July 23, 1996
How the other half lives
LIGHTWEIGHT PAIR GETS A RARE TASTE OF DEFEAT
By KEN FIDLIN
At The Olympics
GAINESVILLE, Ga. -- Colleen Miller discovered something about losing, a subject with which she has little experience.
"The hardest thing about losing," said Miller who, along with Wendy Wiebe, is favored to win the gold medal in women's lightweight pairs rowing, "is that people walk up and act like your dog just died.
"Hey, we're okay."
Miller and Wiebe, Canadians and three-time defending world champs, don't lose very often. But yesterday morning in the preliminary round on the choppy waters of Lake Lanier, they were blown away by a Romanian pair, losing by nearly four seconds.
An hour or so after the race, there were no visible scars on the two close friends who, after four years in the same boat, are planning to go their separate ways after the Olympics.
"It makes our career together one race longer," Miller said. "We've had so many good races, we were probably due for a bad one. At least we don't have to sit around for five days and dwell on it."
They'll be back in the water tomorrow in a repechage to earn a starting spot in the semi-finals. Three of the semi-final berths were claimed by heat winners Romania, Australia and the U.S., leaving 13 boats to fight for the nine remaining semi-final spots.
Which is to say that either Miller or Wiebe, or maybe even both, would have to fall out of the boat tomorrow to keep Canada from advancing. It's tougher to miss the playoffs in this regatta than it is in the National Hockey League.
Still, it was a bit of a shock to the Canadians' systems. "We probably didn't attack the course hard enough at the start," Wiebe said. "Around 750 metres (a race is 2,000 metres), we realized what a lead (the Romanians) had.
"When you lose a race, your confidence takes a little hit. Another race only can make us better. Maybe we'll find a couple of seconds."
Wiebe and Miller were just one of five Canadian crews in action yesterday.
The Canadian men's lightweight coxless fours cruised to a victory and a berth in the semi-finals Friday with an easy win. Their time was the best overall of the three heats.
"There are a couple of different ways to look at it," said Dave Boyes of Port Dalhousie, Ont. "It's always nice to be able to relax and save yourself from the physical and mental stress (of the repechage). But it's also good to stay in a competitive rhythm by getting out there in a race situation."
Like the lightweight men, Canada's women quadruple scullers advanced to the semis with ease.
"We came in expecting a really tough race with four or five boats still in it until 1,500 metres," Marnie McBean said. "But when the race started, we just consistently pulled away. It's a nice feeling when that happens.
"It's always physically hard, especially in the later stages of a race. But when you're in a nice rhythm like that and everything is going well, it's a lot easier to pull hard."
McBean said the big lead allowed the Canadians to save their finishing kick for another day.
"We have a little more up our sleeves for the semi-finals," she promised.
McBean and Kathleen Heddle get an added advantage, since many of the competitors in the pairs also are in the quads. Heddle and McBean are through in both divisions, while others must struggle through the repechages.
"It's nice to know they have to go back out and race," McBean said.
Which is exactly what Canada's eights, both men and women, will have to do tomorrow. Each boat finished second in its heat yesterday.
In 1992, Canada pulled in five rowing medals. With all 10 crews still alive, there is every indication Canada will at least equal that total and perhaps surpass it.
"We're through the first round and in good shape," coach Brian Richardson said. "I talk to people on the street and the message I get is that they expect us to do well. I like that and I think the athletes do, too."
Five days from now when the tally is done, we all might like it a lot better.
