Schinias Side Happenings

Schinias Visitors

Her Royal Highness Princess Anne arrived at Schinias in time to see Great Britain's women's quad finish first in their heat. Princess Anne is an avid Olympic spectator and in her current role as President of the British Olympic Committee, Her Highness will be visiting many sporting attractions.

The Princess is a former Olympian having competed for Great Britain in equestrian at the 1976 Olympics.

Great Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair also made a visit to Schinias spending the morning watching the first day of racing.

Watching the Romanian women's eight race in their heat was Romania's President Mr. Ion Iliescu. The eight was given a heroes welcome when they rowed in to the boat park dock after their race. The crew was met by President Iliescu and his entourage.

Six seat of the eight Elisibeta Lipa was the flag bearer for her country at the Athens opening ceremony. Lipa is racing in her fourth Olympics and aims to add to her three golds and one silver medal.

Ella does her bit for Security

Security became a big issue leading up to the Athens Olympics and at Schinias measures have been taken to reduce any potential risks. Ella the sniffer dog has been doing her bit for security by checking vehicles that come into the regatta venue.

Ella not only sniffs out vehicles but she also puts her nose into boats and boat trailers to check for any unwanted substances. On Saturday her nose took a bit of a beating when she had to sniff inside a post-workout canoeing vehicle.

Boat Adaptations

Top single sculler Marcel Hacker of Germany has arrived at Schinias with two boats; His normal boat and one for "heavy" conditions. The heavy condition boat is designed for rough water and has a bigger bow that sits higher out of the water. It also has Plexiglas, about 10 cm wide, running down the gunnels of the boat to stop waves from coming in.

The angle under the boat's foot stretcher has also been altered to a steeper degree so that any water coming into the cockpit will have an easier time of flowing out.

Germany's top women single sculler Kathrin Rutschow-Stomporowski has also got creative. The bow end of her boat has been enlarged and the top looks like an up-side-down hull of a bow. It is designed to sit high in the water and keep Rutschow-Stomporowski floating in rough water.

The United States men's eight have gone to Canadian boat builder Hudson and made their bow end of the boat higher with a peak to help water run off it. They have also changed to wing riggers that appear to work better in rough conditions.