Lightweight Women's Double Sculls (LW2X)Pre-Race AnalysisPreliminary HeatsWinners in all races to semi-finals. Others to repechage. Heat 1JPN (Lane1), FRA, CHN, GER, KOR, MEX (Lane 6) With only one boat advancing to the semi-finals, this should be a close race between GER and CHN. Ger was 5th at the 1999 Worlds, but has raced better than that in this summer's World Cup competition, placing 1st in Munich ahead of CHN, 2nd in Vienna behind gold medal favorite ROM, and 3rd in Lucerne behind ROM and silver medal favorite USA. CHN was 14th at the 1999 Worlds, but has brought Shaoyan Ou (4th in 1999 Worlds quadruple sculls) into the boat, and also has done well at World Cup this summer. Time comparisons between GER and CHN from World Cup races indicate similar splits and speed over 1500 meters, and they may be dead even with 500 meters to go in this race. At the finish line, GER should win, advancing to the semi-finals. Heat 2NED (Lane 1), CAN, AUS, USA, CUB, BUL (Lane 6) The USA, AUS and NED are the boats to watch in this race. The USA is the returning silver medalist boat from the 1999 Worlds and raced well in World Cup, placing 2nd in Lucerne, only 1.5 seconds behind ROM, whom they led through 1500 meters, only to lose in the last 500. AUS was 3rd at the 1999 Worlds, but has slipped to 4th place twice this summer at the Vienna and Lucerne World Cup races. The USA was 3 seconds ahead of AUS and 6.4 seconds ahead of NED in the Lucerne World Cup final. The USA starts fast with NED, but NED drops off in the second 500 meters, and USA should win wire-to-wire and advance to the semi-finals. Heat 3ARG (Lane 1), POL, ROM, SUI, GRE, HUN (Lane 6) ROM is the favorite to win this race, advance to the semi-finals, and win the gold medal in a wild last 500 meters. ROM is the 1999 World Champion and ROM's 1999 5th place Worlds sculler, Alupei, has been brought into the boat. This combination has won both of its World Cup competitions this summer in Vienna and Lucerne. The SUI boat may stay with slow-starting ROM in the first 1000 meters, but will fade by 1500 and ROM should win going away to advance to the semi-finals. Copyright 2000. Kent Mitchell.
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