Report from Rio

Concept2 has staff on the ground at the Rio Olympic Regatta, which starts on Saturday!

Our staff is on site for any competitor’s needs, whether it is a last-minute tune up on their equipment or for unexpected problems, like oar damage from a collision.

Bob Beeman, oar technician, has reported back that the water quality at the rowing venue looks greatly improved from his last visit in 2015 for the Junior World Regatta. For the Olympics, “there is no trash, the water is clear, and you can see minnows and small fish swimming all around the water’s edge. Seeing small fish like that is a good sign of clean water,” Bob reports. Compared to last year, he says the regatta venue smells cleaner and looks ready for racing. The media reports that there are still water concerns, but many of these reports seem to be from the windsurfing and sailing venues, which are a different location.

Rowing made its Olympic debut at the 1900 Paris Games. Women’s rowing was first included in 1976 at the Montreal Olympics. We’re excited to celebrate 40 years of women’s Olympic rowing in the same year as Concept2’s 40th anniversary!

Concept2 is expecting lots of great racing this year in every boat class. If we had to pick a few crews to watch for, we’d offer:

• Great Britain, Men’s Four, defending the team’s four-time winning streak at the Olympics.
• Great Britain, Women’s Pair, Helen Glover and Heather Stanning, have remained unbeaten since London 2012 and their gold was also the first Olympic gold in women's rowing for Great Britain.
• The “Kiwi Pair” (New Zealand), Eric Murray and Hamish Bond, undefeated since 2009 in World Cup and Olympic races.
• US, Women’s Single Sculls, Genevra (Gevvie) Stone, aiming for a medal in a hotly contested race. Stone finished seventh at the London Olympics.
• US, Women’s Eight, unbeaten in every major race since 2006!
• Belarus, Women’s Single Sculls, Ekaterina Karsten, now age 44, who won gold in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics.
• Norway, Men’s Double Sculls, including Olaf Tufte, competing in his sixth Olympic Games. Tufte has two gold medals in the Men’s Single Sculls from the 2004 and 2008 Games.
• India, Men’s Single Sculls, Dattu Bhokanal , who brings a great story to his Olympic journey.

Bob let us know that there will be over 300 volunteers at the Olympic Regatta in addition to the umpires, assistants and boat drivers. In total, there will be 550 athletes participating from over 70 countries.

Rowing and Olympic fans are clearing their DVRs to ensure they can catch all the races. NBC coverage in the US begins on August 6! For details, see NBC’s Full Schedule. USA Network will also carry rowing events.

Our primary source for Olympic rowing coverage can be found at row2k.com.

Tune in, log in, and cheer!