In the six heats of the men's and women's doubles it was "knives out" from the start as both events set a furious pace; in fact, all three heat winners in the men's double went under the previous Olympic record of 6:11.30, with the Dutch crew of Melvin Twellaar and Stef Broenink bettering that mark to 6:08.38.
Read our interview with the USA women's double here.
John Collins of the GB crew, who finished behind the record-setting Dutch crew, was looking forward to improving in the semis.
"We're perhaps a little bit frustrated with our performance, we perhaps didn't row as well as we had done, had we done a better start, we could have taken the pressure off ourselves a little bit, and made life easier for ourselves. The beauty of the Olympic format is that you've got a bit of time to go and just fix things and make changes. Anything can happen, and we're both very good at learning fast."
Like most crews at the regatta, Collins said that he and his parter, Graeme Thomas, didn't spend a lot of time worrying about their opponents.
"We work off ourselves. We do enjoy the race, we do enjoy the thrill of having people alongside us, but I think we're both very firm believers that our best performance is at the very top of the field, and that's what we have to deliver, and what everyone else is doing is kind of irrelevant in that respect. We haven't actually sat on top of the podium yet, but I still firmly believe that we have the performance in us to be there."
Chris Harris of the New Zealand men's double reflected on the depth of the field.
"All the crews in that race were good quality, so we knew it would be a tough race. We just had a good start, managed to keep a good rhythm. It's mostly a side wind, but there was a bit of tail in there."
His crewmate Lopas added, "It was a good heat, and you want a good race in the heat, because the semi is going to be even tougher. It's elite competition, these are the guys you look up to, and it's nice to line up against them."
On the women's side, although they didn't set any records, the field was quick; the Dutch crew of Lisa Scheenard and Roos de Jong talked about.
"We didn't expect much about how the race would go because we have not seen the other girls for quite a bit. We didn't know what to expect from Estonia; we had our suspicions about Germany because we had seen them in the last World Cup, and we only raced the Lithuanians once, and it wasn't our best race. So we didn't really know what to expect about where we would be at any time in the race."
So, how do you approach the first race at the Olympics?
"I think to keep your head calm and just do what you have to do, try to get into a really nice rhythm to go as fast as you can and you have the momentum. I think that is really the important part, and we talked about in the second 1000 we would start to see what tactics we would do, but in the first 1000 just focus on ourselves. There are loads of things happening in the first 1000 anyway, so in the second 1000 we felt we could come through the field, and had the momentum and the rhythm. That is what we talked about, and we were able to do it."
So, was it good to get the first race out of way?
"Yeah, for sure!" laughed de Jong. "For our boat it is the first time in the Olympics, and that plays a part in the nerves. You haven't seen a lot of crews for a long time and this is the moment you want to be good, so for the first 1000 meters I got really nervous."
First race jitters at the Olympics are just part of the experience, but what if the Olympics are your first senior-level international race ever? This was the case for Canada's Jessica Sevick, who, along with crewmate Gabrielle Smith finished second in the heat behind event favorites Romania; not a bad start at all.
"It's honestly surreal," said Sevick. "For a long time I didn't think I was going to make it; I came up pretty fast, and to make it through Covid and to be here is so special. Even with Covid it has been an amazing experience and so inspiring, and we have loved every minute of it."
"It was a funny journey," she continued. "We were put together as partners about three days before Covid hit and everything was shut down, so it was exciting that we got put together but we never quite got the chance to celebrate our partnership. But looking back at the past 16 months, I think there's a lot to be really proud of, and a lot of fight and tenacity."
Crewmate Gabrielle Smith, who qualified the boat for Canada at the 2019 Worlds with a different partner, paid Sevick credit. "She's a tough cookie that one; I can always count on her to fight, and that makes a very valuable teammate.
"We've joked about it so many times last year when Covid was brewing and the first World Cups were cancelled: 'what if our first race is the Olympic heat?!?"," said Sevick.
"And then the Olympics got delayed and we said 'we're good, we're good," added Smith. "And then what do you know, we're not going to World Cups, and I said 'Okay Sev, our first race is going to be the Olympic heat...'"
We commented that the crew looked pretty relaxed; was that their natural mode?
"I'd say it's not natural...I would say it is the extreme opposite of natural!" said Smith. "Our coach Jeremy (Ivey) has challenged us to treat the Covid Olympics like it is just another day at Elk Lake, and it takes the hoopla out of it a little bit and lets us focus on what we're doing in the moment."
"I think we fake it 'til we make it," added Sevick.
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