Tomkins, Ginn Ease Into Semi-finals

The Sunday Age

Sunday August 15, 2004

Alex Brown Athens

Seeking his third Olympic rowing gold medal, Oarsome Foursome veteran James Tomkins, alongside men's pair crewmate Drew Ginn, had little trouble winning his heat yesterday, eclipsing the second-placed crew from Serbia and Montenegro by 3.08 seconds to advance directly to the semi-finals.

Tomkins and Ginn cruised to the second-fastest time of all men's pairs entrants, building confidence while dispelling any fears concerning their unorthodox preparation.

Although most of the Australian rowing squad raced in Europe ahead of the Games, the men's pairs and eights opted to remain in Melbourne and Sydney respectively.

Short of international race practice, although not in hours trained, Tomkins and Ginn sent a warning to the rest of the competition, pulling clear of Nikola Stojic and Mladen Stegic at the 500-metre, 1000-metre and 1500-metre marks before easing to a comfortable victory over the final half-kilometre.

For Ginn, in particular, the result proved pleasing. Having missed the 2000 Olympics - a prolapsed disc ended his campaign barely a month from the start of competition - Ginn had a gruelling few years of treatment, before resuming his combination with Tomkins to win last year's world championships.

Australian men's single sculler Craig Jones was second in his heat and was relegated to the repechage.

Strong winds seem certain to disrupt the regatta tomorrow.

FISA executive director Matt Smith said forecasts for strong winds and storms had prompted organisers to compress today's schedule and consider abandoning racing tomorrow. If that eventuated, organisers would try to race all repechages on Tuesday.

Crews have prepared for such conditions, installing water pumps and perspex wave-breaking devices specifically for the Schinias course.

© 2004 The Sunday Age

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