News

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Nathan Twaddle is in the New Zealand M2- and writes a fantastic summary of what it takes to prepare for a big race.

Race day insights

The night before
I try to not think about it too much. Getting to sleep is quite a tough thing. Sometimes I'll watch past races where we've done well or watch races of events that I think encapsulate what a good rowing race should be and possibly think about that when you go to sleep.

Surprisingly, I generally get to sleep reasonably well the night before a race, so it's a bit of a balancing act between relaxation and using that time to think about strategies you might want to employ the next day.
Because from the next morning, it really does just become an automatic routine, and there's not too much room to start thinking about what ifs, from that point.
(more…)

Bookmark to:

Jochen Kuehner in the German LM4- finds an untimely end to his regatta.

It isn't possible to race today because of illness. Jost, Bastian and me are ill. There was small hope yesterday when they cancelled races but now it's sure. My feeling is OK but my blood shows something diffrent and it's same for others.
 
No one wants to take the risk - and now I think it's right.
 
I hope you understand that I can't write something serious to your blog at the moment. I think I'll need a few days, but then I'll write something again.
 
I hope you understand - Greetings from Beijing
 
Jochen

Bookmark to:

Guin Batten, former Olympic Silver medallist, is out in Beijing working for FISA.  She has sent us an update on her job and the current weather that has caused the racing to be delayed.

Dear all
I am out in Beijing at the moment with FISA and it is looking like we might have to delay racing as a rather large thunder storm has just passed. I was helping 3 BBC men hang onto a tent to stop it blowing away; I hope the cameras will still work?

My role out in Shunyi is as athletes representative – I have a bit of a free remit but tend to focus into any issues that matter enormously to athletes. These are primarily – fairness, food and transport. Here at Shunyi, weed has been a challenge for the organizers and I have quite a few hours each day supporting the volunteers to make sure the course is clear by the start of racing.

During racing I normally spend a few races down at the start and then ride with the observer umpire who is monitoring the camera catamarans that are following the races to make sure they to do not wash down the crews near the back.
The rest of time I am eyes and ears in the boating area to listen to the concerns of the athletes.

 Take care Guin

Bookmark to:

When starting this feature linking to Olympic rowing bloggers, We had not intended to include non-athletes.  But Xeno Muller i s giving an expert and excellent commentary on the mens singles event at the Olympics hosted on Row2k  We think this warrants inclusion.  

To see his earlier posts, search on the category "Xeno Muller ". from the Categories column on the right. 

Drysdale is sick… is the opening ceremony to blame?

As an Olympic athlete you seek to control your workouts, your food intake, your rest, who you spend time with, pretty much everything that can be controlled. Some situations can not be controlled, but can be avoided… such as the opening ceremonies.

I have gone to three Olympics and attended none. I enjoyed watching the events on TV. In 1992, not going to the opening ceremonies was upsetting. The coaches gave us several good reasons. First the rowing venue was over 100KM away from Barcelona's Olympic stadium, the commute would take forever. Second, the single scull heat was in the morning the next day. Third, may as well be the most important reason, the need to avoid people and their potential germs. You never know what germs other people carry. At the Olympics not everyone is set to win a medal and therefore are not as worried with their health and hygiene.
(more…)

Bookmark to:

Drew Ginn has updated his blog with a mirror-image post to Duncan Free, his pairs partner.  He philosophises about fulfilling your ultimate rowing potential, plus he has some photos.

un-unorthodox

What the heck am I on about here. I have to say the World has been turned up side down and side up down. Oh and then there has been a little down side up and side down round. So if you are still with me then your probably a little dizzy which would give you a curious feeling of unease or loss of where abouts. It is true that I have been have issues with my back and this has created a challenge, but one we are working with.

How bad is it? That I cannot full explain, but what I can say is we sill have no excuses. Our heat and semi have been shared and shown we are ready. The outside does not always represent the inside but we are poised and ready for our final. Actually the inner World although challenged is clear and with that I know what has to be done. It has been unorthodox, in fact extremely unorthodox. This I will go into more after the final. For now I am focused and very much relishing the experience with Chris and Duncan as we go through this final phase of preparation.

(more…)

Bookmark to:

Gearóid Towey writing in the Irish Times blog, Village Voice.   He reflects on making weight as a crew and how alluring the Olympic Village dining hall is.

Primed and ready for battle

The Beijing ‘Olympic Machine’ is well oiled and moving along at a steady pace. So far, everything is glitch free and the volunteers are still smiling - I’m beginning to wonder if they have some sort of “happy chip” implanted for the duration of the Games or whether they are genuinely happy to be slaving away here!Nonetheless, they are enabling us to go about our business without worry, which should be the aim of any sports event organiser.
The dining hall is the most exciting place in the village. As I mentioned before, it caters for everyone’s needs and tastes. There is even a free McDonalds here, not that we have eaten there.

(more…)

Bookmark to:

Duncan Free is blogging on his own website.   He reflects on the journey he and Drew Ginn have taken to get them to the Olympic Games.

Unorthodox

Well, our whole time together rowing the pair in the last 3 years with Drew living 1700km away in Melbourne and me on the Gold Coast has been quite unorthodox…..some things never change.

We had our semi today which saw a good outcome with a good win. I guess what we did different this time was that in our three days off after our heat on Saturday, we got to row 4km together on one occasion. The rest of our training was done on an ergo for me and a stationary bike for Drew. This wasn't by choice.

(more…)

Bookmark to:

Tom is writing on his own blog page, Tom James, and has put up a post that was dated Saturday but only appeared today…

One down Two to go

There are probably not going to be many times we can relax during this week. Today at least we have a bit of time to put our feet up and take in the racing around us.

Yesterday we raced in the opening heat of our event in the coxless fours against Italy, USA, China and Belarus.

Race went to plan and we were able to come away with a win opening up about 2.3sec on Italy by the finish. Repecharge is on Monday for those crews not already through to the semis but we'll next be racing at around 4:30pm next Wednesday, about 9:30am UK time.

Bookmark to:

Xeno Muller writing on Row2k Olympic blogs

Men's single scull semifinal analysis

As I look at the time sheet of the first men's single scull semifinal, I remember different strategies my competitors and I had. In this 2008 semi, Olympic patience is what stands out when I read the times of the top three qualifiers. Karonen, Tufte, and Maeyens, kept their cool, while Hacker, a notorious fast starter accompanied by Hardcastle, whose best achievement was "only" 11. at the world championship in 2007, took the initiative to stir up the field and break away, without looking at their physical and mental gas tanks.

From my own experience the top three qualifiers had spoken with their coaches about such a scenario and psycho analyzed Hacker as being a wild man, capable of a lot, yet fragile in the head, therefore breakable. The Australian was perceived as a competitor with a good first 1000M but not to get intimidated by it, because of a lack of past results in the single scull. Finally, Andre Vonarburg a consistent sculler in the small final, who has made it to the A-final at world cups, who usually gets beaten by Hacker, and he had not shown any dangerous speed so far in China.

(more…)

Bookmark to:

Xeno is writing on Row2k and following the mens singles competition in Beijing.

After watching the video of the semifinal of the men's single scull

I just finished watching the first semi of the men's single scull on NBCOLYMPICS.com and what a nail biter that was. I was carefully watching the Belgian single sculler. Hats off to him, he fought off the combined charge of Tufte and Hacker throughout the entire 2000 meters. The Belgian's show of speed today, reinforces my believe that if there is a tailwind for the Olympic final he is a medal contender.

As I write this blog, I am simultaneously watching the second semi. Throughout the field of single scullers, I see "effort" in the stroke, which indicates a lack of hanging off the leg drive. Others lack the fluid connection between the last quarter of the leg drive and back swing.Now, we are almost at the five hundred meter mark and I hate to say this, but it looks like the qualifying spots are already determined.
The British single sculler seems content with rank 3 and leaves the fight for rank one and two to Drysdale and Synek.

I believe that this is a psychological race between Synek and Drysdale.
(more…)

Bookmark to: