Olympic Games—Athens 2004

Rowing Course at Schinias

The rowing was conducted at Schinias, a coastal town approximately 45 minutes north east of Athens and the Olympic Village. The team departed Australia on various dates and competed at both the Lucerne and Amsterdam Regattas. The men's crews trained at Varese in Italy and the women trained at altitude at St Moritz Switzerland.

The team travelled to Athens on 8th August with the rowing being conducted from 14th to 22nd August. The course was expected to be very windy and rough with the experience of the 2003 World Junior Championships where boats sank and the rowing had to be conducted over 1000 metres. Despite one day where rowing was postponed, the conditions were perfect for rowing.

The four medals, including one gold medal, were superb and a great credit to the team. Further, the results made Australia the best performed men's team at the Olympic Regatta. However the results for the team did not quite match their expectations. In particular, realistic medal prospects were held for other crews including the men's quad scull, women's lightweight double scull and women's eight. Accordingly the team left the regatta

Qualified crews at the 2003 World Championships

Australia qualified all boats except the Women's Single Scull and Women's Pair at the 2003 World Championships. Australia and Germany were the top nations at these Championships, each qualifying 12 boats. Australia was unsuccessful in qualifying these other two boats at the Lucerne qualifying regatta in 2004.

As a result of the fine performances in 2003, the rowing section of the Australian Olympic team was the largest of the Olympic team.

The 2003 results were as follows:

Therefore Australia qualified 12 of the 14 events which was a great result.

Selection

The selections for this team were very difficult due to the large number of good athletes available. The margins between selection and non-selection were very fine in most cases. Due to the lack of a gold medal in Sydney, the selection policy was changed to make sure that the objective was gold medals, not just medals.

The men's pair was the first crew selected being the current World Champions and winning the early pair oared events in the selection process. The selectors then prioritised the men's eight in the sweep events, the men's quad in the sculling events, the men's lightweight four in the lightweight events, the women's quad in the women's sculling categories and the women's eight in the sweep.

Results—Men

Men's Single Scull

E1: 1st BEL, 2nd SUI, 3rd HKG, 4th TPE, 5th PAR
E2: 1st CZE, 2nd AUS, 3rd SLO, 4th EGY, 5th CHI
E3: 1st ARG, 2nd AUT, 3rd UZB, 4th ALG, 5th IND
E4: 1st NOR, 2nd GBR, 3rd BRA, 4th PER, 5th URU
E5: 1st GER, 2nd CUB, 3rd NED, 4th CHN, 5th KOR
E6: 1st EST, 2nd BUL, 3rd ITA, 4th KEN
R1: 1st BUL, 2nd NED, 3rd PER, 4th IND
R2: 1st CUB, 2nd BRA, 3rd CHI, 4th ALG
R3: 1st GBR, 2nd EGY, 3rd UZB, 4th PAR
R4: 1st SLO, 2nd AUT, 3rd TPE
R5: 1st AUS, 2nd HKG, 3rd KOR, 4th KEN
R6: 1st SUI, 2nd CHN, 3rd URU, 4th ITA
SF A/B/C: 1st CZE, 2nd ARG, 3rd SLO, 4th AUS, 5th NED, 6th CHN
SF A/B/C: 1st NOR, 2nd BUL, 3rd GER, 4th SUI, 5th BRA, 6th EGY
SF A/B/C: 1st EST, 2nd BEL, 3rd GBR, 4th CUB, 5th AUT, 6th HKG
SF D/E: 1st PER, 2nd ITA, 3rd UZB, 4th TPE, 5th ALG, 6th KEM
SF D/E: 1st URU, 2nd CHI, 3rd KOR, 4th PAR, 5th IND
Final E: 25th TPE, 26th PAR, 27th IND, 28th ALG, 29th KEN
Final D: 19th ITA, 20th URU, 21st PER, 22nd KOR, 23rd CHI, 24th UZB
Final C: 13th BRA, 14th EGY, 15th CHN, 16th NED, 17th AUT, 18th HKG
Final B: 7th GER, 8th SUI, 9th SLO, 10th GBR, 11th AUS, 12th CUB
Final: 1st NOR (Olaf Tufte) 6:49.30, 2nd EST (Jueri Jaanson) 6:51.42, 3rd BUL (Ivo Yanakiev) 6:52.80, 4th ARG (Santiago Fernandez) 6:55.17, 5th CZE (Vaclav Chalupa) 6:59.13, 6th BEL (Tim Maeyens) 7:01.74

As the men's priority sculling boat was the quad, Duncan Free was selected into the quad leaving open the single scull to Craig Jones. Craig was a superb choice being one of our most experienced scullers and performed well. His eleventh place was excellent considering the depth and quality of the field.

An example of this quality is that the small final was won by Marcel Hacker the highly credentialed German who nearly won the World Championship in 2003. Olaf Tufte, the 2003 World Champion, won again in 2004 despite a great race with Jueri Jaanson from Estonia. Vaclav Chalupa from the Czech Republic led the race early but could not maintain his speed in the second half of the race.

Men's Double Scull

E1: 1st FRA, 2nd CZE, 3rd AUS, 4th GER, 5th CUB
E2: 1st ITA, 2nd GBR, 3rd USA, 4th POL, 5th HUN
E3: 1st SLO, 2nd NOR, 3rd EST, 4th LTU
R: 1st HUN, 2nd CUB, 3rd GER, 4th POL, 5th LTU
SF: 1st ITA, 2nd FRA, 3rd NOR, 3rd USA, 5th GER, 6th AUS
SF: 1st SLO, 2nd EST, 3rd CZE, 4th GBR, 5th HUN, 6th CUB
Final B: 8th GBR, 9th GER, 10th CUB, 11th HUN, 12th AUS
Final: 1st FRA (Sebastien Vieilledent and Adrien Hardy) 6:29.00, 2nd SLO (Iztok Cop and Luka Spik) 6:31.72, 3rd ITA (Alessio Sartori and Rossano Galtarossa) 6:32.93, 4th EST (Leonid Gulov and Tonu Endrekson) 6:35.30, 5th CZE (Milan Dolecek and Ondrej Synek) 6:35.81, 6th USA (Aquil Abdullah and Henry Nuzum) 6:36.86, 7th NOR (Nils-Torolv Simonsen and Morten Adamsen) 6:37.25

The Australian crew was unfortunately never in the hunt for a medal. They qualified for the semi finals through a third place in the heats but could not get into the mix for the finals.

A dead heat for third place in one of the semi finals between USA and NOR caused a seven crew final. The 2003 World Champions from France, who were not the largest rowers in the event by far, won the gold. Many expected the defending 2000 championship Slovenian crew of Iztok Cop and Luka Spik to win but this was not to be in 2004. Cop had only spent a limited amount of time in the double preferring to race in the single.

Men's Quad Scull

E1: 1st GER, 2nd EST, 3rd AUS, 4th USA, 5th SUI
E2: 1st POL, 2nd RUS, 3rd ITA, 4th FRA
E3: 1st CZE, 2nd UKR, 3rd BLR, 4th GBR
R: 1st USA, 2nd SUI, 3rd GBR, 4th FRA
SF: 1st POL, 2nd GER, 3rd UKR, 4th AUS, 5th ITA, 6th GBR
SF: 1st CZE, 2nd RUS, 3rd BLR, 4th EST, 5th USA, 5th SUI
Final B: 7th AUS, 8th SUI, 9th EST, 10th ITA, 11th USA, 12th GBR
Final: 1st RUS (Rgej Fedorovtsev, Igor Kravtsov, Alekseij Svirin, Nikolai Spinev) 5:56.85, 2nd CZE (David Kopriva, Tomas Karas, Jakub Hanak, David Jirka) 5:57.43, 3rd UKR (Sergij Grin, Sergij Bilushchenko, Oleg Lykov, Leonid Shaposhnikov) 5:58.87, 4th POL (Adam Bronikowski, Marek Kolbowicz, Slawomir Kruszkowski, Adam Korol) 5:58.94, 5th GER (Andre Willms, Stephan Volkert, Marco Geisler, Robert Sens) 6:07.04, 6th BLR (Valery Radzevich, Stanislau Shcharbachenia, Pavel Shurmei, Andrei Pliashkou) 6:09 33

The Australians arrived at the Olympic Games as favourites, being the winning crew at the World Cup in Lucerne. They were also our number one ranked sculling crew. However the Olympic Games are never easy and the crew was obviously not in the same form at this regatta as in Lucerne. They qualified in the heat for the semi-final despite a crab early in the race.

However the semi final was not to be their race. They started well enough but could not maintain the same boat speed as their competitors in the second five hundred. Whilst they only fell back slightly, it was enough in this tight competition to make it almost impossible to regain contact with the leaders. In the end they were in fourth place at every 500 metre mark.

Even the B final was a huge race. In that race they had to defeat the Sydney gold medallists Italy and the fancied Swiss and Estonian crews. It was only by the 1350 metre mark that the Australians broke free of Italy and then had to hold off the fast finishing Swiss and Estonian crews. They fortunately had sufficient reserves to hold off the fierce challenges made to win the B final ending the regatta in seventh place.

Men's Coxless Pair

E1: 1st AUS, 2nd SCG, 3rd GBR, 4th ARG, 5th SLO
E2: 1st RSA, 2nd CRO, 3rd USA, 4th CZE
E3: 1st NZL, 2nd CAN, 3rd ITA, 4th GER
R: 1st GER, 2nd ARG, 3rd SLO, 4th CZE
SF: 1st AUS, 2nd CRO, 3rd NZL, 4th GBR, 5th ITA, 6th ARG
SF: 1st GER, 2nd SCG, 3rd RSA, 4th USA, 5th SLO, CAN excluded
Final B: 7th GBR, 8th ITA, 9th SLO, 10th ARG, 11th USA, CAN did not start
Final: 1st AUS (Tomkins & Ginn) 6:30.76, 2nd CRO (Niksa and Sinisa Skelin) 6:32.64, 3rd RSA (Don Cech and Ramon di Clemente) 6:33.40, 4th NZL (George Bridgewater and Nathan Twaddle) 6:34.24, 5th SCG (Nikola Stojic and Mladen Stegic) 6:39.74, 6th GER (Tobias Kuehne, Jan Herzog) 6:46.50

James Tomkins, aged 39 at this event, became Australia's most successful Olympic rower with this race with a total of three Olympic Gold and one Olympic Bronze medal from five Olympic Games. We all hope that he will return in 2008.

The crew raced superbly and with great authority in every race - they led at every 500 meter mark. The final was raced perfectly to plan. The first 500 gave them the lead they wanted to keep the field at bay. The second 500 was a maintenance strategy before a push through the 1000 metre mark gave them clear water which they then defended well. There was no way they would be rowed down in the last 500 metres.

Drew Ginn became a dual gold medal Olympian even after having to miss Sydney with a back injury. The victory was therefore especially sweet for Drew Ginn. He had gone through back surgery and a painful recovery after Sydney to make it these Olympic Games. There was a tear shed after the raced was completed.

The second semi-final had its drama with a tight finish of four crews to the line. It appears that the Canadian crew left their lane and clashed oars with the second placed South African crew who then finished fourth. A protest was lodged and the Canadians were excluded and ranked last in the semi-final. They protested that they should also be allowed to the final. This was not allowed and they refused to race the B final.

Men's Four

E1: 1st CAN, 2nd POL, 3rd CZE, 4th CRO, 5th ROM
E2: 1st GBR, 2nd ITA, 3rd SLO, 4th USA
E3: 1st AUS, 2nd NZL, 3rd GER, 4th RUS
R: 1st RUS, 2nd USA, 3rd CRO, 4th ROM
SF: 1st CAN, 2nd AUS, 3rd ITA, 4th GER, 5th CZE, 6th USA
SF: 1st GBR, 2nd NZL, 3rd POL, 4th SLO, 5th RUS, 6th CRO
Final B: 7th GER, 8th CZE, 9th SLO, 10th USA, 11th RUS, 12th CRO
Final: 1st GBR (Steve Williams, James Cracknell, Ed Coode, Matthew Pinsent) 6:06.98, 2nd CAN (Cameron Baerg, Thomas Herschmiller, Jake Wetzel, Barney Williams) 6:07.06, 3rd ITA (Lorenzo Porzio, Dario Dentale, Luca Agamennoni, Raffaello Leonardo) 6:10.41, 4th AUS (as above) 6:13.06, 5th NZL (Donald Leach, Mahe Drysdale, Carl Meyer, Eric Murray) 6:15.47, 6th POL 6:22.43 (Jaroslaw Godek, Mariusz Daniszewski, Artur Rozalski, Rafal Smolinski)

Whilst this crew was the third-ranked men's sweep boat, high hopes of a medal were still held. Sadly for the crew, they missed out on a medal finishing fourth in a great race won in a photo finish by Great Britain from Canada.

The Australians started well maintaining a third placing through the first 1000 metres. However they were unable to match a move in the third 500 metres by the leading crews leaving them in fourth place, but more importantly 1.37 seconds off the third placed crew with 500 metres to go. Unfortunately it was an task to recover and so they finished a strong fourth.

Men's Eight

E1: 1st AUS, 2nd NED, 3rd GER, 4th FRA, 5th POL
E2: 1st USA, 2nd CAN, 3rd ITA, 4th GBR
R1: 1st NED, 2nd FRA, 3rd ITA
R2: 1st CAN, 2nd GER, 3rd GBR, 4th POL
Final B: 7th ITA, 8th POL, 9th GBR
Final: 1st USA (Jason Read, Wyatt Allen, Chris Ahrens, Joseph Hansen, Matt Deakin, Dan Beery, Beau Hoopman, Bryan Volpenhein, Pete Cipollone) 5:42.48, 2nd NED (Diederik Simon, Gijs Vermeulen, Jan-Willem Gabriels, Daniel Mensch, Geert Jan Derksen, Gerritjan Eggenkamp, Matthijs Vellenga, Michiel Bartman, Chun Wei Cheung) 5:43.75, 3rd AUS (as above) 5:45.38, 4th GER (Sebastian Schulte, Stephan Koltzk, Joerg Diessner, Thorsten Engelmann, Jan-Martin Broeer, Enrico Schnabel, Ulf Siemes, Michael Ruhe, Peter Thiede) 5:49.43, 5th CAN (Scott Frandsen, Kevin Light, Ben Rutledge, Kyle Hamilton, Adam Kreek, Andrew Hoskins, Joe Stankevicius, Jeff Powell, Brian Price) 5:51.66, 6th FRA (Bastien Ripoll, Bastien Gallet, Jean-Baptiste Macquet, Julien Peudecoeur, Donatien Mortelette, Anthony Perrot, Jean-David Bernard, Laurent Cadot, Christophe Lattaignant) 5:53.31

The men's eight was a great crew under a great coach—Tim McLaren. They raced their heat to perfection with a strong first placing.

However in the final, the Americans played the 'catch me if you can' race plan blasting off the start and getting a 3.26 second lead by the 1000 metre mark with the Australians in second place. This lead in such a tight race was near impossible to overcome in the absence of a disaster. The Americans were also a very strong crew and able to undertake this strategy.

The Dutch crew made a substantial move in the third 500 hundred passing the Australians in pursuit of the Americans. The Americans held on after a great effort by the Dutch with Australia third.

In the seven seat of the Australian crew was Michael McKay who notched up yet another Olympic medal taking his tally to two Gold, one Silver and a Bronze from five Olymopic Games. The sacrifice of every rower is great, but Michael also had to move his wife and family with him to Sydney to train for these Games. We can only hope he is able to continue his superb rowing career. Michael is one of Australia's greatest ever rowers.

The USA crew broke a 40 year drought of victories in this event which they used to dominate.