RACICE REPORT MARK MEATES- MANAGER OF THE JUNIOR TEAM

 Racice – Czech Republic                    REPECHAGES                       Friday 6^th August
The weather forecasters predicted rain for today, heavy showers at times. The weather gods played ball and gave them exactly what they asked for. No wonder it is quite green around here, it rains like it does on the West Coast (South Island anyway), when it rains it really rains.
Unfortunately the medical gods had not been good to us overnight with Nathan Davenport in the M8+ and Chris Morrison in M4x both getting the bot. Because Janey had been to see Ted the night before we did have some of his nausea medicine to hand. Janey’s quad awoke to better health than the day before with two of the girls feeling like they had recovered but that still left Ester and Georgia feeling a bit under the weather.
 Judith Hamilton had also sent an email with a report on what to do in these sort of contagious situations. First was to get some fruit, there are various fruits supplied with our meals but they are not always ripe and immediately edible, so some fresh stuff was in order. Second was some orange juice. Third was cleaning products of our own, to wipe down all surfaces and then sanitizer and wipes for ongoing use. Fourth was to get some medicine of our own, I was conscious of pushing the friendship with Ted who didn’t seem to mind but would be in trouble if the USA team got the bot. Unfortunately the medicine required a prescription and had to be ordered in. I promised to get a prescription and they ordered it.
Only three races today, first the M2x quarterfinal to progress to tomorrows semi-final, and then the W4x and M8+ both having a repechage with the first two to A final, rest to B final. It’s all cut throat now which added a sharpish edge to morning operations.
I raced to the start of the M2x race upon my return from the supermarket and got there in time to watch the start. The boys started well going through the first 100m in second place just behind Germany. By the 500m mark both crews had pushed out a bit from the other four boats. The boys kept pushing and by the 1000m mark only the Germans and NZ were in the picture. By the 500m mark there was a marked difference to the front three and the last three who were fighting it out in a line for fourth. All crews seemed to keep pushing to the end but I suspect controlled the last 500m somewhat.

1^st Germany 6:40.58      2^nd NZL 6:45.61             3^rd Swiss 6:47.62

It was very wet as they made their way down the last 1000m. I had to meet Ted to get my prescription so headed for the dining tent. I passed the girls quad getting ready in our tent. The whole team was hoping for good things for the quad but we knew it would be a huge ask given their physical condition from the sickness.

I had to wait a bit for Ted to get to the dining hall so missed the start of the quad’s race. By the time I got on my bike they only had 500 m to go and pictured here passing our Hotel they were at the back of the field. They had lasted about the first 700m but then ran out of fuel. A very disappointing result for them as all indications would have put them up with Canada, who did qualify, if they had been fit.
The last races of the day were the M8+. We were in the second heat. Both heats were tight through the first 100m, as you would expect. We wanted the Team in Black to make a better start as they lost the race there yesterday and they complied leading out with the Russians in lane 1. By the 500 m they were still doing well but the Romanians had pushed through to the lead. It was still very close through the 1000m mark but our guys just looked to be losing momentum. The Romanians were well out in front with the other 4 crews still relatively close. We had done well in the middle part of the race the day before so we hoped they would come through, but alas we could not find it in the third 500 and went through the 1750m mark in last place. Certainly not the result we were looking for. Nor, I’m afraid, could the result be blamed on Nathan’s physical condition even though he did not last as long as we would have liked. At the end of the day we would have had to go under 5:50 to get through and to be honest we probably haven’t looked like achieving that even with everyone fit. The crew were disappointed, the coach was disappointed and the team was disappointed for them.
They say in sport that you make your own luck. I have heard it said often at the Crusaders and Canterbury teams. But at the end of the day sometimes you still need the ball to bounce your way, sometimes it does and sometimes not. I believe that you can prepare and do everything you can just right but sometimes you still need a bit of luck. Sometimes the ball goes the other way and it’s bad luck. This bout of sickness is bad luck. Some other teams have the problem as well which suggests it’s not the Hotel that is the problem. The dining hall is the most likely culprit but not likely the food itself. Perhaps the hygiene of the place, there are 500 odd people going through a day and who knows where their hands have been. Perhaps things were going so well here, after our first week, that our own hygiene standards slipped. Frankly no-one knows and I suspect will never know.
Tomorrow’s programme is out. Racing starts at 10:00 but our first race is the W4x B Final at 11:18. Followed by the M4+ semi final at 13:36, the M2x semi final at 14:36 and the M4x semi final at 14:42. The biggest race of the day is the W4- A final at 15:00.
We look forward to tomorrow with great interest. Gary has a way with his crews and it seems to work. They are both ready to go. The coxed four semi should be a humdinger, in our heat the Swiss have a faster time but the next three crews all had the same heat time and the Croatians are only 1.5 seconds behind. Chris Morrison is coming right but Ryan is going down. The quad is in the centre of the course indicating their speed in the heats. We will have to wait to see what the morning brings.
Go the Team in Black. Take care, Mark