ROUGH REGATTA PUTS ROWING BEHIND 8-BALL

Splitting up a sure thing was supposed to lead to two medals, not last place

Here was the situation facing Rowing Canada in the run-up to Rio:

At the London Olympics, Canadian rowers produced two medals — silver in the men’s and women’s eight — which was problematic because rowing was easily the most heavily funded sport ($16.1 million) by Own The Podium.

Rowing Canada knew if they were going to attract a comparable level of funding for Rio, they had to put together a plan that would produce more medals. They also knew they had the core of a medal-winning men’s eight in place with three returnees from London.

But that eight swallowed up virtually all of the resources in the heavyweight men’s program. Rowing Canada reasoned, what if we split the eight into two smaller boats: a four and a quad? What if we take that one sure medal and turn it into two?

Own The Podium apparently liked the idea. In the Rio quadrennial, they gave rowing $17.4 million in funding, again the most for any Olympic sport.

Then came the actual competition at Lagoa. Now it figures Own The Podium isn’t as excited about Rowing Canada’s plan.

“We know what’s at stake when we’re out there,” Conlin McCabe said shortly after the men’s four limped over the finish line in sixth and last place on Friday. “We’re trying to win a medal for ourselves. But we know rowing in Canada depends on it because that’s the way sports in Canada works with Own The Podium.

“We know we have to get medals as a team if we’re going to get the funding we’ve been getting. Now I’m worried to see what happens with Rowing Canada.” He’s not the only one. On Friday, the lightweight women’s double of Lindsay Jennerich and Patricia Obee won a silver medal, Canada’s only medal of the Olympic regatta, which temporarily lifted the cloud over a disappointing performance by the team. The men’s four finished 17 seconds behind the gold-medal-winning British crew on Friday. Earlier in the regatta, the men’s quad failed to make the A final.

Single sculler Carling Zeeman was considered an outside shot at a medal, but she failed to make the A final when she finished fourth in her semifinal on Friday.

The women’s eight row on Saturday and are Canada’s last hope for a medal — but it’s safe to say the entire Canadian program and its funding will be under scrutiny after Rio, even if McCabe, the loyal soldier, was counselling patience after his crew’s performance.

“It definitely didn’t pan out at these Games,” McCabe said. “You can look at it and say, this didn’t work. But what if both boats medal the next Games? What if Canadian men’s rowing gets three medals, four medals? You’ve got to start the change and you’ve got to see it through. I think we’d be silly to shift all the way back to the eight because we didn’t have success with the quad and four.

“Look at Mike Babcock. It’s not like the Toronto Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup in his first go. Do you fire him right away?”

Now, we’d love to tell you what Rowing Canada thinks about this but Peter Cookson, its high-performance director, didn’t make himself available to the media on Friday.

On Thursday, Martin McElroy, the coach of the fours and the men’s program who oversaw the transition to the smaller boats, was asked about the decision to suspend the eights.

“If we’re to change the direction we’re going, then we have to have some courage and persist,” he said. “People talk about the qualities of an Olympic athlete, but what about the qualities of an Olympic organization? They have to persist in their long-term pursuit of what they want to achieve. There’s no difference.”

There’s something to that. But the 25-year-old McCabe is one of the best sweepers (single oar) in the world and Will Crothers, another silver medallist from London and a member of the Rio four, isn’t far behind. The quad featured Rob Gibson, who won a silver in the London eight.

These are world-class rowers and high-character athletes. No matter where the future of the program lies, they were let down.

“I don’t see myself being able to walk from it after a race like that,” McCabe said. “It’s unfinished business. I have some time to think about what I’m really capable of doing.”

He was asked if his teammates feel the same way.

“We’ve prided ourselves on being program grinders,” McCabe said. “Every single day, we show up and whatever it says on the program, we do it. If it says row 50K, we do row 50K. If it says do these drills, we do these drills.

“We’re committed to the process. That’s the kind of guys we are and the kind of guys you need to be successful in rowing. We didn’t have that success today, but I think it will pan out in the long term.”

It had better, because the future of the sport in Canada rides on it.