British ‘rowers’ aim to make new Oly splash

RIO DE JANEIRO, July 20, (AFP): Rowing at the Rio Olympic Games in five points:

Britain’s rowers arrive in Rio riding the crest of a wave after annexing four titles at London 2012. With traditionally strong New Zealand they form part of a record 69 countries taking part. Britain are represented in all bar two of the 14 events. ‘Team GB’ topped the medals table at last year’s world championships with five golds. In second, as in London, came New Zealand. The Kiwis are counting on Eric Murray and Hamish Bond (undefeated since 2009) defending their coxless pairs gold and Mahe Drysdale retaining his single sculls title.

Rowing is being staged in a picture postcard location, the Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon between Ipanema and the Tijuca forest in the shadow of Sugarloaf Mountain. The lake is bordered by mangrove trees. But it is a tainted paradise. Raw sewage and rubbish here and at the sailing venue Guanabara Bay has caused massive concern, but officials claim after a clean-up the lagoon water is safe. “You can swim in it.” the deputy head of the city’s environment department, Altamirando Fernandes Moraes, boasted to the Guardian last year. Yet the United States are taking no chances after a junior team fell ill at pre-Olympic tests last year. Their rowers will be wearing new unisuits fitted with a special layer of antimicrobial protection.

Rough seas at the 1896 Games in Athens delayed rowing’s Olympic debut until Paris in 1900, with France’s Hermann Barrelet entering the sport’s history as the first ever Olympian. Montreal 1976 saw women competing for the first time. Rowing’s greatest Olympian is Steve Redgrave with five Olympic titles. There are 14 events, eight men’s and six women’s in boats for one, two, four or nine (including the coxswain).

Rowing has not escaped the doping controversy in international sport. Russia’s men’s quadruple sculls team were kicked out of the 2016 Games by the world rowing federation after one of its rowers, Sergey Fedorovtsev, tested positive for banned drug Trimetazidine. Also missing are two of Italy’s rowers, Vincenzo Abbagnale and Niccolo Mornati. The 2013 world champion Abbagnale is ruled out after missing three dope tests. Abbagnale’s father Guiseppe won rowing gold medals at Los Angeles 1984 and Seoul 1988 and is currently president of the Italian rowing federation. Three-time Olympian Mornati, whose brother Carlo Mornati is Italy’s Rio chef de mission, tested positive for breast cancer drug anastrozole, a testosterone masking agent.

After a choppy time qualifying Katherine Grainger, at 40, got a late call up for a fifth Games where she is trying to become Britain’s most decorated female Olympian. After taking silver at three consecutive Games she finally hit the Olympic bullseye in London. “I’m a bride at last”, said the high achiever from Glasgow who since 2012 has completed a PHd in Homicide. At Rio she will have to put her love of tv detective series on pause. She says she is an avid follower of “everything from Murder She Wrote to Law & Order, CSI, Sherlock. I pretend it’s work, so if I haven’t been to the library or written many chapters, I think ‘at least I put some hours in watching those educational programmes’.”