2008 Summer Olympic Games Preview - Rowing

2008 Summer Olympic Games Preview - Rowing

There are 14 Olympic rowing events, eight sculls and six sweeps. Sculling refers to the use of two oars, one in each hand. Sweep refers to the use of just one oar. The sport of rowing is one of the most physically demanding of all the Olympic events. All of the races are 2,000 meters in length, and competitors strive to generate as many powerful strokes as possible while keeping the team in unison.

Of the 550 athletes that will compete in rowing events in these Beijing Olympic Games, 350 are men. Qualification began with the 2007 World Championships in Munich. There were also three continental qualification events and a final qualification regatta in June of 2008.

With rowing events such as Coxless Pairs and Quadruple Sculls, just to name two, casual Olympic followers may very well be thrown off by the terminology. However, the objective of the sport is consistent across the board, to cross the finish line faster than the competition.

The United State has clearly been the dominant nation in men's rowing, capturing 68 all-time medals, including 29 gold. Great Britain is a rather distant second with 44 medals, followed by Italy with 44. Keep in mind that the United State has nearly twice as many all-time medals in overall Olympic competition than any other nation, with Russia and Great Britain placing second and third.

As for women's rowing, Romania has been the powerhouse in the past, as 27 total medals are 10 more than second place East Germany. However, as a unified nation, Germany has 14 medals, so combined with the East Germany total and the two posted by West Germany, that nation actually has more medals than Romania.

Jason Read of the USA has been a member of the national team since 1995. He was a member of the eight that won the gold in Athens, the first time that the USA captured the gold in that event since 1964. He will be joined by the likes of Chris Liwski and Marcus McElhenney, talented American teammates.

As for the women, Germany's Kathrin Boron has finished worse than second only once in 16 appearances at World Championships and Olympics. At 38 years of age, Boron is still considered one of the elite female rowers in the world. The same can be said of Yekaterina Karsten-Khodotovitch of Belarus, who won three consecutive wold titles from 2005-2007. At the 1996 Olympics, Karsten won the first goal medal in any sport for Belarus, which participated in Atlanta for the first time as an independent republic.

t the 2004 Olympic Games, U.S. rowers came away with medals in both the mens and womens eights. The mens eight set a world record in the heat and then ended a 40-year, gold-medal drought by winning the final from wire-to-wire. The womens eight ended a 20-year medal drought in the event by bringing home the silver medal.

As USRowing looks towards the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the focus has turned towards winning medals in the small boats, while maintaining the success in the two eights. The 2008 squad should be deeper, with a strong mix of returning Olympians and talented newcomers.

In the womens sweep program, womens head coach Tom Terhaar continues to build depth for the pair and eight. Talented newcomers like Caroline Lind and Megan Cooke have joined a strong group of Olympic veterans including Anna Mickelson and Caryn Davies.

Mickelson and Cooke recently teamed up to win the womens pair at the final stop of the 2006 FISA World Cup circuit, while the womens eight won the 2006 Henley Royal Regatta, defeating the Netherlands in the final.

On the womens sculling side, Michelle Guerette, a member of the womens quadruple sculls in Athens, has moved to the single and shown early success. Guerette won a bronze medal at the 2005 World Championships and is continuing to establish herself as one of the top single scullers in the world. Likewise, the lightweight womens double sculls tandem of Julie Nichols and Renee Hykel reached the medal stand at last years world championships, winning a silver medal in its first international competition. Terhaar continues to build the depth of the sculling program as well. The womens quad recently finished fourth at the world cup stop in Lucerne, Switzerland.

On the mens sweep side, several members of the Olympic gold medal eight, including Beau Hoopman, Matt Deakin, and Dan Beery, anchor a talented athlete pool for mens head coach Mike Teti. While the focus has shifted to the mens four, the eight still won gold at the 2005 World Championships. With newcomers such as Josh Inman, Sam Burns, Chris Liwski, and Brett Newlin adding exceptional depth to the program, the U.S. should be in medal contention in all three sweep events in 2008. On the lightweight sweep side, the focus has been on developing the talent pool, something that should start paying dividends as Beijing approaches.

On the mens sculling side, head coach Kris Korzeniowskis focus also has been on developing the talent pool, which has already started to pay dividends. Led by Olympic mens eight gold medalist Wyatt Allen, who switched to sculling in the fall of 2004, the mens quadruple sculls crew of Matt Hughes, Allen, J. Sloan DuRoss and Sam Stitt recently reached the podium at the world cup stop in Lucerne, winning a bronze medal.

As the two-year countdown for Beijing quickly approaches, USRowing continues to build on its success from Athens with the ultimate goal of bringing home more medals from China.

Wyatt Allan

A member of the Olympic gold medal mens eight, Allen switched from sweep rowing to sculling following the 2004 Olympic Games and has brought an immediate impact to the U.S. sculling program.

Beau Hoopman

A member of the Olympic gold medal mens eight, Hoopman raced in both the four and eight at the 2005 World Championships and has taken over the stroke seat of the eight. He is an avid and talented golfer.

Josh Inman

The 2005 USRowing Male Athlete of the Year, Inman began rowing at Oregon State University and helped lead that program to national prominence. A native of Oregon, Josh enjoys camping and hiking. Last September, he took his first East Coast hiking expedition in Vermonts Green Mountains.

Brett Newlin

A Riverton, Wyo. native, Newlin began rowing in the club program as a freshman at Michigan State University before transferring to the University of Washington. Since making his first national team last year, he has quickly established himself as one of the top rowers in the mens program. He also happens to be the tallest at 69." Brett enjoys skiing, fishing, and snowboarding.

Megan Cooke

Now a two-time national team member, Cooke is looking to make her first Olympic team and recently won a gold medal in the womens pair at the prestigious world cup event in Lucerne, Switzerland. She works as a fundraiser for Autism Speaks, a not-for-profit organization.

Caryn Davies

A 2004 Olympic silver medalist in the womens eight, Davies has been one of the United States top rowers since her years as a junior rower. She was a member of the first U.S. junior womens crew to ever win a gold medal at the Junior World Championships in 2000.

Despite winning three world titles and an Olympic silver medal, she still lists her most memorable sporting achievement as beating all of the boys in her class to win her third-grade arm wrestling competition. She is interested in becoming a large-animal veterinarian after her rowing career is finished.

Michelle Guerette

A 2004 Olympian, Guerette moved to the single sculls in 2005 and promptly won a bronze medal at the World Championships. Her performance marked the first time the U.S. had won a medal in the event since 1988. As a freshman at Harvard, Guerette was looking for an athletic activity and chose rowing over ultimate frisbee when her roommate suggested she try it out. Less than six months later, she had made the varsity eight, which finished sixth at the NCAA Championships.

Caroline Lind

Despite being only 23 years old, Lind is one of the top rowers in the country and is considered a "difference maker" in whatever boat she races. Her father played basketball at Duke University from 1966-69. A native of Greensboro, N.C., she became a national debutante at the Debutante Cotillion Ball in Washington, D.C. in 2003.

Anna Mickelson

A 2004 Olympic silver medalist in the womens eight, Mickelson recently won a gold medal in the womens pair with Megan Cooke at the world cup stop in Lucerne. She is actively involved with Athletes in Action, the Christian Sports Ministry, as well as the National Rowing Foundation, a non-profit organization that raises money for the U.S. National Team.