Issue 92 - September 1996

Strathclyde's transports of delight

Veterans of the Atlanta transportation system found relief at Strathclyde where the buses ferried athletes reliably and regularly between what by all accounts was an excellent village at Strathclyde University and the course. Officials and the press were similarly served from their hotels, and the huge assembly of juniors plus contestants in the 10 non-Olympic boat classes found congenial enjoyment at Strathclyde Park - spacious enclosures in which to eat and drink, the Rowshow in full spate, jazz bands behind the stands, mostly excellent weather, some brilliant racing and efficient but no officious security. There were only two downsides - the facilities block ponged of pungent disinfectant, and there was no tv coverage, a budgetary shortfall that did not help the commentary team's deadly durge of ill-informed guesswork. Oh for a wee smidgeon of human interest. Even single scullers were not given names.

Non-Olympic events began to look like easy, devalued medal options at last year's world championships, but not in Strathclyde. The entries were numerous and the standard high. Britain's men came away empty-handed in both light and open events, but the lightweight women came home with two silvers. Alison 'Wilma' Brownless and Jane Hall kept themselves at the top of the British medal league in the coxless pairs, where their greatest satisfaction was in beating Maria Savaand Camilia Macoviciuca of Romania 'at our own game', as Hall put it. The Romanians had massacred the Brits in sculling earlier in the season when Brownless and Hall narrowly missed selection for the Olympics in the lightweight double. Reverting to one oar apiece, they were six seconds adrift of the American gold medalists Christine Smith and Ellen Minzner.

The lightweight four of Malindi Myers, Trish Corless, Robyn Morris and Jo Nitch came storming up to the Chinese to finish irritatingly just under a second behind them. They were helped by seeing Brownless and Hall's race while on their way to the start and by the vociferous crowd after they had committed burns at 250 out and 250 from home. The second one pushed the Americans to third place and gave the Chinese a fright.

Sue Appelboom reached the final of the lightweight singles but was in a different league from the three medalists. Romania's Constanta Burcica, Olympic champion in lightweight doubles with Macoviciuca, won after moving through Sara Garner of the US who had made all the pace in the early rounds only to go off the start too fast in the final. Garner finished with the bronze and Benedicte Luzuy of France took silver.

The British men's team got four out of six crews into finals. The best hope for a medal was the lightweight eight, with some golden oldies on board like Chris Bates, Carl Smith, Ian Watson and cox John Deakin. The finish was there all right, but not the start or the middle, and fourth place it was. Stuart Forbes came out of retirement to stroke the lightweight quad, but their lot was a consistent sixth position. The open coxed four finished fourth and the coxed pair fifth.

Most countries adopted the British policy of not sending athletes who had taken part in the Olympics. Of those who did, Romania entered five events and medalled in all, parts of their Olympic eight winning the coxed fours and coming second in the coxed pairs. The Romanian women were second in the fours and third in the lightweight pairs, while Burcica won the lightweight single.

© Copyright Christopher Dodd, 1996.