Steve left the 2003 Munich World cup with a medal and some mad BMX skills. Thanks to a logistical snafu, we were told to “hot-seat” a hull with one of our women’s doubles. That meant practicing before and after them, so, we borrowed two of the coaching bikes to get ourselves to the course and back. These steel and tin constructions were boldly named “RANDOM” on the down tube, and that appropriately described their handling and shifting characteristics. I was not happy when Steve saw a skateboarding park and couldn’t resist a few “structural integrity tests.” His body and the RANDOM both passed.

The Dutch, being Dutch, bring their own bikes to international regattas. In the Athens Olympic Village their collapsible orange recumbents were the talk of the town. That’s functional. In Japan, we visited the velodrome near our hotel for some fun: “LOVE DREAM. LOVE NAGOYA. LOVE KEIRIN.” In Beijing, at the Olympic Exhibition Regatta, bikers in their business suits ruled the streets by virtue of their sheer numbers. Faster than driving cars, in Beijing or Boston.

In the background of today’s racing you’ll see the coaches’ peloton, shouting at their crews and each other. Sometimes this all creates comic relief. The site of a slow-motion tangling of humanity and handlebars somehow stands in appropriate contrasts to the smooth flow and harmony of the rowing in the foreground. Sometimes one of them is taking video while they go down. Catches curses in ten languages.

The Dutch men’s four sure flowed harmoniously, today. Relaxed, together, smooth, efficient, the way we all like to see ourselves in our mind’s eye. I love the feel of the fours. I want to race the four in the Olympics again, and I want to row like the Dutch. Watching that race is tough for me. There’s something about the four, and something special about the way the Dutch race it. You have the sense that the Dutch boats always go faster than their pure physiology should allow. Today, that was fast enough for silver and bronze in the four and lightweight four. Then, in their last event, the Dutch women won the eight to raise the flag before their home crowd. Hats off.

However, it was the Chinese who won that light four final, along with four of the six other lightweight and women’s Olympic-class events…That is astounding. In 2004, China didn’t win a single rowing medal. China’s wins, today, would have pushed them over the U.S. into first among all nations for the most gold medals across all sports in Athens.

China’s sudden success in rowing, like that in women’s swimming and running in previous quadrennials, has everyone nervous. China’s successes in swimming and running ended badly for those sports with dozens of positive doping tests. Today, the expressions of the British women in the quad looked telling to me. They finished second, well behind the winning Chinese crew. Last year, at their home World Championships, that British crew was in tears when they took second behind the Russians. Later, the Russian crew was disqualified for a positive drug test. Who knows, now, and that’s unfortunate for everyone, especially the Chinese.

In addition to their women’s quad, the British are on the rise again across all the mens’ lightweight, sweep and sculling events. They will have medal opportunities ranging from the single to the eight.

New Zealand is having continued success this year with their focus on the small boats. They must be leading the rowing world in medals-per-athlete. No Italians at this World Cup. Australia is also metering out it’s appearances. The U.S. sent only a handful of crews, all with new, untested, combinations. Wendy Tripician and Jana Heere bring home our lone medal after their spectacular debut in the lightweight double.

It is interesting to compare each country’s approach to developing teams for Worlds and the Olympics: the rise and fall of each country’s overall performance, the allocation of athletes between big and small boats, the approach to World Cups each year and the quadrennial as a whole.

The 2007 World Championships will be critical because countries have to earn qualifying spots for next year’s Beijing Olympics. Any country that fails to qualify in an event at this year’s worlds (top eleven in most events) has to fight for the few remaining spots early next year. FISA has done such a great job promoting the sport around the world that all the events are going to have strong fields. The U.S. will have to have it together this year to get boats to the starting line in Beijing.

The next step is the Lucerne World Cup regatta, shown live on WCSN.com on July 15, 2007.

And, don’t miss the real peloton live this Tuesday and Wednesday in the Cycling section.

Great,

Greg

Greg loves his second-hand 1990-something steel (no tin) mountain bike. He is a U.S. Cat-II on the road and his cycling heroes are Chris Horner, Jens Voigt, and almost every Rabobank rider. Greg’s next blog will focus on the Floyd Landis Hearings and the future of drug-testing in rowing and the Olympic movement. Then, it’s down to business as his team prepares to race at U.S. Trials starting July 30, 2007.

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