A National Security Force boat patrols the choppy waters of the rowing venue in Lagoa after competitions were cancelled for the day due to high winds and rough waters at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on August 7, 2016.David Goldman/The Associated Press
Rowers know they're often at the whim of the weather gods. But with the Christ the Redeemer statue looking down over Rio de Janeiro's rowing venue at the Olympics, Peter Cookson, Canada's high-performance director, thought they might get some extra help this week.
Not exactly.
For the second day in a row, high winds played havoc with the early rounds of the rowing, postponing all of the men's and women's heats and repechages Sunday. On the opening day of the Games, a stubborn crosswind made it difficult for the rowers who managed to get their heats done before racing was halted. On the second day, it was a headwind that made things unworkable, forcing the schedule to be cleared entirely.
"You cannot row in these conditions. And they made the right decision to postpone the racing for the day," Cookson said. "The forecast is not great unfortunately for the entire week … and we will deal with it as it comes forward to us."
The wind blew down banners erected in the water near the finish line, capsized one boat, and knocked over dividers at waters edge. It was strong enough to cause whitecaps in the inland lagoon where the competition is held.
The weather has created a stressful situation for the athletes, raising uncomfortable comparisons to the London Olympics in 2012, where choppy waters forced the course to be altered. However, no events were shelved there.
"This is very unusual, but as an outdoor sport, like I say, we're at the mercy of the weather," Cookson said. Canada and other nations argued that races Saturday should have also been postponed, given that it was affecting the performance of some of the best rowers, but were overruled.
"The International Federation's position is that the athletes were safe, that it was fair. But that's different than being rowable," Cookson said. "I'm much a purist, and I believe that rowing should be done in the conditions that it's meant for, which is basically flat water, or flat as the water can be. I thought yesterday when you saw it … the athletes were really struggling."
Even without wind, the lagoon creates some challenging waves for rowers, since it is lined in parts by a cement wall that causes waves to reverberate back into the middle, which collide with other waves heading toward shore. The wind that has kicked up in recent days has amplified the problem.
However, the wind is out of character for the venue, where past test events have been held with no issues.
Cookson said one or two days of delays isn't catastrophic for the schedule, though it could mean the rowers race fewer times to get into the finals – and therefore have fewer chances at making it. But if the problems persist throughout the week and other days needed to be postponed, it could spell bigger problems for the event, which is bound to a tightly controlled morning television schedule.
"If we get to Thursday of this week and still haven't had a chance to race, then you might find me saying something different," Cookson said. "But right now, it's the same for every single athlete, the same for every single country in our sport. So I think that we're all dealing with it very calmly. But as the week goes on you might hear something different."
Grant Robertson