RACICE REPORT MARK MEATES- MANAGER OF THE JUNIOR TEAM

Racice – Czech Republic  SEMIS & FINALS   Saturday 7^th August

“It’s raining again”, can’t get the lyrics to that song out of my head. The weather gods again performed for the weather forecasters and yes it is raining again.The water is good so I suspect the rowers will be happy enough. However the temperature is noticeably colder today so that will be an issue for warming up but more importantly staying warm in the start area.

We have 5 events today:                           1       2        3        4        5         6

W4x         B Final                     11:18        NZL   AUS   CZE  ITA     CAN   POL

M4+         Semi Final               13:36        CRO  NZL    SUI   AUS    FRA   RSA

M2x         Semi Final             14:36       NED  NZL   ROU  ITA    DEN   BLR                        

M4x         Semi Final               14:42        BLR    NOR  ITA    NZL    AUS   AUT

W4-         Final                        15:00        UKR    AUS  NZL   GER    USA   ESP

I’ve been out in the wet a bit this morning sorting a few things out with regard to getting our oars back to NZ and sorting are transport into Prague and then to the airport. So I am sorry to say that I whimped out in following the girl’s quad for their race. Instead I went and sat in the grandstand with the NZ supporters. It is fair to say that with today’s weather they are in situation alpha, with almost all the seats under cover out of the rain.You do get a good view of the course from up here, although today the start was obscured by the rain.

The picture above is the girls coming through with 5oom to go. They were in last place at this stage. The girls had all woken up feeling better, certainly feeling as good as they had for a few days. Experience has shown it really takes an extra day to get over, so while they were feeling okay I suspect their energy levels in the race would have been down. I also suspect they saved themselves a bit for the last 500m to make sure they got there and they really came home well.Coming up into 5^th through the 1750m mark (above) and then challenging those ahead in the last 250 m. From my perspective, I thought it was a very gutsy row. The effects of the illness they have had cannot be underestimated especially as all the crew had it. I know there are disappointed parents here in the stand and I understand why. No-one will be more disappointed than the girls and their coach. Being in the Juniors is a big expense and I am sure the parents may be wondering if it is all worth it. There are certainly cheaper ways to come to Europe than on a Junior tour. In fact I was a bit surprised to see Neta and Georgia Cameron in the stand, third year in a row. They are over here travelling around Europe and were lucky enough to be in the area.

In my personal opinion, this Junior experience is worth so much and way more than it costs. In fact you could not buy it. Yes a good result may seem to add to the value one gets from it, but you cannot buy medals. This experience, no matter what the result, is going to add to the character and substance of these athletes, they are learning life skills that you just can’t get elsewhere. They are learning things about themselves that this competitive environment, and no other, brings out. I have no doubt they will all be better people for the experience and the lifelong friendships they are forging are exactly that, lifelong.

The women’s quad can now pack their boat up. What seemed to be taking ages to get here 10 days ago is now over. The last week seems like just a blink of the eye. I am proud of the quad and Janey. Janey has been the most positive and supportive person to her crew helping them through what really was a crisis for them. She needs a very big pat on the back, which I will be giving to her. I guess the hardest thing for the girl’s will be wondering what might have been if they were all totally fit. Sometimes knowing that you have been beaten by a better crew is easier to take than wondering what if.

 Ryan got crook last night so was able to get some medicine on board before he went to sleep. He was able to do the pre-row this morning but is back in bed now. Still a couple of hours to go until the M4x rows. Ollie went down overnight and his M2x race is before the quad so he has a little less time to recover. He is doing a very good job of being positive about it which is really commendable. He is forcing food in although it mostly comes back up.

I have been very impressed with this double of Ollie Behrent and Sean Watts. I suspect for most of the Team they saw the double as the lowest priority but these boys have put all that to rest. They have been very focused in their training and now have a chance to get into the A final. I have my fingers crossed for Ollie. He is the Team clown, or one of them, off the water bur very focused on it. Like everyone else the double deserves to be able to give it their best shot, that chance may now be compromised. 

Just after I finished the paragraph above I went down to see how Ollie was doing. The cleaning lady had arrived just before me to clean up the bathroom after his last vomit which had got a b it out of control. Ollie was sitting on the floor stoically eating a banana. Even though he was having trouble keeping food down he was determined to get something in there to fuel his race. Given it was just a couple of hours away things were not looking good.

After my last whimpy effort I thought I had better get out and watch the next races. I waited till the men’s four had left, they did their home exercises upstairs, then went for a run part of which was running to the boat park where they basically grabbed their boat and got on the water.  Stepping out the door I was immediately reminded of the Band that sang the theme song of “Four weddings and a funeral”, yes that’s right Wet, Wet, Wet.I went straight to the start and arrived just as the starter set them off. It was wet.  I positioned myself at the 250m mark and tried to keep my phone dry so I could get a picture. The boys were third through here and looking strong. I must confess to counting my chickens as they went through the 1000m comfortably in third. At about the 1150m I said well done to Bruce and from that moment the French started pulling us in.  By the time they hit the 1500m mark things were looking a little grim, the French had pulled us in to about a length and looked to have better momentum. Over the next 250 m they made more inroads closing to under half a length. At this point however Logan his the turbo button and our guys took off moving out to over a length again on the French and starting to reign in the Aussies who were second. I think they did it just to give my heart a bit of a run. A great result with an A final in this event, at least one place better than the last two years where we finished 7^th both times.

By the time I got back to the boat park Gary had the double on the water. They were dressed in the rowsuits covered in blue rubbish bags, as were the four when they took the water. Gary then set about getting the W4-, girls four, ready for their race. I agreed to help out the last bit thus allowing Gary to get to the start of the double’s race.

Once the girl’s were on the water I raced up the track to watch the double. They were heading into the 1000m mark by the time I got there. The boys were right in the race through the 1000m but as the other crews pushed away there our boys had no answer. Given where he had been two hours earlier I was tremendously proud of the effort Ollie put in but it just was not going to be his day. Seam pushed hard all the way but running on only two cylinders was not going to get them there.By the time the hit the 1250m mark our guys were starting to drift back into 6^th place, lane 2 above. Even then there was not much between the crews racing for third.

I turned here and went back to the start for the men’s quad semi. We had the Italians, one of the favourites for this event and the Aussies. I only got to the 750m mark before the race reached me. The Italians were leading followed by the Aussies, we were fighting for third with Austria in Lane 6 (on the left side above) and Belarus in the Red in Lane 1.

Over the next 500m we puched away from Austria and had the Belorussians under control, so that going through the 1250m mark, qualification certainly seemed likely. Of course just when you think we could be comfortable, Hayden decided they were not and off they went passing the Aussies in about 6 strokes and moving into second.

Over the next 300 m they just kept moving away from the Aussies leaving them in a battle for third with Belorus. It was good for me as I could relax a bit and just enjoy the ride. Ryan had had more time than Ollie to get right but he had still been quite sick 14 hours before. It really was an impressive effort and they thoroughly deserved to qualify for the final. James was pleased and I was pleased for him.

At the finish I saw Gary helping the double off the water. His girls were the next race and the first Final of the day. I took over from Gary carrying the boat up, Ollie had gone to get a shower. Surprisingly the boys were selected for a boat weight check so we had to take it to get weighed. By the time Sean and I put it on the rack the commentator was starting the W4- commentary. Gary had been looking for Ollie and found him in the shower. We assigned a couple of people to watch him and sent Gary to the start.

He did not make it picking up the race about 500m gone with NZ leading. I had heard we were leading before I took off up the track to watch. I caught up with the race about the 1000m mark with NZ still leading and looking good. They maintained their lead through the third 500 and had a length going into the last 500. Then they started messing with my heart again. Bit by bit both USA and the Aussies were eating into our lead. With 250m to go we were half a length in front. With every stroke we were getting closer to the finish and with every stroke they were gaining ever so slightly, until they ran out of track still a few metres behind and we had won. What a race from the Team in black and not one picture of it. It was just too wet and I didn’t have time to stop and take one. Absolutely brilliant performance. Well the rest as they say is history. NZL first, USA second and Australia third.

In the garage awaiting the medal ceremony.Lining up for the medals.Bea and Grace getting their medals (my phone takes too long to save pics to get everyone).

It is fair to say that the whole team was so happy for the girls and they were all there to give them a hug. Gary was so pleased and proud. All of them had done such a good job. Gary was the Head Coach of the Team and he showed his class with his crew’s performances. It’s fair to say he is a big bastard. In rowing big bastards have to do big things and Gary has. I think he has shown what a champion coach he is over the last couple of years and long may it continue.

I have just got back from the Nation’s dinner. Bill and I represented NZ at the dinner. I would describe it as a dinner more for the race officials than anything else. We did however have good company, sitting with the German manager, Lothar, and his mate Dark ?, at least it sounded like Dark, also two Portugese, Portugal’s physio and his mate, the mate did not speak English, but the physio was interesting to talk to.

Our transport did not arrive so I took our van and gave the two Koreans representatives a ride as they were in the same boat as us. We are so lucky with our roads in NZ. First thing you notice here driving in the rain is how much surface water there is on the roads, they just do not drain properly. Secondly, driving at night, you miss the road reflectors we have in NZ, it is so hard to see what is going on and thirdly because they have grass right up to the edge of the road, the roads seem narrower than ours which makes passing larger vehicles a very uncomfortable exercise. Anyway we made it back, with an extra couple of Japanese on board who were ready to leave when we were.

Two A finals and Two B finals tomorrow.Go the Team in Black.

Take care-Mark