Three world best times were set in fast conditions at the Olympic regatta yesterday but the fierce rivalry between the United States and Canada grabbed the spotlight as the US men’s eight qualified for the final. The US beat Canada, who had led the race until meters from the finish line, in a world best time in front of a raucous crowd at Schinias.
The Canadian men’s eight were world champions in 2002 and 2003, with the Americans finishing third and second respectively.
But the excitement of Sunday’s final race was quickly ended when organizers announced today’s program had been canceled due to expected bad weather. The disruption to the program follows a year of warnings from locals and national team officials that Schinias was the wrong choice of venue due to the winds, known locally as Meltemia and traditional in August.
The first round of heats was completed yesterday in blustery but fast conditions. The US set a time of five minutes 19.85 seconds, almost three seconds faster than the previous world best set in 1999 by the Netherlands.
Canada will now contest the repechage tomorrow along with Olympic champions Britain who finished fourth. Australia won the other heat.
In the women’s eights, the United States continued their domination to also set a world best time and hold off the fast-finishing Olympic champions Romania. The US crew finished in five minutes 56.55 seconds, more than two tenths of a second ahead of Romania and just under half a second faster than the previous mark set in 1999 by Romania. In the third race of the day, the Australian lightweight women’s double of Sally Newmarch and Amber Halliday also set a world best time of 6:49.90.
