500, the effort was too great, and by the finish line the US and Canadian crews just didn't have anything with which to answer the leaders' efforts.
The other rep was almost an identical story; the way the races unfolded was almost identical.
Louisa REEVE (GBR)
"We had to believe that the Australians had gone out too hard and hold our nerve. It was frustrating to have no fast crew right next to us. It feels fantastic to be in an Olympic Final."
Olivia WHITLAM (GBR)
"We've only been rowing together for 12 weeks - this keeps it shining! We swapped order 4 weeks ago and it feels like Louisa (Reeve) is stroking from the bow and I'm making the calls from the stroke seat. I haven't stroked since 2005 so it's interesting!"
Lenka WECH (GER)
"This wasn't a good race, we have done much better in the past. We struggled in the first 1000m but it's more psychological than physical, after the disappointing eights race yesterday. Being in two different crews doesn't affect the racing that much because there's good recovery time. But it's hard mentally to have time to relax when there's no day off. Our motto is 'Have fun and be strong!'"
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