Late speed makes Canadian scullers a threat
There’s a reason why Marnie McBean is often called on to give rousing speeches to the current generation of Olympic athletes.
McBean and rowing partner Kathleen Heddle won three Olympic gold medals. It took immense confidence in her physiology, rowing skills and ability to endure pain to make that happen. But even McBean can’t quite believe what Lindsay Jennerich and Patricia Obee can do in a boat on a 2,000-metre rowing course.
With 500 metres to go — that’s nearly two minutes of rowing for the lightweight double sculls, an absolute lifetime in this sport — they launch their sprint finish.
“It’s hard for me to watch because it’s against everything (I learned),” McBean said at the Olympic send-off for the team. “But they believe in it like no one else believes ... and it works.”
At the Lucerne World Cup in May, they sat fifth and nearly two seconds off the lead at the 1,500-metre mark; commentators had written them off and were discussing whether New Zealand or South Africa would win. Then the commentary changed abruptly, ending like this: “The Canadians are sprinting back! The Canadians have got it!”
They finished one second ahead of the strong South African boat. Farther back in third were the world champions from New Zealand.
It’s a far different setting here in Rio’s lagoon, surrounded by dramatic mountains and the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue, but they are hoping to use a spectacular finish for a similar result.
In a training session before their first Olympic race here Sunday, they were so in tune with each other — the bend of their knees, the angle of their elbows — it could have been a judged synchronized event. They move as one. And their strength — the reason why they are touted as Canada’s best chance for a gold medal in rowing at these Games — is that they can maintain that synchronous movement at race pace, even during that finishing kick.
“Most people think it’s physiological, but I don’t,” Jennerich said of the finish.
“I think the other women in our field have the physical capacity to do what we do there, but they’re not doing it ... If you’re not rowing perfectly with someone, then that’s a lot slower than just not going as hard. We’re willing to be risky, that’s what it is. We’re really being reckless when we do that last finishing kick.”
The Victoria, B.C., natives — Jennerich is 34, Obee 24 — have been rowing since high school. Part of their willingness to risk so much comes from having naturally similar rowing styles, particularly useful when they have two oars each, and a close partnership that predates the last Olympics.
The other part comes from knowing what failure feels like and how much stronger they feel now, Jennerich said. They were seventh at the 2012 London Olympics and fourth in the 2015 world championships.
“I think it takes understanding what you’ve done wrong, what’s not gone right, to truly do better,” she said. “I know what it feels like to not be our best and I can say this feels very different.”
And the kick, what does that feel like?
“I love it,” Jennerich said. “I’m in bow, so I get to see us move through all these crews, so for me it’s physically easy because I just getting excited. Patricia has to be a bit more focused in the stroke seat, so I’m sure for her it’s a lot more painful, but for me it’s the point in the race where I get to say: third, first. It’s a rolling downhill excitement.”