Sculls pair ready for third Cup regatta
National rowing coach Roger Barrow is perhaps using euphemism when saying he is “pretty chuffed” with the performances of his crews at the 2018 opening World Cup regatta at the weekend.
Kirsten McCann and Nicole van Wyk may have finished second in the lightweight women’s double sculls in Belgrade‚ but their 6min 51.30sec effort was within 4sec of the world record.
The new Dutch combination of Ilse Paulis and under-23 queen Marieke Keijser — within two seconds of the mark Paulis set with Maaike Head two years ago — are expected to go on to smash the record when they race in ideal conditions down the line.
So there’s nothing wrong with second place‚ especially for a crew that started working together only in 2018.
“I’m pretty chuffed‚” Barrow said when returning home on Monday‚ adding the squad would be back in training on Tuesday to get ready for the third World Cup regatta in Lucerne and the under-23 world championships‚ both in July.
“We’ve got work to do‚” Barrow pointed out.
McCann and Van Wyk exceeded expectations with their podium finish‚ finishing explosively as they fought back from fourth place to steal silver.
“They’re too slow in the second 500m‚” said Barrow.
The SA duo were the fastest over the final quarter of the 2‚000m course‚ clocking 1min was all that separated Kirsten McCann and Nicole van Wyk from the lightweight women’s double sculls world record when the SA pair won silver in Belgrade at the weekend 40.28sec‚ but they were the second slowest of the six teams in the final over the second quarter‚ registering 1:45.22.
Only the last-placed Americans‚ in 1:45.25‚ were slower on that section of the race.
“It’s about pacing strategy. It’ll come with confidence and racing experience‚ but we don’t want to go out blazing,” the coach said.
Before the Rio Olympics‚ McCann and the now-retired Ursula Grobler would go out hard and then try to hang on‚ a strategy that failed them at the 2016 Games‚ where they slipped to fifth spot.
Barrow said that what set them apart from most of the other double scull crews was that the less experienced Van Wyk was the stroke‚ which set the pace. “Almost all the other crews have their experienced rowers in the stroke seat. We tried that for a few weeks‚ but it didn’t work,” he said.
Barrow was also impressed with the men’s pair of Charles Brittain and James Mitchell. They made the A-final but finished last.
But they will not go to Lucerne‚ focusing instead on the age-group showpiece in Poland a few weeks later.
The men’s four will head to Switzerland aiming to do better than the ninth spot they managed on Sunday.
Vaughn Botes will compete in the lightweight single sculls in Lucerne‚ while his regular double partner‚ Nick Oberholzer‚ will do the singles at the under23 championships.