Overheard at the return dock:
“Thank God you made the A final – the B finals are a bitch!”
---
Eurosport is airing four hours of rowing daily, not too shabby. Apparently the Eurosport rowing commentary is sufficiently brutish; a slightly lower lifeform than, say, talk radio.
--- Canuck commentary:
Lead Sled: the bowman of the Canadian coxed pair is from the Yukon; the northern boys seem to know something about driving the lead sled.
The Canadian coxswain is doubling in the men’s coxed pair and eight.
Quote of the day: after winning gold in the light women’s single, Fiona Milne was asked about her plans for next year over the grandstand PA: “Hopefully the same thing in the double.”
---
There is a double peloton here at Worlds; one on the grandstand side, a scenic, winding “official” trail over bridges and around ponds; the other on the boatyard side, pretty much a straight shot over off-road conditions.
---
After being rowed down by Olaf Tufte for the gold, Hacker showed that he is not only a fierce competitor, but is a generous competitor: he leapt up and down at his announcement as the silver medallist; Itzok Cop and Tufte are close friends, and Hacker helped Cop hoist Tufte aloft into a sculler pyramid for photos; and celebrated honestly and openly. No sulking, no what-ifs; just a great time on the medals podium ---
Tufte’s comments during the podium interview broadcast over the PA: “I am here with two of the best scullers in the world, and today I beat them! I am very happy!”
---
A North American morning: The first three events of the A finals were won by North American crews; in order: USA in the women’s 4, USA in the men’s pair, and Canada in the light women’s single.
---
Winds were so strong yesterday afternoon that the course was closed for two hours, wreaking havoc with practice schedules, forcing many crews that had chosen to take the morning off not to row at all yesterday.
---
Wildness in the pairs: in the women’s pair, the British crew rowed from a deep fourth into the lead in the final 600 meters or so, while the GB Pinsent/Cracknell pair didn’t even medal. I believe there’s a lot of cash on the line for that GB pair failing to medal; ouch.
---
US Saturday tally: the US had four boats in the A finals today, and won three medals, all in non-Olympic events: gold in the women’s four and the men’s coxed pair, and silver in the light men’s eight. The women’s pair placed sixth, a tough row for them after three very smart races in the heats, reps, and semis that placed them already a little higher in the pack than might have been expected earlier in the summer. Despite a couple bad patches late in the final and a bit of a waking from the TV launch that really hurt their final result, they had an impressive regatta, especially in achieving team mission #1 of Olympic qualification.
---
Dis on the medals dock: During the grandstand interview on the medals dock, Canadian men’s four stroke Barney Williams thanked David Tanner of the UK for firing Mike Spracklen so he could return to Canada. The British four was standing right next to him.
---
There has been a lineup change in the US light men’s quad, with Tim Larson moving from stroke to three, and Michael Aller moving into stroke.
---
The women’s single triumvirate of Neykova, Rutschow and Karsten continue to dominate – last year it went Neykova, Karsten, then Rutschow – this year it was Neykova, Rutschow, then Karsten. Karsten almost looked out of the medals for a while, but bolted back in in the final 500.
---
Ominous factoid of the day: The rowing events at the 1896 Olympics held in Greece were cancelled due to wind.
Comments | Log in to comment |
There are no Comments yet
|
row2k's Worlds coverage is brought to you in part by:
row2k's Worlds coverage is brought to you in part by: