When Rio was awarded the Olympic Games, the rowing venue looked like a spectacular choice, especially for rowing and kayak.
The Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas lies in the shadows of Christ the Redeemer, who even holds his arms out like rowing oars. Given the reports from the rowing team over in Rio, it seems TV is the real winner. The athletes could certainly do with a bit more walking on water to help flatten it out please, Cristo.
We know not all outdoor conditions are considered when it comes to selecting a host nation, but do they need to be?
As an athlete, conditions need to be fair, but they don’t need to be perfect.
When we participate in sport, there are moments of purity when you make the perfect shot, the crisply-timed pass, the quickest of strides, and for rowers, that stroke which is clean, balanced and fast. Flat, still, mirror-like rowing conditions allow a rower to execute more of those strokes.
The rough water experienced by Kim Brennan in the heats, considered the favourite to win the Gold Medal in the Women’s Single Sculling, was reported as “unrowable”. Kim came 3rd in her heat, which was unexpected and a little frightening.
Rowing in a cross wind would be like Usain Bolt having to run his 100 metre sprint not on a tartan rack, but on a forest trail, with no stride the same as the last.
However, rowing is an outdoor sport. It is a water sport. We train in the rain, because we race in the rain. Wind is the only thing that holds back scheduling for rowing competitions.
In 2006 at the World Championships, I was in an Australian eight that was probably one of the favourites to win. We blitzed our heat and semi-final with the kind of performances that would win you an Olympic gold medal.
However a cross-wind blew up for the final and those protected by the banks had the good going. We finished fourth.
In the Olympic Final in London, for my crewmates and I in the fours, we battled out in the middle of the course, whilst our close rivals, Great Britain, enjoyed the protection of the bank in a cross wind. GB earned the right to the best lane by winning their semi-final, and in beating us in that race, maybe that was where they won the gold medal. If the conditions were even, maybe that 1.1 seconds I missed out on a Gold Medal might have been the other way around.
But notice I didn’t use the word “unfair”. Windy conditions don’t change the brightness of the Gold Medal. Great Britain won that Gold Medal by racing better than we did across the entire Olympic regatta, and are deserved champions.
History will never report which Olympian is the best tail, head or cross wind competitor. Rugby World Cups aren’t engraved with ‘running rugby’, or ‘tight five’ champions.
The winner of the Kim Brennan’s Heat was a unlikely late-qualifier from Mexico, Kenia Lechuga Alanis. After her win she said, “I learned to row on a reservoir with waves. I was confident, knowing it was blowing like crazy. I hope the course stays wavy.”
Maybe the mauler from Mexico, who has only ever trained in rough conditions, and never had access to flat water, maybe this is her time.
Being an Olympic champion isn’t just about moments of purity. Everyone must have a fair chance (*cough* drug cheats), but winning comes from many aspects of being an athlete including strategy, preparation, practising for all conditions, equipment choice, mind games. Any sporting pundit could recite a shopping list of requirements that extend beyond pure talent.
The conditions in Rio on Sunday were too rough, safety and fairness is important. But uncertainty… bring that on!
Despite my comments about the Mexican competitor, having seen Kim Brennan develop as an athlete and seen her professionalism and perseverance, I know she is well placed to rectify the heat result.
She is an inspiration to any rowing athlete in the way she goes about applying herself. I’ve seen her carry her boat out on to train on Lake Burley-Griffin in Canberra when it was so windy no one else went out to clock up miles.
I want her to win and will be cheering and willing the winds to blow in her favour… fairly of course.
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