Possibly the most popular and unusual member of the US team: US adaptive team member Ariel’s guide dog Hedda. On the harness, Hedda is a disciplined worker; off the leash, she’s a rambunctious puppy. The transformation is almost astonishing to see; one minute she’s leading at a speed walker pace, the next she’s off the lead and doing 360’s, slamming into and licking her admirers, and making repeated bids for a dish of tiramisu brought by Sarah Jones’ mom for her birthday.
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Speaking of birthdays, there were two on the US team yesterday: as mentioned above, one was Sarah Jones of the women’s quad; the other was women’s coach Chris Wilson. Both kept celebrations at a very low key, just some tasty desserts – both have more pressing things to think about here in Milan. Happy birthday to both!
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No sooner did row2k comment on Simon Carcagno’s six-day growth being his ticket to infiltrate the Italian camp was it gone; Simon showed up clean-shaven at the line this morning.
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The geek media crowd is doing hand-to-hand combat with the storm of viruses arriving on our computers; at least one computer is infected, and I’m batting away about 1000 viruses/day.
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There’s been some confusion in the papers over the issue of qualification. Each crew that qualifies for the Olympics at this Worlds has qualified their country in that event, and not necessarily themselves in that boat for their country. You qualify by country in each event according to the requirements for that event, but the Olympic crew could consist of a completely different lineup, could be a different single sculler, etc. I hope that makes sense.
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Four of the five women’s fours met immediately after the last race of the day for a friendly scrimmage. The US crew took the lead off the start and led to the wire despite a formidable German charge mid-race that took them from 2.59 seconds behind at the 1000 to 0.36 behind the US at the 1500. The US crew answered impressively and pushed out to a 2.92 lead by the finish. The N-Zed crew placed third, with the Canadians off the pace in fourth. The “real” final is on Saturday.
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The US light men’s quad advanced to the A final despite a shaky starting scenario; first a couple guys in the crew flinched in between the “Attention” and the horn; the pause was long enough that they recovered completely. Then the crew caught a pretty good digger on the starboard oars about 4-5 strokes in; they recovered to place second into the final.
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Semi-finals start tomorrow, and some Olympic events are running extraordinarily deep in talent. Behind the scenes comments have been respectful, but it’s obvious that folks are feeling ready to back into the stakeboats. Jeff Klepacki, 6-seat in the men’s eight, was feeling good about the U.S. crew’s preparation thus far this a.m. at breakfast: “We’ve got a good blend of veterans, youth, power and skill, and we’ve taken a very methodical approach—so far everything’s right on track.”
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Aussie pair coach Chris O’Brien noted that the pair field is so talented leading into the 2004 Games that any of the six finalists here at the Worlds will have a legitimate shot at a medal come Saturday. That pair is none other than James Tomkins and Drew Ginn, legendary World Cup spoilers for the Brits, and Olympic gold medallists – Tomkins has a gold medal in every men’s sweep event. The crews from Czech Republic, South Africa, Serbia-Montenegro, Italy, Canada, and Croatia are equally dangerous: “The field has certainly strengthened since ’99. There are six crews that could put their hand up. It just depends who’s going to strike on the day.”
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