The 2012 RoRys, Part III: The Elite Level


Today marks the final day of the 2012 RoRys, and the time to celebrate the best performances and most outstanding athletes on the international rowing circuit in an Olympic year. It was a fantastic Olympic Rowing Regatta–indeed, given the amount of history that was made and records that were broken, it may have been the best one to date. And so, without further ado, we present to you the 2012 RoRy winners at the elite level:

RoRy for 'Programme' of the Year
Great Britain, Jurgen Grobler, David Tanner
Last year's winners, and deserving winners in 2012, the home team at the London Olympics performed better than any GB Olympic Rowing Team in history, collecting nine medals in total, four of them gold. With the likes of Heather Stanning and Helen Glover in the women's pair, Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins in the double, an excellent lightweight program (indeed, all GB lightweight boats scored silver or better at Eton Dorney), and a heavyweight showdown in the men's four that was one for the ages, GB Rowing certainly earned its place atop the podium for program of the year in London.

RoRy for Efficiency
New Zealand, Dick Tonks 
The Kiwi rowing team absolutely dominated the small boats, winning gold in the men's single, men's double, and men's pair, with bronze in the women's pair and men's lightweight double, a fourth place finish in the women's single, and fifth in the women's double. What does all this mean? Of the 11 crews that New Zealand brought to the Olympic Games, five of them medaled, and two of them set new Olympic best times (one of which was also a world best time).

RoRy for Coach of the Year
Deutscher Ruderverband, Hartmut Buschbacher 
While the focus internationally was on the undefeated German men's eight, the German rowing federation also won the men's quad–this may be the first time that one country has won both of the 'big' boats at a single Olympic Rowing Regatta. Guiding a crew from an undefeated world championship circuit to an Olympic victory is no small feat–not only did the Deutschlandachter accomplish this, they did it in rough conditions, and against what was the tightest field ever in a men's eight final at the Olympic Games, with all six crews separated by just 3.12 seconds as they crossed the line (at the Games in Los Angeles in 1932, a four boat final had a spread of 3.2 seconds on the course in Long Beach). Germany also took silver in the women's quad.

RoRy for Race of the Year
The men's double final at Eton Dorney
There are so many good ones that choosing a single race seems almost impossible, but, in the end, there can be only one. New Zealand's Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan had already set a new Olympic best time earlier in the week, but in the final, they were in sixth place through the 500m mark. However, this seems to where they are most comfortable. By the 1000m mark, the Kiwi duo had moved into fifth, but they were still only in fourth place crossing 1500 meters–surely, they had left it too late. Or not. They unleashed what was the most intense, world-beating sprint in three years of come-from-behind victories at the elite level, and rowed down the Argentines, Slovenians, and Italians en route to gold.

Breakthrough Performance of the Year
The South African Lightweight Men's Four
The final of the lightweight men's four at the Olympics was, as you might imagine, a star-studded event, with the home team looking very strong throughout, and perennial gold medal contender Eskild Ebbesen in the stroke seat of yet another potent Danish combination, not to mention the 2011 world champions from Australia. The RSA crew, however, bided their time, and moved at exactly the right moment, as the Danes began to fade from their early position at the top of the field. Great Britain did all they could to take home the gold for the home crowd, but in the end, it was Lawrence Ndlovu, John Smith, Matthew Brittain, and James Thompson of South Africa who edged into the lead, winning the first-ever gold medal for South African rowing at the Olympic Games.

RoRys for Athletes of the Year
Female Athlete of the Year: Kim Crow, Australia
Kim Crow was, quite possibly, the best athlete on the water at Eton Dorney. Period. She was the only athlete to double up, racing in both the women's single and women's double, having qualified the women's single at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta in Lucerne. And, not only did she take a silver in the women's double, she took home a second medal–this time bronze–in the women's single, finishing ahead of four time Olympic medalist (and double Olympic champion) Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus. A phenomenal performance from a phenomenal athlete.

Male Athlete of the Year: Mahé Drysdale, New Zealand
Yes, we know we're picking two single scullers, but the fact is, when you race to a bronze in Beijing despite illness, and then get hit by a car just weeks before the Olympic final in London, and still win gold this time, well, you deserve it. Drysdale was five times world champion before winning his first Olympic gold, and this year he faced one of his toughest challenges yet, as he was unable to row following the cycling accident (which took place in Munich prior to the World Cup there), and instead trained in other ways to keep fit (indeed, Mahé spends a great deal of time cycling as cross-training for rowing, and was on a training ride when the accident occurred). In the final, however, he left no doubt, leading throughout the final 1500 meters and building his advantage through the line.

Congratulations to all the 2012 RoRy winners on a fantastic year, and we, as fans and supporters of rowing, thank you for all that you do! We're looking forward to seeing much more from all of you in the future!

-RR

Trending posts this month

"I Row Crew" — Rowing in 'The Social Network'

Image
Like many of the rowing faithful, I've been keeping up with the saga penned by Dan Boyne about the filming of the rowing scenes in David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin's The Social Network , and I must say I had high hopes going into the film. The first problem I encountered: the phrase, "I row crew." It was uttered so many times before anyone "rowed crew" on the water that I had trouble buying any of it later. It's understandable that the character of Mark Zuckerberg makes that mistake, since he has no idea about the sport. But when the Winklevoss twins themselves utter the phrase several times, one begins to wonder where Boyne was when these lines were not being chopped or changed. Seriously, who says that? As far as the actual rowing goes, the first scene, which has the twins out training in a pair along with the rest of the Harvard squad, is not all bad — it just ends that way. The line, "Those guys are freakin' fast" is certainly every b
Read more

Will It Make the Boat Go Faster? At Marin Rowing Association, Culture is Key

Image
Hands in after training  My alarm goes off—it’s 4:22am.  It’s been a while since I did this. Immediately, I think back to a college dorm room, rolling out of bed and running down the steps to carpool caravan to Marina Del Rey.  Not this time, though. It’s a Tuesday in late September, and I’m heading across the Golden Gate Bridge to Greenbrae, California, where I’ll meet with the Marin Rowing Men’s Masters squad. Fortunately, it’s an unusually warm morning—and when I roll in, the boathouse is already buzzing with activity.  Launch time: 5:10. Heading out into the Bay before dawn The Marin Rowing Association program has both men’s and women’s masters boats competing to win at every event they attend. In the fall, that can only mean one thing: The Head Of The Charles .  The boat that Coach Rodrigo Rodrigues and I spend most of our time with is the Grand Masters eight—average age 60+. But that’s just one of five crews that launched with us that morning. Everyone’s up before 4:30am. So, wh
Read more

The 30 Best Rowing Coaches of All Time, Part 3: The Top 10

Image
The top 10 best rowing coaches, including guess who (Photo © Iain Weir / Rowing Photography ) It's time for the third and final part of our 3-part series on the best of the best in the rowing coaching ranks. These coaches not only command respect based on performance, but have also shown the ability to adapt to new circumstances, build dynasties, and ultimately help shape the trajectory of rowing as a sport. Honestly, it would be easy to extend this series into 10 more posts... But we wouldn't do that to you. As we've said before, the hope is that the following may serve to educate and spark discussion, as both an appreciation of history and of the coaching craft. Also note: As we stated in Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, there are few women in this list, but that is a reflection of a general underrepresentation of women in the head coaching ranks in our sport—and indeed (as has been well documented ) a growing number of NCAA sports in the United States.
Read more

Video Of The Week: Holland Beker 2013

Image
This week's video comes to us from the Bosbaan, where the 2013 Holland Beker saw truly elite, international competition over the weekend. Perhaps the most outstanding racing came in the women's single, where the A Final closely mirrored a world championship or Olympic final in recent years—the lineup included two-time Olympic champ Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus, Kim Crow of Australia, New Zealand's Emma Twigg , reigning Olympic champion Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic, another two-time Olympic champion (albeit in the women's eight) in Eleanor Logan , and 2012 Olympic bronze medalist (also in the eight) Chantal Achterberg of Holland.  As it turned out, the final was a wire-to-wire victory for Kim Crow, who looks to be on top form and may be the athlete to beat in this event for the foreseeable future, holding off both Karsten and Twigg in the closing stretch, with Knapkova finishing fourth. Elle Logan had another solid race in a great field, finishing just ove
Read more

So, are Naked Rowing Calendars a Thing Now?

Image
Warwick rowers are all in again this year (Photo courtesy of Warwick Boat Club)  The phenomenon started four years ago with the Warwick Rowing men's squad. Then, the following year, the Warwick women's team joined the fray. Now, Newcastle University's men and women are back on the naked calendar train. So, the question is, have rowing and naked calendars become a thing? The above video features the 2014-2015 Warwick women's squad—the third edition of the calendar , and, from the looks of it, the raciest. However, perhaps not so racy as that of the 2014-2015 Warwick men (see below). But raciness aside, all four of these teams have chosen worthy charities and have gone "the full monty" to make sure that those causes have received considerable contributions. The Warwick women contribute to Macmillan Cancer Support —a cause for which Warwick reports it has donated some £5,000. The Warwick men? Sport Allies —a charity that combats homophobia in spor
Read more