Royalty, mascots, divers and more at Shunyi Olympic Rowing Park

Shunyi briefs

The Beijing mascots were at the Shunyi regatta course yesterday and many people took the opportunity to have their picture taken with Beibei or Fuwa.

FISA decided to have divers get in the water at the start line of every race and check that there is no weed caught in the fins and rudder of each boat. They then exit the water before any high-speed oars come their way.

FISA’s Control Commission performs a thorough check at the entry pontoons when the teams embark for their race. Each boat’s shoe strap is checked and also whether any advertising on the boat is in line with the rules. The athletes are also checked against a photo to make sure it is the right person racing.

Cooling vests are being widely used by athletes. They take these off before getting into the boat as it is uncomfortable to row in them up to the start line. They then put them on immediately after training or racing to cool down. Some teams also have rowing machines or bikes for the cooling down process rather than athletes staying on the water in the heat.

Who was watching at Shunyi

King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway. Although King Harald goes to many sporting events, it is the first time since the 1972 Olympics that Queen Sonja has accompanied him to the Olympics.

Prince Albert II of Monaco came to cheer for Mathias Raymond. The Prince rowed when he was at school but thought he was not strong enough to go on. He nevertheless still is an occasional rower. His grandfather, John Kelly Sr. was a three-time Olympic rowing champion.

Prince Philippe of Belgium also came to meet the Belgian rowers. He was accompanied by the Belgian delegation leader, Philippe Rogge and Frederic Fallon (Belgian Olympic Committee). Philippe Rogge says that single sculler. Tim Maeyens, is a professional, discreet and hard-working sculler.

Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Balkenende came to cheer for Sjoerd Hamburger.

The Olympic Games Opening Ceremony

You may have wondered how the order of the countries coming into the stadium of the opening ceremony was decided. Easy. First you must know how the country is spelt in Chinese. Count the number of strokes of the first symbol and there you are.

Hong Kong China remembered

Before coming into the stadium for the opening ceremony, the athletes had to wait in the gymnastic indoor stadium. Then to reach the Birds Nest stadium, they had to walk 1500m between rows of volunteers. This walk was thrilling for the Hong Kong China delegation as they were greeted with an especially loud cheer all the way when walking towards the stadium. And in the stadium it was even louder.

Rowing flag bearers

There was discussion on whether Mahe Drysdale would take up the honour of flag bearer for New Zealand as he was racing the next day. Drysdale decided since he was racing in the afternoon he could sleep in. Drysdale’s results in yesterday’s heats showed that he was unaffected. Drysdale also commented that being the leader of the New Zealand delegation was uplifting for him. Drysdale wore a traditional native Maori cloak which signifies the chief of a tribe. It was hand woven with feathers of native birds. It does not belong to the wearer. It is handed on.
Monaco’s rowing flag bearer, Mathias Raymond, will be watched by Prince Albert II of Monaco for his quarterfinal race in the single.

A new-look single scull

The upper part of Sweden’s Frida Svensson’s single scull is customised with the Swedish flag of the three crowns. Svensson arrived 10 days ago and says that she feels better every day. Her coach thought arriving so late would be fine for acclimatization and it appears to have worked. Svensson is through to the quarterfinals in the women’s single.