Oarsome future for Chinese crews

Rowers prepare to race during the World Rowing Junior Championships at Shunyi Rowing and Canoeing Park in Beijing last week. The venue is also where the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games rowing competitions will be held. Athletes and officials at the championships, the first trial of 26 Olympic test events taking place this year, were unanimous in their praise for the lake built to the northeast of the Chinese capital. Reuters

The home team bagged an outstanding haul of six golds, a silver and a bronze from 13 events at the site of next year's Olympic competition.

"It's fair to say China's rowing is on the rise," manager of China's junior national team Gao Jingping conceded.

"Germany did dominate last year's championship, but last year, we didn't have enough money to go to Amsterdam."

Forty-five Chinese athletes in total contested 12 disciplines, all but the men's coxed four.

China won the women's double sculls, men's pair, women's pair, women's single sculls, women's four and men's quad sculls.

The host country ended Germany's winning streak of junior worlds by outdoing them in six of Saturday's finals.

Team Germany entered thirteen crews to contest each event, but only succeeded in three.

"I don't know why we couldn't row as fast as before. We don't know what happened today," German rower Alexander Schiller said.

"We are very disappointed."

Chinese gold winner Han Yan, who competed in the women's four, said her crew barely managed to hold off a late challenge from their Euorpean counterparts.

"We tried our best to extend our lead, but they (German rowers) followed closely. They had a very strong finish."

Han and her crewmates finished the race in 6:54.19, almost three seconds ahead of the second-placed Germans, to earn China its first gold of the regatta.

Chinese rowers had already stunned the rowing community at June's Senior Rowing World Cup in Amsterdam, where they equaled the biggest gold medal haul at a World Cup by one nation.

They won another three golds a month later in the same competition in Lucerne, Switzerland.

"Funding has grown dramatically for this sport and this is the main reason for the improvement of rowing in China," Gao told journalists at a press conference after the championships last Saturday.

Rowing is a big part of China's Beijing Olympics strategy, according to Gao.

"Through the performance of our junior team, we hope to boost the confidence of the senior team next August," he said.

Boss of international rowing Matt Smith is among those who are gobsmacked by China's recent form.

"The world of rowing has been surprised by the excellent improvement of the China Team," he said, citing vast improvements in both the techniques and fitness of rowers.

"In the senior world championships two weeks from now in Munich, we will see whether there has been a great leap forward for China. But so far, I think it is."

And China's rise has only made the sport stronger globally.

"It's a current good for the International Federation of Rowing Associations (IFRA)," Events Commission Chairman Mike Tanner said. "So let results prove themselves."

(China Daily 08/14/2007 page22)