03/08/2012
Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan; the sun visor and the five o'clock shadow. Along with the new gold medallions these two represent the latest in Kiwi rowing fashion chic, stealing the limelight before their teammates in the men's pair and men's single sculls take to the Olympic course tonight.
Two of the New Zealand's most modest athletes have been appropriate recipients of the country's first gold medal at the London Games. Theirs is the seventh chapter in New Zealand rowing gold medals but the first in men's double sculls. Together three years, they have never been off the top of the dais at season's end. They are the latest Olympic champion products from a rowing programme the world envies.
What a treat it was to watch high performance sport executed so precisely on Dorney Lake. A crew prepared to race from sixth at the 500m mark, fifth at the 1000m and fourth at the 1500m to win the ultimate prize in oarsmanship. Thousands of kilometres eked out on Lake Karapiro were transformed into two round discs.
The scene oozed serenity as they crossed the line. An easy release of the oars followed by a gentle raising of the arms.There was a shaking of hands and Sullivan's slump into Cohen's lap. Then Sullivan decided to stand up in the boat's narrow shell. The man has balance to match his rhythm.
The tight finish was not a new scenario. The duo do Sir Alex Ferguson's "squeaky bum time" well. At last year's world championships in Slovenia they beat Germany by 0.06s in a photo finish, the first time they'd struck the lead in the race. The Olympic win was a doddle by comparison.
At the time Cohen said: "The benefit of such close races is that it instils the belief you can win from anywhere." Last night that again proved true as they put complete faith in their race plan.
"Coming from behind makes us fight hard," Cohen said. "We've never had the privilege of getting out in front because we're one of the smaller crews. But we had a toughness and belief in each other that we would never give up. I almost enjoyed those last three to four strokes."
"I didn't really know what was happening," said Sullivan. "Nathan told me to be calm. We knew the others would have to pay for it somewhere. Nathan said 'yip, go' at 500m out. We went for it."
It's the second Olympic medal for coach Calvin Ferguson after he mentored Mahe Drysdale to bronze in Beijing.
"I knew if they were within striking distance, no more than two lengths behind throughout and were strong between the 300-800m marks, we'd be right.
"They couldn't hear me but I had my hands in the air yelling and screaming. I was an idiot, but I was having a great time."
The men's double also paid tribute to Rob Waddell whose Olympic victory in Sydney inspired them to row. Cohen sculled to fourth with Waddell at the Beijing Games.
"At the time I was 14-years-old," Cohen (26) said. "I'm a massive sports follower so to see him make that move with 500m to go in Sydney... I just thought that was the coolest thing.
"It's surreal to think 12 years later the same thing's happened. We probably didn't do it in quite the same style but we got there and that's all that matters."
Yet the win so nearly didn't happen. On arrival in Lucerne for the first World Cup they finished last in the B final. Trouble ensued. Cohen and Sullivan, two normally measured, loyal individuals, began to question themselves and each other as to how one of Rowing New Zealand's most promising campaigns could lose its aura in the off-season. The defending world champions' collapse in form was solved two days before the Munich World Cup.
They inadvertently examined the right oar blades and realised they'd got warped at the bottom in transit, something initially not obvious to the human eye. It affected the catch in the rowing stroke and the subsequent passage of the boat through the water. They adjusted the blades and took silver medals behind Norway. Normal propulsion resumed and did not cease until the job was done.
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