8:00 AM local time: As a front approached the French Alps last night, coaches and crews were warned to tie down their boats in anticipation of high winds and heavy rain. Neither has materialized, thankfully; the course this morning is grey, damp, and overcast, but winds are light, and the course looks very good.
Amercentric news: Last night, shortly after the end of racing, Don Spero, the last man to win the open single for the United States, faxed FISA Exec. director Matt Smith with a note of congratulations for Jamie Koven, the US gold medal single sculler. Koven was not on site to receive the message, but we delivered it to him, as we have all of your messages to the athletes. A tight circle of single scullers was seen celebrating into the night at an outdoor bar in Aix-les-Bains, where many of the teams are staying.
Similarly, crews that had finished racing yesterday began the celebration in Aix-les-Bains; word is that it was only a warmup for tonight's festivities; it's something to see when hundreds of athletes, long living the ascetic, intense lifestyle of the elite rower, finally let it all go.
As I left the course yesterday, I was struck by how many photo finishes there were, as you may have noticed from the race reports. Crews winning by mere inches is expected, but not in so many races. Two coaches mentioned that one might expect a downturn in boatspeed and intensity in a post-Olympic year, and that they could find no evidence of it this year. People are already talking about Sydney; it's going to be an exciting quadrennial.
The first crews are approaching the starting gates; here we go.
And so concludes the 1997 World Championships of Rowing. In the spirit of cooperation to bring you the best Worlds coverage we could, row2k and the Rowing Service, delivered hundreds of messages to athletes from every continent through this morning.
H8+ Men's 8+ (RUS, GER, ROM, AUS, GBR, USA)
gold medal: United States. more soon, off to celebrate, no one can blame me.
later: Germany and Romania set the early pace, followed by the USA, RUS, GBR and AUS - .83 from 1-3, another .2 to fourth. In the second 500, the USA began pushing, slowly but insistently, at the Romanians, and Germany went with them that both Germany and the US and Germany into the 1-2 positions by the 1000. In the third 500, the US crew was clocked at 39 beats/minute already, but still kept moving through the field, but Romania reestablished the lead crossing the 1500m mark with a tremendous surge. The US charged again immediately after the 500, however, taking the lead at 400 to go and never relinquishing it. The AUS crew poured it on for the bronze, and the GBR, which rowed in 6th to the 1500, put in the fastest final 50 to come fourth.
Jay Feenan pointed out that the US crew posted the third fastest 500 in each 500 down the course; the most consistent tactics also proved the fastest.
F8+ women's 8+ (GER, GBR, USA, ROM, CAN, BLR)
A year after winning the Olympics going away, Romania remains dominant in this event. At 500 gone, the CAN, GBR, and USA crews were within one second of one another; only Canada would latch onto ROM's lead to win silver. The GBR crew finished third for the bronze, followed by LR, GER, and the USA.
H4x men's quad (SUI, FRA, GER, ITA, UKR, AUT)
The UKR crew jumped out to a very fast start, leading into the second 500, but by the 1000m mark, the Italians, with the familiar visage of an Abbagnale in two seat (Agostino), had taken over the lead.
Once again, the early leader faltered late, and the Germans rowed to the silver, followed by the UKR, who were able to hold off France's late volley.
F4x women's quad (CAN, DEN, GER, RUS, UKR, BLR)
Germany took off right from the start, and no one ever again came close to them. in second place throughout, the Danish crew had about a length on the field, which was reduced considerably by the UKR crew and they chased down and passed the Russians to gain the bronze medal. Russia came fourth, and I believe LR fifth, CAN sixth.
HPL4- men's lightweight four (USA, ITA, FRA, DEN, GER, RUS)
As is always the case in this Olympic event, racing was ferociously paced, and extremely close. With less than two seconds back to sixth place Russia at the 500, Denmark established an early lead over the Germans, who they could not break away from for the first 1400 meters. They finally got about a half length on the Germans when the French started coming on late in the race, as they have in race after race this week, and apparently for the past few years, according to US coach Mike Teti.
The French charge was formidable, getting them past the Germans, but not enough to overcome the Danes, who won the gold by a few seats. Germany followed, then the Italians, who had rowed in a close fourth for most of the race. The US, which seemed to falter slightly in the scond 500, raced to fifth, followed by RUS.
HPL2x men's lightweight double (ESP, SUI, ITA, POL, GER, AUS)
Poland took the race, after dogfighting with the Australians for 1200 meters; AUS was up by a foot at 500, Poland by a foot at 1000, then AUS was ahead again shortly after that for what was to be the last time. The pace cost the Australians dearly, and they faded into fifth place by the end of the race. The early race for third was equally tight, with Italy and Germany trading spots just as the leaders were, but with AUS out of the picture,
Italy took control in the final 500 for the silver, followed by Germany, SUI, AUS, and ESP.
FPL2x women's lightweight double (FRA, GER, ROM, CAN, DEN, USA)
The Romanian crew seemed a lock in this race, with open water going across 500 to go on CAN, DEN and GER, who raced level to the 1500 after an early second place lead by Canada. But the Romanians almost completely collapsed, with the Germans and Denmark blitzing through for the gold and silver, and the Romanians just barely holding off the Canadians, followed by the USA and FRA.
H4+ Men's coxed four (CRO, GBR, FRA, ITA, CZE, USA)
Italy put together one of the best first thousands of the entire regatta in this race; unfortunately for them, France put together an almost incredible second thousand. Italy was up by a lenth on the entire field, with everyone else essentially level early in the race. The USA crew looked to be the first crew to go after the Italians in the second 500, but could not sustain it, and were caught by Great Britain, which won the bronze, followed by the USA in fourth.
HPL4x men's lightweight quad (GRE, USA, IRL, ITA, GER, JPN)
Another great race, with a blazing start for Italy, and especially Greece. The Greece were to fade dramatically after the 1000, leaving the lead to the Italians, with a game German crew close behind, attacking always. Germany fell short, with Italy winning the gold, Germay the bronze, and Ireland, which appeared to have a lock on third crossing the 1500m mark, just barely holding off a USA charge late in the race; the US crew had rowed in fifth to the 500. GRE fell back into fifth by the finish, with JPN well back.
FPL4x women's lightweight quad (NED, SWE, GER, CAN, GBR, USA)
A fantastic race, with no crew really ever out of the medal hunt. With five crews within 1.5 seconds at the 500, and the field even tighter slightly after that, it was a barnburner all the way down for all crews, but none so much as the German and Canadian crews, which probably never had more than a deck separating them for the entire 2000 meters. The crews were stroke for stroke for some time, surging and slowing precisely together.
The Germans prevailed by half a deck, followed by Canada for the silver, NED for the bronze, GB, SWE, and the USA.
HPL2- lightweight men's pair (SWE, FRA, SUI, IRL, DEN, HUN)
This quickly developed into a three boat race between SUI, IRL and DEN, and a fierce one at that: the 1.99 second separating the three at the 1500 was probably the largest margin of the entire race.
The Swiss crew led throughout, if tenuously, with DEN and IRL trading places at least three times. The Irish crew, which had been talked about as a possible gold medalist, extended themselves to the finish, appearing to chase for the gold instead of worrying about the silver, and got ahead of the Danes by .45 seconds for the silver. France rowed in fourth, some distance behind.
FPL2- lightweight women's pair (final only: GBR, AUS, GER, USA, CHN, FRA)
The buildup to this race must have been excruciating for these crews; with only six boats entered, this is a final-only event, and some of these crews have been here since August 25 waiting for this moment.
The German crew had the best start, but within 200 meters, this was a two-boat race between the USA and Australia. Rowing a beat or two higher, the AUS crew got out to a 1.08 second lead by the 500, and when they came down a little, the USA came back into them, within a couple meters. The two crews battled for those couple meters the rest of the way down the course, with the USA charging in the last 500 meters before AUS responded once again to win by 3/4 length. GBR, which had been out of the lead by as much as 9.7 seconds, was storming on both crews, but had to settle for the bronze, some open water behind the USA in silver position, AUS in gold.
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