Australian 8 Woman Boat

[old] debs · Post by **[old] debs** » August 25th, 2004, 5:18 pm

Did anybody see the news about the Australian 8-woman boat? My understanding is that one of the stronger rowers quit rowing with about 600 meters to go, and one of the news reports mentioned she also left her oar in the water after she quit rowing The Aussies were behind anyway - but when the woman quit rowing and left her oar in the water the Aussie boat slowed dramatically Apparently she got a few, um, comments from her teammates... and one of them said something about throwing her out of the boat Having never raced, I know nothing about protocol Do any of you have comments about this event? The media said the coach gave the team a hard time about making the comments, but the media did not say the coach gave the woman who quit a hard time for leaving her oar in the water After watching an interview with the woman who quit rowing, I got the feeling that the Aussie team might not get along very well.

[old] gw1 · Post by **[old] gw1** » August 25th, 2004, 6:18 pm

It is impossible to pass judgement on her actions unless you are familiar with all the facts. However Ms Robbins is a very accomplished rower (obviously or she wouldn't have been in an Olympic final). If an athlete has reacted in a way detrimental to a crew or team's performance previously (she had a previous situation where she had stopped rowing in a major race) then the crew's coach should have been more forthcoming with an explanation of the events that took place out in the water including race tactics etc, rather than the rowers having to answer so many questions at a time when they were understably very unhappy. The whole crew did conduct an interview today when cooler heads prevailed and put on a brave face. I believe she tried her hardest and at the point she stopped, she broke down both physically and mentally. An athlete in a precision event where you are part of a team must have a total awareness of their physical capabilities. This awareness of ones maximum performance must be achieved in training, therefore once you step into the competition arena you are going to be fully aware of how your body will react to the pressure and effort required. Whatever happened out there will probably always have 2 sides, I am sure that Ms Robbins will be back, but she will have to earn her team mates respect after such a costly incident. GW

[old] debs · Post by **[old] debs** » August 25th, 2004, 6:24 pm

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td class='genmed'>QUOTE (gw1 @ Aug 25 2004, 05:18 PM)</td></tr><tr><td class='quote'> It is impossible to pass judgement on her actions unless you are familiar with all the facts. However Ms Robbins is a very accomplished rower (obviously or she wouldn't have been in an Olympic final). If an athlete has reacted in a way detrimental to a crew or team's performance previously (she had a previous situation where she had stopped rowing in a major race) then the crew's coach should have been more forthcoming with an explanation of the events that took place out in the water including race tactics etc, rather than the rowers having to answer so many questions at a time when they were understably very unhappy. The whole crew did conduct an interview today when cooler heads prevailed and put on a brave face. I believe she tried her hardest and at the point she stopped, she broke down both physically and mentally. An athlete in a precision event where you are part of a team must have a total awareness of their physical capabilities. This awareness of ones maximum performance must be achieved in training, therefore once you step into the competition arena you are going to be fully aware of how your body will react to the pressure and effort required. Whatever happened out there will probably always have 2 sides, I am sure that Ms Robbins will be back, but she will have to earn her team mates respect after such a costly incident. GW  </td></tr></table> Let's make it very clear I'm not passing judgment in any way Thanks for the comments

[old] gw1 · Post by **[old] gw1** » August 25th, 2004, 6:31 pm

Please don't interperate my reply as anything other than the best attempt an Aussie rower can make at being diplomatic. Especially after just completing 5 x 1000m sprint pieces on my evil C2!! Cheers GW

[old] dennish · Post by **[old] dennish** » August 26th, 2004, 11:09 am

Remarkable story. Roland, any insight? Yes there will always be two sides, at least there had better be. Interesting that this young woman had a history of this. Whats up with the OZ authorities trying to put a clamp on reactions? I would like to hear both sides, unspun and honest, maybe a third side from a physician. dennis

[old] Cran · Post by **[old] Cran** » August 26th, 2004, 11:46 am

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td class='genmed'>QUOTE </td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>Having never raced, I know nothing about protocol </td></tr></table> Yeah, they really should have chucked her out the boat... Wouldn't have made any difference to the result, but at least the rest of the crew could have whacked her round the head with their oars as they rowed on.

[old] John Rupp · Post by **[old] John Rupp** » August 26th, 2004, 3:20 pm

They should have kept rowing. And not used that oar in the water as an excuse for not doing well.

[old] Cran · Post by **[old] Cran** » August 26th, 2004, 5:08 pm

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td class='genmed'>QUOTE </td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>They should have kept rowing </td></tr></table> <img src='http://www.triton.studver.uu.nl/img/bb_cox.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image' /><img src='http://www.twrc.rowing.org.uk/random/badrow2.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image' /><img src='http://www.twrc.rowing.org.uk/random/badrow4.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image' /><img src='http://www.twrc.rowing.org.uk/random/badrow5.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image' /><img src='http://www.twrc.rowing.org.uk/random/badrow3.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image' /><img src='http://www.triton.studver.uu.nl/img/bb_canvas.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

[old] kate81 · Post by **[old] kate81** » August 26th, 2004, 5:51 pm

This story is making huge headlines here in AUS. I think it just makes the Australian rowing team; as a whole; look pretty bad, which is very disappointing. I am just thankful that the focus is finally turning to the coaches and selection board, who I believe is more at fault here. Apparently the coach got stuck into Sally immediately after the race, even before the media had a chance and has since fled to Italy (or some other place). Sally may physically be an elite rower, however, seeing as there is history of her reacting in such a way, the coaching staff should have done more to at least prevent this event occuring. Sports psychology goes a long way to helping an athlete reach their potential. Even while I was competing at a school level my crew and I held sessions with a sports psychologist and it did wonders to our performances.

[old] mjhmeyer · Post by **[old] mjhmeyer** » August 26th, 2004, 6:09 pm

Being only an erg rower I once asked an on water rower about crew rowing: what happens if one rower is weaker than the others? I was told thart it does not matter -- you don't have to put much pressure on the oar since the boat is moving through the water due to the efforts of the other crew. So it seems if you run out of steam you only have to keep up the cadence but not necessarily pull very hard. Is this true?

[old] kate81 · Post by **[old] kate81** » August 26th, 2004, 6:15 pm

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td class='genmed'>QUOTE (mjhmeyer @ Aug 26 2004, 05:09 PM)</td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>So it seems if you run out of steam you only have to keep up the cadence but not necessarily pull very hard. Is this true? </td></tr></table> Obviously the speed of the boat would slow, however, one person lightening off, but keeping the same speed on the slide would enable the crew to continue racing, just not at their optimum.

[old] debs · Post by **[old] debs** » August 26th, 2004, 8:10 pm

One article said that the rower who gave up left her oar in the water Giving up is one issue. Leaving the oar in the water to slow the boat down is quite another issue

[old] gw1 · Post by **[old] gw1** » August 26th, 2004, 9:37 pm

Yes she did dump her oar in the water, if she didn't have the fortitude or ability to keep rowing at that time, then it's impossible to expect her to have the wherewithal to take care of her oar! Still seems to be alot of unanswered questions and the crew's coach seems to have vanished without a word!

[old] Canoeist · Post by **[old] Canoeist** » August 26th, 2004, 11:03 pm

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td class='genmed'>QUOTE (Cran @ Aug 26 2004, 09:08 PM)</td></tr><tr><td class='quote'> <img src='http://www.triton.studver.uu.nl/img/bb_cox.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image' /><img src='http://www.twrc.rowing.org.uk/random/badrow2.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image' /><img src='http://www.twrc.rowing.org.uk/random/badrow4.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image' /><img src='http://www.twrc.rowing.org.uk/random/badrow5.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image' /><img src='http://www.twrc.rowing.org.uk/random/badrow3.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image' /><img src='http://www.triton.studver.uu.nl/img/bb_canvas.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image' />  </td></tr></table> Brilliant artwork Cran! But, I thought she dragged her oar, rather than being badly out of sync. Cheers, Paul Flack

[old] Cran · Post by **[old] Cran** » August 27th, 2004, 5:32 am

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td class='genmed'>QUOTE </td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>Brilliant artwork Cran! But, I thought she dragged her oar, rather than being badly out of sync </td></tr></table> Yeah I couldn't find a picture of that... I might try again later.

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