London 2012 - Argentine rowers bridge distance for London tilt - Yahoo! Eurosport
Ariel Suarez trains in Buenos Aires and Cristian Rosso 400 kilometres away in Mar del Plata but the Argentine rowers hope hard work and a helping hand from their French rivals will overcome the difficulties of training apart and let them shine at the London Olympics.
The Argentine duo have had to find a way to make their partnership work after teaming up two years ago. The Pan-American double sculls champions hope to do their country proud in London among a group of nations fighting it out behind the medal favourites.
Suarez and Rosso said their cause was helped by a productive training spell with the French team.
"We trained with the French national team and they told us we had a bright future, that the boat looked good but we had to iron out some issue we couldn't see here in Argentina," Suarez told Reuters in an interview.
"We improved a lot in technique, they gave us a lot of confidence. Physically we weren't able to improve much," he said at the national rowing centre in the suburb of Tigre in the delta of the Parana river.
"They showed us how they work ... The change was so big it was like a different sport, another way of rowing," said the 32-year-old, who has been competing since 2000.
After qualifying for the July 27-Aug. 12 London Games at a regatta in Slovenia, the South American pair's goal is to keep getting better, but they are aware that despite their improvements there are teams of a much higher standard.
"We're looking to improve on last year. We want to take that step, reach an 'A' final, that's our goal," Suarez said.
"Our keenness to improve isolates us from thoughts about going to an Olympic Games. That probably takes the pressure off and helps me relax."
The pair debuted together at a World Cup regatta in Switzerland in 2010. That same year they also took part in the world championships in New Zealand, finishing in the top 10 in their category and just outside the final.
Last year, they had an unhappy start with poor results in an old boat with the wrong oars, but there was a radical change at the World Cup in Hamburg where they won a silver medal.
"It was impressive, we didn't expect it," said Suarez.
That success led to two gold medals at the Pan-American Games in Guadalajara in October in the double and quadruple sculls.
"We live in different cities, he in Buenos Aires and I in Mar del Plata (400 km south on the Atlantic coast). We formed a group of four people with an agreed work plan," Rosso told Reuters.
"The coaches look to correct the same things despite the distance so as to work together on technique," the 28-year-old said.
The pair hope this way they will be able to edge closer to the big guns in rowing.
"There are two or three who can win medals, which are out of our reach. Then there are five or six, one or two seconds behind and we're there, from fourth place down," Rosso said.
"New Zealand, Australia, France and Germany are in the first Group. Then in the bunch you have Slovenia, Estonia, Norway, us, Canada, Lithuania. In that peloton of six boats, we want to try to be at the front, to be the first who are below those in the top level."
London: A long walk along the Thames Path - Daily Telegraph
More than 25 years since its completion, the Thames Barrier is still an impressive sight. The metallic, hood-like moveable gates can seem smaller than imagined, but they are no less imposing for it. There is a visitor centre and café on site, which is managed by the Environment Agency.
www.environment-agency.gov.uk ; Entrance to the visitor centre £3.50; child (under 16) £2
Urban decay
The stretch from Woolwich to Tower Bridge is a fascinating, unpopulated part of the walk. Wandering among gas cylinders, and cement works may not be your typical choice of venue for a Sunday stroll, but it offers an intriguing, little appreciated glimpse into the still working industrial heart of the Thames. That said it is very gritty in parts. At some points, low tide exposed entire shopping trolley graveyards in the riverside mud beneath old wooden piers. We lost count once the trolley total reached 50, with the Thames Barrier only a short way behind.
Urban regeneration
In complete contrast, the nearby Greenwich Peninsula Ecology Park completely belied its urban setting. Reeds and waterways have been landscaped into the grounds of an old steelworks, as the Thames Path leads towards the 02 Arena. The result is a wonderful example of regenerated industrial wasteland, where we meandered along the elevated walkway, took refuge in the bird hide, spotting geese with a new brood of goslings, as well as tufted ducks, moorhen, and swifts and swallows darting every which way. A lone pigeon near the exit was one of few reminders of the city surroundings.
020 8293 1904; www.urbanecology.org.uk/gpep.html; Admission free
The Cutty Sark
Not the famous clipper ship recently damaged by fire, but the Cutty Sark Tavern, about 10 minutes’ walk east of tourist-mobbed Greenwich. We were lucky enough to wander through the stained-glass doors, and up a curving wooden staircase to find seats tucked in the first-floor window bay. This commands a sweeping view of the river as it heads north, forming the U-shape of the Isle of Dogs.
Lost in Rotherhithe
Perhaps our concentration lapsed a little after a pint of real ale at the Cutty Sark Tavern but just beyond Greenwich, we failed to find our way back to the river after a detour. Shortly we found ourselves wandering through an estate so bleak it made us wary of pulling out our smartphones for GPS guidance.
The view by Westminster Bridge
“Earth hath not anything to show more fair”, Wordsworth wrote in the poem, ‘Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802’. We found it hard to share the poet’s enthusiasm at the bridge in May 2010. We could not wait to get away from the crowds of the South Bank to the less cluttered stretch towards Lambeth Bridge and beyond.
Beyond Putney Bridge
This was perhaps the most dramatic alteration in riverside mood. Prior to Putney somewhat soulless apartment blocks flank the river, with a recycling centre and a few regenerated areas of the river bank further on. Once you cross Putney High Street, the whole atmosphere changed. There were dog-walkers on the beach; rowing club huts on the road above that read like a roll call to London’s most privileged institutions, and a leafy riverside path that seemed almost rural.
Chiswick Mall
After crossing the river at Hammersmith Bridge for a pub lunch, we bought an ice cream and wandered down one of London’s most elegant streets, with genteel Georgian facades – and price tags that would make a Russian magnate blanche.
High tide near Kew
We had barely noticed the tide creep up as we ate lunch at a riverside pub near Hammersmith – but between Barnes Bridge and Kew water had breached the banks and was trickling across the path. The trickles became puddles, which then became mini pools blocking the way. At one point we were about to turn back until a man in a superman T-shirt holding his child on his shoulders waded through and spurred us to do the same. At other times, however, there was nothing for it but to loop round via the adjacent road.
It was, in fact, an enforced detour that saw our walk draw to a close – this time for works to the embankment near Kew rather than flooding. The path is prone to closures, some of which will probably be omitted in even the most up-to-date guidebook: demolitions near Maze Hill, and developments at Blackfriars Station had enforced route changes previously. But that, we concluded, was simply one of the inevitabilities of walking along London’s dynamic, ever evolving river.
Thames Path basics
This section of the riverside is part of a 180-mile National Trail, from the Woolwich Barrier to the river’s source in the Cotswolds. The signposting is generally excellent – the familiar acorns appeared regularly as they do on National Trails throughout the country. Occasionally we were slightly confused by diversions (see Lost in Rotherhithe, above). For more information on the Thames Path, see the National Trail website.
The most recent guidebook to the Thames Path National Trail Guide was published earlier this year (Aurum Press, £12.99). It is full of useful information, although the route goes from source to the Thames Barrier – and we recommend the other direction, with the city shifting to countryside, for London-based walks.
Where to stay
Suggested places to stay near the river along the route include the Park Plaza and Grange Hotels.
See laterooms.com for deals. The City Inn also has rooms from £59.
London 2012: Chris Adcock & Imogen Bankier set for GB call - BBC News
When Imogen Bankier and Chris Adcock won an unexpected mixed doubles silver medal at the World Championships last August, they had only been playing together for 10 months.
They became the top British pair in the world rankings soon after and have never looked back.
The duo now sit in prime position to reach their first Olympics when the squad is named on Wednesday, at the expense of three-time Olympian Nathan Robertson and his girlfriend and playing partner Jenny Wallwork.
Peter Jeffrey Adcock & Bankier's coach“I'm not like a dictator, we work closely as a three. They will have input, I will have input and then we will agree a plan. We haven't yet come across something where it's failed”
While most elite athletes would argue that luck has nothing to do with their success, in Adcock and Bankier's case, it does.
Adcock originally played alongside his fiancee Gabby White, but it was decided by the Olympic coaches that her style would be better suited to Robert Blair and they would stand more chance of qualifying for the London Olympics.
As it happens, it was the pairing of Adcock and Bankier that proved to be the better combination, defeating reigning Olympic champions and top seeds throughout the last 19 months.
"Chris and Imogen are very confident," British Badminton coach Peter Jeffrey, who has tutored the duo since their inception, told BBC Sport.
"The World Championships result enforced their self-belief and now they know they can achieve big things in badminton. They're learning all the time."
As effortless as it seems now, with the Anglo-Scot pair placed at a career-best 10th in the world rankings, they have had to graft. Only two other pairs in the world's top 10 have played more than Adcock and Bankier's 19 tournaments this season.
"It's never going to be smooth with so many competitions. You can't perform in every one even though you want to," said Jeffrey.
"There's definitely been moments where they've lost matches they thought they should have won.
"At the beginning of the qualification process, in June last year, we went to Singapore and Indonesia and they lost in the first round of both tournaments.
"So it wasn't a great start for them.
"We just needed to work hard on certain areas and improve the consistency."
Keys to success
"Having such a massive milestone like the Olympics on the horizon has really focused us both. It feels like there's a sense of urgency about our development as a pair. Because we're so focused on the Olympics, it feels like we're trying to make every day count. Our styles as badminton players are very compatible. We play quite an attacking style. Chris has some good angles at the back, he's quick and covers the court well. I work hard to try and get the attack for him. We have good on-court chemistry, we have a bit of a laugh and a giggle."
Imogen Bankier
Putting the pair together might have been lucky, but once the partnership flourished and started performing against the world's best, how do you keep that momentum going?
"That's the million dollar question," said Jeffrey. "There's different parts of it - the approach, the mental side, working on technique so it doesn't break down under pressure.
"Chris and Imogen get on very well off court and they did a lot of work with the psychologist on how to get the best out of that on court.
"Chris is a very fast and attacking player, and very powerful in the rear court. Imogen is a full-out front-court player and, as well as finishing off opportunities Chris creates in the rear, she can also gain the attack with her net play."
As important as it is for Adcock and Bankier to gel on court, cohesion between players and coach is just as important, as 2004 Olympic silver medallist Robertson found to his detriment this year.
"I'm not like a dictator, we work closely as a three," said Jeffrey. "They will have input, I will have input and then we will agree a plan. I will lead that plan going forward and then drive them forward in achieving it.
"We would work on something, it improves, and then we re-analyse where we are and then choose another thing to work on. We haven't yet come across something where it's failed."
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