Video Review: Inside the Race with Nico Rienks

World Rowing: Why did you choose this race?
Nico Rienks: We began our eights project two weeks after the Barcelona Olympic Games. After just missing out on the gold at the 1994 World Rowing Championships in Indianapolis, USA, it became clear to us that a gold medal for our ‘Holland Acht’ was possible in the future. It was then decided we could medal in Atlanta.

WR: What was the difference between the 1994 crew and the one in 1993?
NR: It was the same crew as in 1993 minus one rower – Henk-Jan Zwolle. We won bronze together in the men’s double sculls at the Barcelona Olympic Games. Henk-Jan wanted to continue rowing in the double or in the single afterwards, but then joined us in the eight in 1994. In 1993, we had no dedicated coach. A few coaches worked with us here and there, but mostly we coached ourselves. There were no selections – we formed our crew on our own.  Finishing fifth place was disappointing in 1993, but we realised then that we could keep on going if we had our own coach. René Mijnders then started to coach us and we then started having selections.

WR: What was your race plan?
NR: We had no race plan. We never had a race plan. We talked about a few scenarios in advance, and then adjusted our plan during the race – we always did this.  The scenario that was about to unfold was the one we thought was most likely. We didn’t expect Germany to fall behind, but we did expect the USA to be fast.

WR: What were your thoughts before the race began?
NR: We did not have that much experience in the men’s eight. We realised it would be about pure power. We knew Germany and Romania would be faster and that we would have to compensate with technique. At half-way we knew we would have to find enough motivation to heighten the speed and that we would need to be in contact with the first two boats. We trained a lot for the first 500m, but we knew we were the best in the final 500m. We were always very fast in the last 500m.

WR: There was a false start. Did that make you nervous?
NR: I didn’t even remember until I watched this video again! The start is so crowded in the men’s eight, compared to the start of a race in the single or in the double where you can see everything. I didn’t see what happened at all. It was the cox making the calls and I was totally focused on my role as stroke to do my best.  So this did not affect me, or us, in any way.

WR: After 20 strokes, Germany is in the lead and the USA is catching up.
NR: The stroke man of the German men’s eight, Roland Baar, was famous. We rowed against him for four years. One year later he once again became World Champion. We thought the Germans would be faster than they were. Two minutes into the race, I realised that we could medal.

WR: Was it special racing the USA on their home turf?
NR: Yes, it was. But in 1996 we raced them again on their home waters and beat them in front of their home crowd.

WR: By 250m the USA had the lead. At 500m they were rating 42 strokes per minute. How did you react?
NR: After the race, I talked with the US crew. They told me it had been “all or nothing” for them on the water. During the race I was thinking that going so strongly must be very tiring for them, that they were perhaps giving too much and that we might consequently be able to catch up with them in the final 500m.

WR: At the half-way mark, you were in the top three boats. The USA, Romania and you in third position. Were you worried about the Romanians?
NR: No. We beat them in the heat and knew we could have the advantage again. We knew they could not catch us, unless we caught a crab. 

WR: With 500m left to row the Romanians were behind and you were moving up on the USA.
NR: We were very fast at this point, but would be even faster in the final 100m. It was very exciting for the spectators.

WR: In the final strokes, did you think you might be able to overtake the USA?
NR: Yes, for two seconds in the final ten strokes I thought we would be able to make it. But it was a very good result. It made Holland very happy. It gave a huge boost to the sport of rowing in our country. A lot of people in the Netherlands knew about the “Holland Acht” (Holland Eight) – they knew it had to do with rowing. Rowing became far more popular nationally and from that moment onwards, anyone who rowed wanted to row in the men’s eight. It was very special.