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2008 Olympics: Impressions

I don't know how I've managed to get through four days of the Olympics without posting about it. I've been busy with two jobs, so that's probably part of it. Despite my silence, however, I am very excited about the Games; I was more excited on August 7 than I was on Christmas Eve when I was a kid. So imagine my disappointment when I found out the viewing schedule in America for the rowing events. If I remember correctly, they showed every rowing final on television in 2004. I only think that because I have a number of the finals on tape somewhere in the basement. This is only the second Games in which I have been interested in anything other than what was on TV and in the news, so it's not as exciting as Athens was, especially with the way the US 8+'s tore through their heats.

There was an editorial I read online (probably something I found on Row2k) that bemoaned the rampant professionalism of the games, mostly in the "big" sports (i.e. basketball, track and field, gymnastics, swimming). Most of his beef had to do with the fact that in the "smaller" sports (i.e. rowing, canoe/kayak, shooting) only get one chance every quadrennial to make international headlines, so they should get the lion's share of coverage during the Games. While I sympathize with his point of view and I absolutely loathe the number of McDonalds and Coca-Cola commercials each break, the money from these sponsors has made the Olympics what it is today. It's a bitter pill to swallow, but I could almost guarantee that if you asked any US Olympians in the smaller sports if they would give up their spots to protest the commercialism of the Games, they would laugh right in your face.

Coincidentally, most of the coverage I've seen (after 9PM EST) has been of swimming and gymnastics. Honestly, I'm not really a huge fan of events where the results are based on the scores of a panel of judges. This is not to detract from the individual athletes; I wish I had the upper body strength of a gymnast. However, there's nothing subjective about getting to the finish line with your bow ball ahead of another boat. All this being said, as I type, I'm watching the women's gymnastics team final, and I saw something awesome. I tuned in just as the US team was about to begin the vault, and they showed Bridget Sloan at the runway. When she started her sprint, the camera zoomed in on her face, and she had The Look. It spooked me a little bit; this tiny 16-year old who doesn't even have her driver's license with eyes that had a killer instinct. It was great, and it's great to draw inspiration from other sports. Since rowing hasn't really been viewable for me, other sports have been all that I've seen. The other great inspirational moment so far has been the men's swimming 4x100 freestyle relay; I put a photo of Michael Phelps screaming at the starting block on my desktop to remind me of reasons to train.

One Out of Two Ain't Bad

Check this out...

...

Heh heh heh

And, just as a postscript: the last time three public universities were on the medals dock at the IRAs was in 2002, when it was Cal, Wisco, and Washington. This is Wisco's first national title in the MV8 in 18 years. Congratulations to the both the Badger heavy men and light women for winning their respective national titles.

I touched briefly on the Mahe Drysdale/Rob Waddell battle in a post a few months ago. My, what a difference a few months makes. At this point, Drysdale and Waddell have gone up against each other three times already, with the score currently at 2-1, advantage Waddell. From what I understand, the Rowing NZ selectors will be choosing the single sculler for Beijing from the results of the national championships and Olympic trials in March.

I'll be honest, I want Mahe Drysdale to go all the way to the top of the M1x podium at the Olympics this year. Following him from his unpredictable win at Gifu in 2005 to where he is today has been a great story, and I can't think of any single scullers who have won an Olympic gold medal after winning every worlds in the quadrennial. It would be an awesome achievement in the sport, and one I would be most welcome to see. However, regardless of which man goes to Beijing, Rowing NZ has a good shot of winning the single sculls title this year.

I can't help but see parallels to this duel and the battle between John Biglow and Tiff Wood leading up to the 1984 American Olympic trials. Most well-read rowers know this story from David Halberstam's "The Amateurs" or Brad Alan Lewis' "Assault on Lake Casitas." I can only imagine the dynamic between Rob Waddell and Mahe Drysdale to be similar to the Wood/Biglow relationship before that trial; it has been widely reported that Drysdale began rowing again after being inspired by Waddell's 2000 Olympic victory. I can't wait to see how this story plays out over the next seven months.

I Almost Forgot About This

I found this in a journal I use; I forgot about that day until I read the first sentence of the entry. I don't know why I never posted it here. It seems like something I would've written here. This was from two summers ago.
--
"I slapped my face two or three times with both hands, as hard as possible. The slapping hurt. It snapped me to attention. My adrenaline started flowing...the Yugoslavs, sitting in the next lane stared at me in disbelief. The harsh slapping made me angry -- exactly what I wanted. I did my best work when I was angry." -- Brad Alan Lewis from Assault on Lake Casitas

The rain had just stopped. It wasn't a heavy rain, just a passing shower that wraps around you like a warm, humid blanket. I was sitting in the middle of the river, drops of water running down my glasses and my face. Slowly, dream-like, I gazed around at the armada heading towards me.

I was sitting at the top of the racecourse on the Connecticut River, waiting for all the participating boats to arrive. It was a scrimmage; the course was a little under 2000 meters, and the boats would be started like it was a head race. The only other person racing a single was a lightweight named Alex who was in his first season with the boat club. We had launched early in order to clear the way for the larger boats now heading towards us.

As the current brought our singles towards the starting buoys, we kept paddling, just far enough to drift back down five minutes later.

My body felt languid and insubstantial; my muscles could've been made of marshmallow and I wouldn't have felt any different. I recognized this feeling, the nervousness and anxiety that comes from being at the start. When in a team boat, it's easy to offset this feeling when an external force is telling you to row. It's much harder to control when you're the only one in control of the entire boat. I looked at the reflection of the riggers in the water. My hands were resting on them, my fingers looking far too fragile and slender to endure the trial that was awaiting me.

Brian, the head coach and starter, called Alex and I to the line as the last boats made their way to the marshalling area. Alex started about 15 seconds before I did, moving his single with a fluidity that seems to be a characteristic of lightweights. Brian called me up next. The marshmallows in my arms and legs transitioned to molasses. As my oars came out at the finish of the first stroke, they changed into something else, something undefinable. My legs were cannons, firing off every catch, just to recoil and do it again. I passed through the starting line after five strokes and really started to hit my stride.

Then the velcro holding my feet in tore apart mid-stroke. For one split-second, I thought that I might be able to come back up to the catch and fix them before I fell apart, but it wasn't going to happen. I have a hard enough time doing the feet-out drill with fair warning; it wasn't going to work when I hadn't chosen to do it and I was driving my body backwards at full pressure. Before I even had time to think, my single was upside-down, and I was in the water.

To my credit, I'd only flipped once before this. My first time in a single, they made me try to back off the dock without any kind of warning, and I immediately flipped. But since then, I hadn't had any incidents. But out of all the times I'd been out on the water, I had to pick today to flip.

Training immediately asserted itself. I flung my arms over the upset hull and fixed my oars so that they were in the proper position to keep the boat from rolling while I was floating on it. The coaches, busy with the racing, had me stay with the launches until the rest of the boats passed me. And there were a lot of them.

After one of the other coaches helped me flip the single back over and get in, I had already drifted down past the start about 300 meters, and it was too late for me to re-attempt the racecourse. So I went from where I was.

I was furious. Not only had I been denied the opportunity to race, but two of the eights that had rowed by me were crewed by oars that I coached. Once I started moving again, I took that fury out on the water. Moving that last 1500 meters, I pounded out every stroke with a force that I wouldn't have had if everything had gone normally. I wanted pain, pain that was all-consuming, pain that would replace the embarrassment and humiliation of the past ten minutes. Pain was good.

Masters at the Olympics

Sure, it can be assumed that every athlete at the Olympics may be a master at his or her sport: one does not get to compete for his or her nation without countless hours spent training. But is it possible for a Masters rower to compete at the Olympics? Apparently, a pair from southern Oregon are giving it a shot. Stephen Kiesling and Andy Baxter are reportedly training for the 2008 Olympic Trials before the Games in Beijing in August. Kiesling is fairly well-known in the rowing world as the author of "The Shell Game" and a member of two national teams ('79 and '80). Awesome? Yes. Projected to win? No. But I always love an underdog, and I can guarantee I'll be following this story as the trials near.

This Olympic cycle seems to be geared toward the comeback, now that I think about it. Down under, there's a resurgence of older, more experienced oarsmen coming back to the sport as well. Australian James Tomkins, who hasn't been a factor on the international racing scene since winning the M2- at Athens, raced in the M8+ at both World Cup 2 and 3 and the World Championships. Rob Waddell is also said to have made a push to train with Rowing NZ again after serving as a grinder with Team New Zealand on the 2003 and 2007 America's Cup Challenge. No word on whether Waddell will replace three-time World Champion Mahe Drysdale in the single sculls, but it would make for quite a sight to see the three of these former Olympians with a 28-year spread to line up in the heats in Beijing.

Push

This season's going fairly well; we're only visiting a few courses this year, our coach focusing us more on the spring season. Of course we'll be at the Head of the Charles, and there are a few other races we'll be involved in, but that's about it. We're rowing well despite the lack of competition, and I can say I'm really starting to get excited about how things will be shaping up for the spring. Head racing is fun, but there's not much in the way of t-shirts...

I had a really tough piece ahead of me today, and I can't even begin to describe how well it ended up going. I'm having a little bit of trouble going through the middle of longer pieces, and while I'm not flying and dying, there's definitely a slowing trend between the start and the finish. I've also found my arms are weak; they tend to tire during long pieces. True to form, my arms started to fatigue about a third of the way through the piece today. I hung on through the halfway point, wondering if I was going to be able to make it.

Gut-check time.

At two-thirds through, I started to focus on power with the legs, hoping I could just get a little more squeeze out at the catch. The next stroke I started to get the legs down faster, controlling the rate on the recovery. It's tough to describe how it felt at that point. The first (and best) analogy I could think of was comparing myself at the catch to a branch on a tree that's flexed all the way back, and when I pushed off the foot stretchers, it was like letting the branch go. I don't know, everything just flowed. It was great. At 1000m to go, I started winding it up a beat and dropping the split by two to three seconds. At 500m, I let go of the rate and dropped the split as far as I could hold it. Even though it was only a training piece, I felt like I was pulling the 6k of my life. It was beautiful, and the agony at the end only served to highlight how amazing the past four minutes had been. But there are very few things that I get satisfaction from more than lying down on a dirty gym floor, too spent to move, knowing that I went to the edge -- and found there was still more to give.

Joe Rantz, UW Class of '37

The story of the University of Washington crew that took gold at the 1936 Olympics is one of the greatest American stories of our sport. If you don't know about it, I highly suggest you read about it here.

On September 10, Joe Rantz, the seven-seat of that eight, passed away in Washington State at the age of 93. The second-to-last surviving member of the crew, Rantz held a distinguished place in UW and American rowing lore. My sympathy and respect goes out to the family of a man who can truly be considered a hero, both in how he came to UW and through his accomplishments in rowing.

Olympic Qualifiers

As promised, here's who qualified what for the Olympics next year in Beijing.

M1x
NZL, CZE, NOR, GBR, GER, SWE, BEL, ARG, SUI, NED, AUS

M2-
AUS, NZL, GBR, FRA, RSA, SRB, POL, USA, GER, CRO, DEN

M2x
SLO,FRA, EST, GBR, BLR, NZL, CRO, AUS, USA, GER, BEL

M4-
NZL, ITA, NED, GBR, SLO, FRA, CZE, USA, GER, IRL, BLR

M4x
POL, FRA, GER, ITA, CZE, UKR, RUS, EST, USA, AUS, CUB

LM2x
DEN, GRE, GBR, AUS, ITA, JPN, HUN, GER, CHN, FRA, AUT

LM4-
GBR, FRA, ITA, CAN, CHN, DEN, AUS, POL, EGY, NED, USA

W1x
BLR, BUL, USA, CZE, CHN, NZL, FRA, POL, SWE

W2-
BLR, GER, ROU, AUS, NZL, CHN, USA, CAN

W2x
CHN, NZL, GBR, ROU, CZE, GER, ITA, USA

LW2x
AUS, FIN, DEN, GER, GRE, CHN, CAN, GBR

M8+
CAN, GER, GBR, USA, RUS, POL, CHN

W4x
GBR, GER, CHN, UKR, CAN, USA, AUS

W8+
USA, ROU, GBR, AUS, GER

The only other opportunity for qualification is in Lucerne next summer, before the Olympics, at the last Olympic Qualification Regatta. The only boats that the US did not qualify this year are all small boats: the M1x, LM2x, and LW2x. Going to a qualification regatta two months before the Games will probably lead to a stressful summer season for the athletes in those boats, and as much as it would be nice to see the US race in all 14 events, they are some of the most competitive events on the Games' program (not that there's such a thing as an "easy" event at the Olympics) . Congratulations to all the crews who qualified at Worlds (as well as to the W4-, M4+, LW1x sculler Jen Goldsack for winning gold, gold, and silver, respectively).

Worlds Medal Count

Here's the medal haul by country at this year's World Champs. I plan on compiling a list of who qualified what for Beijing 2008 tomorrow; that seems like it's going to take a substantial amount of time.

MEDAL COUNT (NON-ADAPTIVE EVENTS)

IOC	GOLD	SILVER	BRONZE	TOTAL
GBR	1	1	7	9
GER	0	6	3	9
AUS	3	0	2	5
ITA	2	3	2	7
NZL	3	2	0	5
USA	3	1	1	5
CAN	2	0	2	4
FRA	0	4	0	4
NED	2	0	2	4
CHN	1	0	2	3
BLR	2	0	0	2
POL	2	0	0	2
DEN	1	0	1	2
ROU	0	1	1	2
SLO	1	0	0	1
CZE	0	1	0	1
SRB	0	1	0	1
FIN	0	1	0	1
GRE	0	1	0	1
BUL	0	1	0	1
EST	0	0	1	1
NOR	0	0	1	1

ADAPTIVE EVENTS

IOC	GOLD	SILVER	BRONZE	TOTAL
BRA	2	0	0	2
GBR	1	1	0	2
AUS	0	2	0	2
POL	0	0	2	2
GER	1	0	0	1
BLR	0	1	0	1
CAN	0	0	1	1
ISR	0	0	1	1

TOTAL MEDALS (INC ADAPTIVE)

IOC	TOTAL
GBR	11
GER	10
AUS	7
ITA	7
NZL	5
USA	5
CAN	4
FRA	4
NED	4
POL	4
BLR	3
CHN	3
BRA	2
DEN	2
ROU	2
BUL	1
CZE	1
FIN	1
GRE	1
EST	1
SLO	1
SRB	1
NOR	1
ISR	1

Worlds 2007

Worlds starts today! At the beginning of the summer, it seemed like it would never come, but now that it's here, I can't wait to see how events play out. Of course, I'm following US crews, so here's a list of who's racing when tomorrow (all heats are one to progress unless otherwise noted):

SUNDAY
M2+, Heat 2, 9:36
LW1x (Jen Goldsack), Heat 3, 9:54
LM1x (Ivan Baldychev), Heat 1, 10:06
W1x (Michelle Guerette), Heat 1, 10:42
W2-, Heat 3, 12:06, three to advance to the semis
M2-, Heat 1, 12:24
W2x, Heat 2, 12:42, two to advance to semis
M2x, Heat 1, 12:54, top four to the quarterfinal, rest to final E
M4-, Heat 4, 1:48


MONDAY
LM2-, Heat 1, 9:30
LW4x, Heat 2, 9:48
LM4x, Heat 1, 9:54
LW2x, Heat 1, 10:06, top two to advance
LM2x, Heat 2, 10:30, top four to quarterfinals, fifth place to Final E
LM4-, Heat 6, 11:30, top three to quarterfinals, fourth place in heats with four boats to quarterfinals, fifth to Final E
W4x, Heat 2, 11:42
M4x, Heat 3, 12:00, top two to semifinals
W8+, Heat 2, 12:18
M8+, Heat 1, 12:24, top two to semifinals
AW1x, Heat 2, 1:50
AM1x, Heat 3, 2:20, top two to semifinals
TA2x, Heat 1, 2:30, top two to semifinals
LTAMX4-, Heat 3, 3:20, top three to semifinals

Munich time is six hours ahead of current East Coast USA time. Good luck to all the US crews!

It's A Small World

I was in Rhode Island for a week-long vacation earlier in the month, and it was good times. This being the first time I went on this vacation as an over 21 year-old, I was able to go to the bars and clubs with my brother and brother-in-law. It was fun, although I'm not much of a drinker.

The most interesting thing that happened to me all vacation took place in one of those bars, however. One night, my brother and I were trying to meet a few girls, and we took notice of every pair of girls or women that walked into the place. We ended sitting next to two good-looking women at the bar. We talked for a little while, although it was obvious this conversation wasn't going anywhere, especially since one was married. We got up to leave, and the unmarried girl noticed the club logo on my henley.

"Do you row?" she asked me. I told her that I did. She told me she had rowed for a mid-Atlantic college a few years ago. Her friend remarked that her husband had been a heavyweight at Georgetown and her brother-in-law rowed and won a silver medal at some regatta. I thought she meant some regional championship back in the 90s. Out of courtesy, I asked who her brother-in-law was.

"Sebastian Bea*?" She asked me as if to say "have you heard of him?"

I was shocked. Stumbling out of the bar to our next drinking spot, I couldn't help but laugh. The world of rowing is so small sometimes, and if you stay around long enough, you'll eventually meet an Olympic medallist -- or at least his sister-in-law.

*Watch this if you don't know the name.

I went on a five-mile run tonight; it took me an hour and I felt like I ran a marathon. There were some nice moments, though. I ran past my old house and through my old neighborhood, which of course got me thinking a lot about how things have changed over the years. Drizzle marked miles one, three, and four and a half, while I got to listen to a pianist practicing what sounded like Handel in the living room as I jogged by. I smelt new pine growing in, woodlands along the side of the road rotting, life fading away and renewing itself, and I thanked God for the existence of grey New England twilights like this.

Right on the Money?

Just so I have this down somewhere as proof: Yale and Wisconsin crews are on the rise. I predict both programs to have a place on the medals stand at IRA's for the V8 in the next two to three years.

Blisters

My blisters are coming back. The pain in my lower back is more manageable, so I figured it's about time to return to rowing, or at least it's red-headed stepson, erging. I started small, but I've been increasing the amount weekly. I figure I'll finish this week rowing 20 minutes three times a week, and then I'll try to bring it up to five and see how it feels. That coincides well with finals.

So it's time. Time to commit myself to something bigger, to the team. An eight cannot go fast without all eight people working in unison, but I must prepare myself to rise to the expectations of the group. And I will. By September, I will be back to the point where I can take a 6K test and be within 2 split seconds of my PR. I will be able to lift and stretch at least as far as I could last year. Time to bring it back.