The Reps are here, and suddenly the stakes are really, really high. Between the headwind, which returned for a second day here in Poznan, slightly higher temps and some brutal draws, it was intense to be here today.
Warren Anderson in the USA M1x raced the piece of the day, from the US perspective, as he came from 4th early on, to 3rd with 500 to go, to take the second and final qualifying place with a furious sprint that left him clearly dazed for minutes after the race. "The whole world was spinning when I finished my race," said Warren afterwards.
Totally gassed, Warren spent a while rehydrating on the grass near the awards dock before rowing his boat back to the boating area.
"I'm really proud of Warren, he raced a hell of a race," said his coach Joel Scrogin after the race. Anderson's race was the fastest of the four M1x reps today, which hopefully means good things for Thursday's semifinal.
Earlier in the morning, US LW1x Meghan Sarbanis also raced from behind to take command in the second 1000 and win her rep; after a bumpy race in the heats, this might be just the race Meghan needed to point her into the range of the A-Final.
Beyond that, it was a nightmare day for US crews today, as all other boats in action failed to advance out of the reps. Cody Lowry in the LM1x and Margot Shumway in the W1x just missed a spot in the A/B semis, while the Graves brothers in the M2x are headed to the C-Final.
Perhaps most disheartening was the result of the US M4-, who found themselves on the wrong end of a withering sprint by the Spanish and Croatian crews and a margin of just 4/100s to the third and final qualifying spot in their semi.
Both the coaches and athletes expressed dismay at this result, as the crew seemed to have been going well these past few weeks. "This is a shocking result," said Kris Korzienowski. "It was just a very flat race."
This crew, who seemed destined for a better result, will now row in the C-Final later this week.
The US adaptive crews split on the morning, with US Adaptive M1x and Paralympian Ron Harvey moving through from his rep to a spot in the A-Final, while the US Mixed LTA 4+ couldn't quite match the pace in their rep, finishing third and thereby in the B-Final.
The other race involving the US was the "Tuesday race for lanes" in the W4-. The US crew had a solid row, placing 2nd; they'll race again in the A-Final on Saturday.
One thing you don't see too often: two Olympic Silver medallists in the reps. Czech Andrej Synek and Estonian Jueri Jaanson, both with hardware from Beijing, found themselves at opposite ends of their rep of the Men's Single today, with Synek winning to advance and Jaanson, who may have had a health-related issue today, languishing in last.
A couple of the less well-known rowing countries had their day to shine in the reps today, as the scullers from Iran and Brazil advanced in their reps today, moving on to the semis in the Men's Lightweight Single. This wasn't lost on the coaches or athletes; the Brazilian coach sprinted almost the entire last 500m on foot following his man, exhorting him on in full bellow.
The best "What I did on my summer vacation" essay this fall is going to come from 14 year-old Johannes Hofmayr from Austria; he is the cox of the Austrian Men's Lightweight Eight here at the Worlds.
Does the racecourse here in Poznan remind anyone else of Camden?
Speaking of the course, it's a pretty lively venue in terms of its surroundings. There's the grandstands, the skiing hill, and a huge shopping mall at the starting line end. As a matter of fact, you could almost argue that the view from the 3rd level food court at the mall, from which you can see almost the entire first 1000m of the race, is the best view of the lake anywhere.
In addition, even if you didn't have buoys and 500m markers, you could call a pretty good race just off the "natural" landmarks along the course: the huge storage tanks of the local Vodka distillery Wyborowa are exactly at 750m down, and there's a huge playground, complete with a "trampoliny" at 500 to go.
For all the work the folks here in the press do all day, it's not as if we don't take time out for the really important things; one wag took a mid-afternoon break yesterday to call his Grandma to wish her a Happy Birthday.
Finally, as if there was ever any doubt, there is an iPhone app for flirting in Polish.
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