Lucerne Rotsee Regatta July 1998

No apologies at all for bias....

Redefining Oarsome....

The men's coxless fours race was almost certainly one of the tensest of the regatta - for spectators as well as competitors. Lining up for the final were crews including the new-style Oarsome Foursome from Australia, the defending champions from Great Britain, and a whippy Romanian four who had faded in the heats after fast starts. The first German crew had withdrawn after one oarsman had a stomach bug last night, and the Norwegians suffered the second jinx of the race by having problems with their rudder as they lined up for the start. Along with hitches at one of the stake-pontoons, the delay became so long that the starter decided to send all the crews back and allow them to race at the end of the session.

The history of this premier event includes a loss of form for the GB crew after Tim Foster injured tendons in his hand, the demonstrable superiority of the new-look Aussies over their heroic Olympic champions, now racing in other crews, and the threat of two German crews ready to haul off the points for the World Cup overall event. Last week at Henley Royal Regatta the GB four beat the other Australians and then held off a determined challenge from the Danish lightweights, just, to secure the Steward's Cup. Despite that victory, British nerves were frayed waiting for the restart.

They were off cleanly, and immediately the Brits were flooring it to the 500 mark, still at rating 40 as they passed that mark, and giving the fast-starting Romanians something to think about. The Australians also got off well, but couldn't get past third place. About 650 metres out they pushed very hard, as did the Romanians around 800 metres, but still neither four could get the edge over the "Redgrave four", even Tim looking relaxed and powerful despite his recent injury. By 1000 metres a sustained lift from Pinsent's crew had taken them into clear water.

The Australians are known to push just after the mid-point of the race, and this was broken by a British reply, which pulled them further away from the green and gold oarsmen, Redgrave and Cracknell sweeping strongly in the bows. However, the Romanians still looked extremely dangerous. Far from blowing after their swift start, they were still coming, and battling hard.

Coming into the last quarter of the race, the Romanians upped the pace again, and broke clear of the Australians. The British responded, and were still clear at 250 metres to go, where they made the final effort, Tim Foster calling it and Pinsent responding. They have sprinted before, but this time it was not necessary, their dominance assured. With that final spurt they sealed it at just over a length, the Romanians also well ahead of the rest of the field.

This response to doubt and injury was magnificent. However, nobody watching can think that the other crews in the race are merely going to crumple after this challenge. This is going to remain one of the hardest fought events, combined with the men's singles and the women's pairs, and there's more in the story yet. The Romanians finished top dogs, the Aussies behind them, and the Brits took third place after all three regattas. All the crews will have learnt something from these races and will be plotting for Cologne, together with those who didn't race in Lucerne.

Watch this space!