We've Waited Four Years

By Melissa Bray

Schinias dispelled all bad rowing weather myths. Perfectly flat water greeted the top rowers in the world as coaches twitched nervously in the boat park and competitors disappeared into their individual preparation minds.

Seven finals later Great Britain’s Matthew Pinsent had four Olympic gold medals. The New Zealand Evers-Swindell twins won the first gold for their country at the Athens Olympics. Germany’s Katrin Rutschow-Stomporowski had finally pipped Karsten. Olaf Tufte of Norway added Olympic gold to his collection. Georgeta Andrunache retained her Olympic Champion status and became three-time gold medallists. France’s Sebastien Vielledent and Adrien Hardy finally beat the Italians. And Drew Ginn came back from being told he would never row again to do what he couldn’t do in Sydney – row. James Tomkins, at the age of 39, did it with him and added a third gold to his collection.

Katrin Rutschow-Stomporowski
© Dominik Keller

Women’s Single Scull

The indomitable Trio – Katrin Rutschow-Stomporowski of Germany, Rumyana Neykova of Bulgaria and Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus have raced each other ever since they were juniors in the early 1990s. They took out the top three spots in Sydney and returned to Athens to do it again. Karsten has done it at the last two Olympics. Neykova has held World Champion status for the last two years.  Rutschow-Stomporowski saw World Champion status in 2001 and a bronze in Sydney.

Before the race Rutschow-Stomporowski walked determinedly around the boat park. She was coming to Athens off an unbeaten season. But the real pressure sat firmly with the Olympic two-timer, Karsten. Jogging determinedly around the edge of the boat park, Karsten was aiming for a hat trick.

However it was the new kid on the Olympic block, Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic who broke the early morning water in the first final of the 2004 Olympic Regatta. This brave move was not sustainable. Right behind her the trio sat on top of each other. Watching each other. Unconcerned by Knapkova’s early speed.

This cat and two mice game continued through the second quarter of the race. Rutschow-Stomporowski, Karsten and Neykova toying with each other. The ratings were in the low 30s. Who was going to make the move first? Germany chose. A perfectly timed piece at the 800 metre mark put Rutschow-Stomporowski in the lead with Karsten and Neykova reacting to each other as Rutschow-Stomporowski began to push away.

This left Karsten and Neykova to play second place cat and mouse – their stroke rates absolutely mirroring each other.

Coming into the final 300 metres all three scullers were rating 36 with Rutschow-Stomporowski holding a comfortable lead. The perfectly executed plan by Rutschow-Stomporowski earlier in the race had won her the gold. Karsten sprinted to second and Neykova followed directly behind in third.

After the finish an emotional Rutschow-Stomporowski said this was a dream come true, “I have had to make so many sacrifices. I missed the most not having contact with my husband (Swiss coach and former lightweight rower) and my friends.” Asked about going for gold in four years, Rutschow-Stomporowski said, “I need to think about this one before thinking about another one!”

Neykova, “Psychologically it was a difficult race because I was watching both Katrin and Ekaterina. When I found my power, I knew that I couldn’t beat Katrin.”

Karsten said she is definitely going for a third gold in 2008, “I have two golds, one bronze and I was missing silver. Of course I wanted gold but it just didn’t happen. I’m glad I didn’t double up in the quad. This is the Olympic Games, you have to concentrate on one thing.”

Olaf Tufte the olympic champion in single scull
© FISA

Men’s Single Sculls

Vaclav Chalupa of the Czech Republic has been working diligently on his starts, maybe too diligently. Getting out to a slight lead over Tim Maeyens of Belgium Chalupa inched his way up to a half boat length lead over what was almost a complete line of five boats. The line was Chalupa’s curse. By the 800 metre mark the line had caught Chalupa. This is when World Champion Olaf Tufte of Norway started to move.

Estonia’s Jueri Jaanson held on and moved ahead. The field was starting to open up, if only slightly, as Chalupa slipped further back and Jaanson took the lead with Tufte right there. It was all going to come down to the final sprint and stroke rates were starting to rise. Tufte now gained the lead with Bulgaria’s Ivo Yanakiev adding his weight to the charge.

Yanakiev only qualified for Athens at the last minute after missing out on an Olympic spot at last year’s World Championships by only one position. The Bulgarian admitted after the final qualification regatta that the ordeal had been emotionally draining. But after beating favourite Marcel Hacker in the semi-final, he knew he had the power.

Tufte, now rating 42 strokes per minute, was leaving an exhausted Jaanson behind. Jaanson was hanging on to second for dear life.

At the line Tufte had won Olympic gold, Jaanson won his first Olympic medal and Yanakiev turned his luck around to win bronze.

After the finish Tufte said it was his day, “My start wasn’t very good and I felt the pressure from my opponents, but I have been waiting four years for this race. I didn’t want to wait any more and I gave it all.” I know Jueri was strong in the middle. I almost gave up but then I said to myself that I am strong and the next time will be in four years.”

This was Jaanson’s fifth Olympics and his first medal, “After 700 metres I understood that I could aim to win this race.

Yanakiev, “I knew that if I went fast at the beginning, I would not have enough for the finish. I just increased the power a bit as the race went on. I have waited for this moment for a long, long time. I still can’t believe it.”

The start of the A final of the women’s pair in Athens
© Dominik Keller

Women’s Pair

It has been a rollercoaster week for Canada, but Buffy Williams and Darcy Marquardt of Canada put it all behind them to take off to an early lead in the final of the 2004 Athens Olympics. This gutsy start however was going to cost. The lower rating Olympic Champions Georgeta Andrunache and Viorica Susanu of Romania had soon pushed past doing long powerful strokes.

Williams and Marquardt continued to hang on to the Romanians leaving a close race for the bronze between Great Britain’s Katherine Grainger and Cath Bishop and Yuliya Bichyk and Natallia Helakh of Belarus.

The skill and competence of the Romanians then shown through as Andrunache and Susanu took their boat to an open water lead. Side by side Great Britain, Canada and Belarus held on for the silver. Coming into the final 200 metres the Romanian’s knew they didn’t have to sprint. Meanwhile Great Britain had moved up to 39 strokes per minute and in the closing metres got their bow ahead of Belarus and into silver position.

At the head of the field Andrunache had earned Olympic gold medal number three and Susanu her second gold, Grainger and Bishop had silver and Bichyk and Helakh got ahead of Canada to take bronze.

Bow Bichyk said after the race, “This is a dream. We don’t yet realise what has happened.” Bichyk went on to describe the lead up to Athens, “After Sydney the plan was to row in the eight at this Olympics. Then we tried to form a four, but we had a lot of misunderstanding so we finally sat in the pair in 2002 and it worked so we decided to do the pair at the Olympics. We had control during the race but we were surprised by the Canadians.”

Andrunache and Susanu will race again tomorrow in the eight, aiming for their fourth and third Olympic gold medal respectively. Andrunache said, “I wish tomorrow to win the medal again. I dedicate the medal to the President of the Romanian team, Ion Tyriat.”

The victory ceremony of the men’s pair
© FISA

Men’s Pair

To witness perfection is a rare event. To watch it happen more than once in one day must indicate suggest that you are at the greatest event for rowing in the world.

Australia’s Drew Ginn and James Tomkins were part of the ‘oarsome foursome’ that won at Atlanta. When the crew went their separate ways after 1996, Ginn and Tomkins started to work towards the 2000 Olympics as a pair. Qualifying the year prior by finishing first, the duo looked on track for the Olympic gold. Then disaster struck. A back injury just before the Sydney Olympics forced Ginn out of the boat. He was told he may never row again.

Good friends, Tomkins kept and eye on Ginn and when he saw his former partner in a single two years later Tomkins started to put ideas of reuniting into his own head and into Ginn’s.

By 2003 they not only won the World Championships, but they were so much back on track that Great Britain decided to take their golden boys, Matthew Pinsent and James Cracknell, out of this event and put them in the four.

Today Tomkins and Ginn demonstrated their rowing class by taking a fast early lead at the start, getting out to a boat length advantage and holding a perfectly executed even pace through the middle of the race so that by the final sprint they had the freedom to enjoy the race.

Behind them the race for silver was intense. Three boats – Sinisa and Niksa Skelin of Croatia, South Africa’s Don Cech and Ramon di Clemente and Germany were sitting within a second of each other and challenging and rechallenging. This dropped to two as Germany found they could not sustain the pace and going through the 1200 metre mark, the Germans were done. This spelt opportunity for New Zealand’s Nathan Twaddle and George Bridgewater who were coming up from the back of the field.

Tomkins and Ginn continued to remain in the lead with the real battle going on between the South Africans and Croatia. The Croatians had a small advantage as both boats charged for the line. Crossing in first Tomkins added gold number three to his accomplishments. Ginn made it a clean sweep of two golds from his two Olympic Games. Brothers Skelin add silver to their Sydney Olympic bronze and Cech and di Clemente put the controversy of the semi-final behind them to win their first Olympic medal.

A euphoric Tomkins could hardly contain his words after the race, “During the race we were just ticking crews off.” Tomkins then admitted, “It was very tough. There were three crews fighting for medals. We had to prepare and row exceptionally well to win. We are probably going to go for the next Olympic Games.”

Di Clemente said after the finish, “Don had lower back problems during the season which made the season hard. This medal means six years of really hard work and now we’re going to party.” Di Clemente added, “After the first 600 metres I knew that we would win a medal.”

Sinisa Skelin said the race was very hard especially in the last 500 metres, “But we got the medal we were waiting for. I want to go to Beijing, but I don’t know if I will do it.”

The New-Zealand twins are Olympic Champions for the first time
© FISA

Women’s Double

They came into this Olympic Games as the only sure bet for gold – and that comes from the mouth of rowing legend Sir Steve Redgrave. They have not lost a race since 2002 and with that they had the hopes of 4 million New Zealanders weighing on their shoulders.

Racing at their first Olympic Games, Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell, the identical twins from New Zealand felt the pressure. Matter-of-fact Head Coach Dick Tonks sat fidgeting in the boat park. Yes, he looked a little nervous. The twins’ father, Hornby, watching the race from their home in New Zealand told the New Zealand Herald, “They have never ever in their lives felt confident.”

Every other boat in the race had nothing to lose. But by the first 100 metres the Evers-Swindells had the lead with a flying start of 42 out of the blocks with Germany’s Peggy Waleska and Britta Oppelt and Bulgaria challenging for second. The New Zealanders then did what they have done for the last two years and started to inch further and further ahead.

Waleska and Oppelt were making the best attempt of hanging on to the New Zealanders, using a higher 34 strokes per minute to the Evers-Swindells’ 31. Then as the race came into the last 600 metres the British began to sprint. Sarah Winckless and Elise Laverick of Great Britain had picked up the pace. They had overtaken Bulgaria and were going after the Germans rating an awesome 40 strokes per minute.

Meanwhile the Germans still had their sights set on the New Zealanders. In the sprint for the line Waleska and Oppelt got the closest any boat has got to the leaders, but not close enough. The Evers-Swindells had won the first medal for New Zealand at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. At the finish line it looked like the weight on their shoulders had finally been surrendered.

Germany had taken second. And the courageous Winckless with partner Laverick came in third.

Gerogina Evers-Swindell admitted that it hadn’t sunk in that they were Olympic Champions. She said the race had gone to plan, “It’s just a matter of preparation. We didn’t know how it would go. We stuck to our own race plan.” When asked about future plans Georgina said, “We’ll rest for a few weeks, then we’ll see.”

Oppelt said the pressure during the race was very strong, “Now I will go on holidays and then I will think about Beijing.”

This is Winckless’s second Olympic Games and her first medal. It came on the eve of Winckless learning that she carries the disease, Huntington Chorea. This progressive degenerative disease is already affecting Winckless’s mother who today sat in the audience. But for this race Winckless says her mind was on one thing only, “I wasn’t aware of what was going on around me during the race. I will continue rowing.”

The medallists of the men’s double in Athens
© FISA

Men’s Double Sculls

This Olympic final played out like it had been scripted. The aerial view showed a perfect up-side-down V-shape forming. Centre lane Alessio Sartori and Rossano Galtarossa of Italy had the lead with a tie for second going on either side of them between Sebastien Vieilledent and Adrien Hardy of France and Iztok Cop and Luka Spik of Slovenia and in this seven boat final Estonia, the Czech Republic, the United States and Norway made up the remainder of the ‘V’ shape.

The script continued with the Sydney Olympic Champions from the quad, Sartori and Galtarossa leading the battle between reigning World Champions Vieilledent and Hardy and reigning Olympic Champions Cop and Spik.

As the race progressed, the script began to break down. The sides of the ‘V’ were beginning to disappear. Vieilledent and Hardy were putting the Italians in the position they had not seen in all season – challenging their lead. Cop and Spik followed suit and all three boats went through the 1500 metre mark practically together.

One hundred metres later Vieilledent and Hardy had found the lead.

As the top three boats charged for the line the ratings increased to 39 across the board. Who wanted it the most? At the line France had become Olympic Champions, Slovenia added silver to their collection and a fading Italy had held on to the bronze.

A smile. A huge smile spread across Vieilledent’s face. It remained. It is probably still there.

Vieilledent described the race; “Our start was not so bad. Usually the others can distance us more at the start. The head wind wasn’t to our advantage, so we concentrated on the glide of the boat to compete with the Slovenians and Italians who had more power.”

Through tears Hardy said, “For us in the head wind it was important to stay light in the water and manage our power correctly. We used our power in the right way. Before we went on the water our coach said, ‘it’s the one who wants it the most who will win.’ In the French character we fought until the end.”

Great Britain is Olympic Champion in the four
© FISA

Men’s Four

The 15,000 strong crowd seated along the finish of the course roared their approval as the big screen flashed up the start of the race that they had been waiting for. Great Britain’s Matthew Pinsent was going for his fourth Olympic gold medal. He was attempting this against reigning World Champions Canada who had continued to show powerful boat speed throughout the season.

The Great Britain four had gone through many changes this season. Both Pinsent and two seat James Cracknell had missed racing due to illness earlier this season. Then they lost team mate Alex Partridge after a punctured lung forced him out of the boat only weeks before the Olympics. Replaced by Ed Coode in three seat, the crew in their current line up was untried. The only constant was Steve Williams who had been with the boat since 2001, earning two World Championship gold medals along the way.

Pinsent, in stroke, led the crew out of the starting blocks at an impressive 45 strokes per minute. It was enough to get the British bow in front with New Zealand and Canada only inches behind.

Going through the first 500 Great Britain stayed up at 39 strokes per minute with a line of Australia, New Zealand and Canada forming behind them. The second 500 began to sort the field out as favourites Canada broke away from the crews from down under.

The struggle for the lead between Canada and Great Britain then began. Both boats, side by side, were taking each other on, stroke for stroke. With 700 metres left to row Canada had brought themselves just ahead of the British.

Meanwhile, rowing on the very edge of the course, rank outsiders Italy was performing an awesome middle 1000 that had brought them within striking distance of the leaders.

Canada and Great Britain continued the charge for the line. Neither of these classy crews could be broken. By the 1500 metre mark both crews were mirroring each other at 40 strokes per minute and the crowd was going wild. A photo finish. One minute passed. Two minutes passed. Three minutes passed.

Great Britain’s name flashed up on the board. Pinsent stood up and saluted the world.

Canada’s performance can only be described as extraordinary. The difference between gold and silver came down to about 10 centimetres. Behind them Italy had held on to third and stroke Raffaello Leonardo, at his fourth Olympic Games, had won his first medal.

As the British national anthem played, tears streamed down the face of the four-time gold medalist. Pinsent describes the end of the race, “I looked over and saw we were down. We all knew it was so close. I didn’t think we’d won.” Sitting on the water the crews could not see the scoreboard. “The only thing that gave it away was when all of the Union Jacks went up in the grandstands.”

Pinsent gave credit to the Canadians, “At 10 strokes to go I was wondering ‘why are they (the Canadians) still ahead?’ We had been performing at our best. Rowing never gets easier.”

When asked about continuing Pinsent replied, “The Olympics is not the right time to make a decision. I need at least one month. Today’s result will certainly influence my decision.”
 
Lorenzo Porzio, bow for Italy said after the race, “I’ve been training for this for so many years. It’s a big honour for me to do it with crew.” Porzio commented on how well the team got on, “We are a musical squad – we all play musical instruments.”

Canadian stroke Barney Williams commented, “We said before that we would execute this race to perfection. I am happy to represent Canada and row against Great Britain. I now remember it as a fantastic race.”

Three seat for Canada Jake Wetzel added, “It’s hard to lose by 0.08 of a second. But it’s the first time the Canadian men’s four has had such an accomplishment.”

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