THE LESSONS OF 200 YEARS Nuria Dominguez Asensio, 6th Spain Motion: 0-9, 3-9, 4-10 Schubschlag, ferryman’s finish Rumyana Neykova, 3rd Bulgaria Motion: 0-10, 4-10, 0-10 Schubschlag, overpowering legs Ekaterina Karsten, 2nd Belarus Motion: 0-9, 3-10, 0-10 Schubschlag, overpowering legs Katrin Rutschow-Stomporowski, 1st Germany Motion: 0-7, 2-10, 0-10 Schubschlag, overpowering legs Mirka Knapkova, 4th Czech Republic Motion: 0-9, 0-10, 0-10 Schubschlag, smooth, elegant Sonia Waddell, 5th New Zealand Motion: 0-8, 0-8, 5-10 Schubschlag, ineffective last 20% FISA 2004 DVD Lanes 1 through 6, 2004 Olympic Singles Final, Schinias 1 GER 7:18.12, 2 BLR 7:22.04, 3 BUL 7:23.10, 4 CZE 7:25.14, 5 NZL 7:31.66, 6 ESP 7:49.11 Myth # 1: The best rowers don’t use their arms from the entry. Reality: The top four 2004 women’s finishers used their arms from the entry. Myth #2: The best rowers use their legs before their backs. Reality: All six finalists, including the winner, used legs and back concurrently, although four of the six, including the three medalists, used their legs aggressively enough to initially immobilize their backs. remain straight eventually becomes a coach, he/she is probably completely unaware that the original coach might have been a proponent of active arms. In fact, such coaches may be completely unaware that there might be anything but complete unanimity in the rowing community over the proper role of the arms early in the pullthrough. The issue of arm usage elicits particular passion among today’s Modern Orthodox proponents. When it was pointed out to Volker Nolte that 2004 and 2008 Olympic Singles Champion Olaf Tufte used his arms at the entry, his response was, “If Tufte does it, he rows with a little quirk. The vast majority of people have straight arms.” 2419
