Coming Into Focus

August 27, 2011

BLED, Slovenia – Bled Castle has been standing watch over Lake Bled and its island church for more than a thousand years.

It does still today, towering over the crystal clear, bright blue waters left behind 1,400 years ago when the Bohinj Glacier receded. And while the history and government of Slovenia have changed through the passage of time, European wars and political conflict, Bled and its pristine lake have remained breathtakingly beautiful.

During the summer months, Lake Bled and the village that surrounds it are popular European tourist destinations. All around the lake, people of all nationalities swim, dive out of trees, fish, run and bike the paved paths. At night, Bled’s shops, hotels and restaurants are filled.

This week the town has swelled to capacity as 1,213 rowers, their coaches, family, friends and supporters from around the world, have descended on the Slovenian village to stage the 2011 World Rowing Championships.

And life is hardly interrupted. Were it not for the rowing shells gliding across the center of the lake through the buoyed 2,000-meter course, the pending regatta might not be noticed by the vacationers who continue to swim while the athletes practice.

But the rowers have noticed Bled.

“Slovenia might be the most picturesque place I have ever rowed,” said Jamie Redman of Spokane, Wash. Redman is rowing in the United States women’s eight in her second world championships, and aiming for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

“What a wonderful way to end a very long, hard, hot summer of training in the States. It’s absolutely beautiful. There are mountains in the background. You’re rowing underneath a castle and you can hear the chapel bell tolling as you row past the island. It’s absolutely thrilling.”

But it’s no vacation. Not for the rowers, their coaches or their federations.

This is a high-stakes year for Olympic class boats. Every country here this week is hoping to place high enough in their respective divisions to earn a spot in London. Miss the chance here, and it means traveling to Europe in May for the second-chance regatta.

No one wants that.

The U.S. has boats competing in all 14 Olympic events including the men’s and women’s single sculls, men’s and women’s double sculls, men’s and women’s quadruple sculls, men’s and women’s lightweight double sculls, men’s and women’s eight, men’s four, men’s and women’s pair and the lightweight men’s four.

So while the water is pretty and filled with happy tourists, come Monday when racing starts, the stakes on top of the water will be very high.

For Redman and her teammates in the eight, extending their string of five consecutive world championships – including gold at the 2008 Olympics – to six, would be huge. But to their coach, Tom Terhaar, consecutive championships are not what’s most important.

His mind is on the Olympics and making the final year of the four-year Olympic cycle as easy as it can be.

“It makes a great headline, but it’s not what’s important,” he said. Terhaar doesn’t even like to think of it as a string of championships.

“Every year is completely different and if I start thinking about it, that means I’m done,” he said. “It isn’t six in a row.

“Worlds are great, but they’re the world championships. The goal is the Olympics. Gold, silver, bronze, whatever – I just want to make sure that (the athletes) have an opportunity to get a medal at the Olympics. That’s the most important thing. Qualify here and get a medal at the Olympics, that’s the best situation.”

For Terhaar and his team of coaches and athletes, getting boats qualified this summer means that they can put their complete focus on the prized Olympic medals.

“It will allow us to clearly focus on the target of the Olympics instead of having a little step before. It just clarifies the goal,” he said. “It’s not, make the national team, then go qualify and then go to the Olympics. It’s making sure that it’s one focus throughout the year.”

Terhaar’s boats have been in Bled since Monday and are coming off of a stellar showing in Lucerne at the final world cup of the European racing season, having won in the eight and taking bronze in the pair.

Head men’s coach Tim McLaren’s squad arrived Wednesday after pre-race camp in Munich, Germany and has seen gains over the year following a disappointing showing at last year’s world championships.

In Lucerne, the men’s four won a bronze medal and the eight finished fourth. But the pressure is on. The double is one of the biggest unknowns as Craftsbury Sculling Center’s Peter and Thomas Graves of Cincinnati, Ohio, defeated the men’s training center entries at senior world trials.

The double combination of Glenn Ochal and Will Miller that won the selection regatta this spring, failed to qualify at two world cup stops this summer. What followed at the USRowing Training Center – Chula Vista after Lucerne was a long and grueling quad selection camp. Ochal and Miller landed in the quad with Warren Anderson and Sam Stitt.

“It’s a qualifying year, so to qualify the boats for the Olympics takes a little bit of pressure off of the Olympic year,” McLaren said. “There are a few goals, but that’s the main one, that’s the overriding one. And the other obvious one is to improve on our results from last year and Lucerne.

“Turning finals performances into medal winning position is a goal,” he said. “Those are the main two things. Improve performance. Qualify boats. You can’t get a clearer signal that things are improving.

“It’s been going fine,” McLaren said. “We had a good camp in Munich. No complaints.”
 
As for the athletes, they understand the situation and are ready.

“It’s been pretty good,” said Steven Coppola, of Buffalo, N.Y., who is rowing in the men’s eight. “We had a good pre-camp, getting everyone healthy and ready to rock.

“We’re chomping at the bit,” he said. “We’re ready to go.”

Redman feels the same way, even if she understands the pressure of an Olympic qualifying year.

“It’s definitely different,” she said. “We are looking forward to the 2012 Olympics. We are looking to qualify the boat. But what we’re really trying to do is take each row a stroke at a time.

“We’re not trying to put extra pressure on ourselves. We’re trying to make our boat as fast as possible on that day. And so it’s been really exciting. Our group has really come together. The group we’re training with is extremely strong. I know when we wind up on race day, we’re going to put in a top, A-class effort,” she said.

“I’m really, really excited to see what happens on Monday when we race our heats."

USRowing is a nonprofit organization recognized by the United States Olympic Committee as the governing body for the sport of rowing in the United States. USRowing’s official suppliers include Boathouse Sports, Vespoli, Win Tech, Filippi, Croker Oars, Rudy Project, Concept2, Nielsen Kellerman, PowerHTV and Ludus Tours. USRowing also receives generous support from the National Rowing Foundation and its corporate sponsors, ANXeBusiness Corp and Voxer. For more information, visit www.usrowing.org. USRowing has joined forces with Team Arnstein to help ensure the U.S. Team's success leading up to the 2012 Olympic Games under a new corporate sponsorship campaign, The Row to London. For more information, please visit www.teamarnstein.com.

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Ed Moran

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