Rio de Janeiro - Concentrating on executing each stroke perfectly, South Africa’s rowers have had little time to appreciate the stunning backdrop of the mountains and the Christ the Redeemer statue once they launch their boats on the Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas.
Situated in the heart of Rio, the lagoon provides for one of the most picturesque settings for the Rio Olympics but the waters have also proven to be somewhat temperamental.
South Africa’s rowing squad have been making the 25km commute between the athletes' village at the crack of dawn virtually every day since their arrival here last week, although Monday’s training sessions were cancelled due to strong winds which could become a feature of the course over the next week.
South African national rowing coach Roger Barrow said the team’s reconnaissance mission to Rio last year helped his crews to get used to the conditions.
“Having been here last year for that week has given us a lot of confidence that this is Brazil and not Switzerland, and anything can happen from a condition point of view,” Barrow said after the morning’s session.
“We’ve got over the conditions and we are quite happy with the preparations so far. We are still getting over jet lag and over the next few days we will feel better, up and sparky and ready for racing.
“Each day we are feeling better, and more confidence will come as we go along.”
The surroundings can easily become a distraction, and lull the rowers into a false sense of comfort but Barrow runs a tight ship and the athletes are unlikely to rest on the laurels.
The rowers are yet to start their taper and they will still be in relative hard training up until their first races.
“We are trying to keep that mentality of hard training,” Barrow says. “We are here to do a job, and the guys have been really good in the village, really disciplined in recovery, and chilling out a lot.
“They haven’t really been caught up in the hype and that's a great place to be.”
South Africa have qualified a record five boats - men’s and women’s lightweight doubles sculls, mens’ and women’s pair, and men’s heavyweight four - for the Games.
The crews will be looking to emulate the men’s lightweight coxless fours crew of Matt Brittain, James Thompson, John Smith, and Sizwe Ndlovu, and their gold-medal row from London 2012.
Brittain and Thompson are the only remaining members of the oarsome foursome - and will be aiming for their second Olympic title, this time in the lightweight doubles sculls.
The men’s pair of Lawrence Brittain and Shaun Keeling will kick off the team’s campaign in Saturday’s heats.
“We look at our first boat so the pressure is certainly on them and the rest of the team would look at them to set the tone,” Barrow said.
“They will all know how fast they go relative to the men’s pair because we always compare them to each other.
“So they will have the added pressure but they are feeling confident, I think we will race the Aussies which we are chuffed about because we want a hard race first up.” – The Star