We went out to dominate just like I said we should and we did! China was the main contender as we expected but they were unable to hold us back. We got a seat in the first 10 strokes then China started to move back but we stopped them much better this time 30 seconds into the race and began to march ahead....slowly, but moving. By 500m into the 2000m race we had about 3.5 seats which is more than the 1 seat we had on them in the Heat. We were able to get into a very strong driving rhythm and just keep on dominating them every stroke.
As I looked across to the Aussie's and British I noticed that the Aussie's were not giving us a challenge but about 650m into the race the Brit's tried to out in a push which I know is uncommon for them at this stage of the race. Since I picked up on it quickly I was able to use their tactic against them and it motivated the guys to push them back and get nearly a length on them early in the race.
We kept our high pace going from 500m to 1500m and at that point we had open water to China and the rest of the field wasn't even close. We had to try and keep the open water advantage over China coming home in the final 500m. We lifted the rate (strokes/minute) and charged for the line. China did the same and began to make a step in our direction. 250m to go we stopped them for just enough time that we were able to preserve our open water lead and defeat them by 3.08 seconds.
All that being said, this was a larger margin than we won the World Championships last year so it indicates to us that we are in fact on the right track with our training.....but we still have a lot of work to do as China has made up a lot of ground in the past year. They placed 6th last year and are now the second fastest boat in the world! We will need to keep on top of our training in order to keep them behind us in Beijing.
The only Eight that was not in Lucerne was the USA. They don't usually attend World Cup Regatta's as they like to play their cards close to the vest and us the element of surprise to their favour. That's ok, we've been down this road with them before and know all of their tricks....they beat us in 2004 pulling the same tactic and we won't be letting that happen again!
We are back in Victoria now till July 20 when we leave for Pre-Olympic camp in Gifu, Japan. It is amazing to think that the Olympics are so close now. We aren't quite prepared yet and we plan on putting the next 2 months to good use.
Please take a look at the photos I put on flickr yesterday. Just scroll down this page along the right hand side and click on the flickr link. I have also been keeping the newspaper/online articles up to date so check them out too. I always welcome any comments or questions. If any of your kids are looking for a signed 8x10 of me and the crew, send me you address and I will put it in the mail for you.
briansprice@gmail.com
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