Rowing: Waddells stay focused

By PETER JESSUP

Married life is treating Olympic rowers Rob and Sonia Waddell pretty well.

They are smiling, fit and happy with where they are at in their training and preparation for the races up the Penrith course that start on Sunday. There is no sign from Rob of the pressure of being the best bet New Zealand has for gold.

There is little time in the year-old marriage at the moment for anything other than rowing, the couple said after training for three hours at Penrith yesterday.

But when it is all over there will be time for everything but rowing. Win or lose, they are going to have "a really, really good time," Sonia said - "no rowing at all."

Right now the focus is on their job, one that has had them up before dawn and finishing the equivalent of a day's work while the rest of us are still in bed.

They have been in Queensland, rowing the Gold Coast canals and the nearby Hinze Dam and moving to the Wyvenhoe course in the past few days to check that their times were right on a buoyed course. They were.

"We're feeling good," Rob said. "The idea of going to Brisbane was to stay relaxed and it's worked. We did some sightseeing but really we've been committed to rowing and there hasn't been time for much else."

They have spent hours on the mechanics of their single sculls, fine tuning, and resting ahead of the big effort. "We're not worrying about anything."

Sonia said she felt lucky the pair were into the same thing and were able to spend so much time together. No, they do not get bored with the endless slog up the 2000m, or with each other.

The whole rowing team are about to move from the village to a home near the course, eliminating four hours' travelling a day. They have a housekeeper and cook to look after them.

Sonia will row ahead of her husband in heats on Sunday, semis on Thursday and the finals on Saturday.

Ranked fourth in the world after finishing in that position in the last race of the World Cup at Lucerne, Switzerland, and an earlier third in Austria, the 27-year-old faces stiff competition from the East European rowers, particularly Katarina Karsten of Belarus and Irina Fedatova of Russia, and German Katrin Rutschow-Stomporowski.

Rob, 25, a two-time indoor and outdoor world champion, will be on the nearby warmup course when her races start.

After her heat has gone about 500m he will not be able to see or hear what is happening, bar snatches of commentary carried down the course by wind.

His main opponent will be Swiss Xeno Mueller, the only man to have beaten him in two years.

The wind was an issue at the course again yesterday, with loudspeaker announcements telling teams to tie down their craft because of strong gusts.

Rob said he liked the course and was not thinking about what the wind might do to racing.

He suggested the worst-case scenario would have the heats run at 30s intervals so there was no disadvantage caused by crosswinds.

"I think it will either be okay or it'll be a washout," he said after his last runs were interrupted by whitecaps.

"I couldn't believe the wind out there. I did some runs, had a rest, went back for some more and it was like the wind had been turned on."

It forced the Kiwi coxless four team on to the nearby Nepean River, its 12km of gorges and high banks offering shelter and scenery to keep the team's minds fresh.

On return they were tickled to be approached by some picnicking Australian kids whose grandmother took a photo of them lifted in team arms.

Three-year-old Max Bedford collected autographs and he and his older brother wished them luck. They said they wanted Australia to win but it would be okay if NZ beat them, but no one else.

On the non-sporting front, the closing ceremony will feature a range of Australian rock bands and the organisers want it to go off like a 21st.

"Wouldn't it be great if we could make it look like an Aussie backyard," said artistic director Darren Yap. Which prompted local radio station JJJ to ask listeners what they would expect at an Aussie backyard party.

Answers included the men and women segregated, lots of beer, burned sausages, kids swinging on a clothesline, redback spiders, Holden parts, the obligatory drunk and obnoxious relative, and inflatable yobos that burp and break wind when you pull their finger.

From today, special traffic restrictions come into force, closing many roads around venues. Residents have been told to move their vehicles outside the area because cars on the street will be treated as bomb risks. Construction comes to a halt across the city because heavy trucks are not allowed in the city.

Out-of-town bus drivers recruited to work during the Games say they are being poorly housed and trained, overworked and underfed despite promises of good money and conditions. Officials are facing a revolt by hundreds of drivers who have complained of poor sleeping arrangements and working conditions.

The drivers say they are being forced to sleep up to eight per room in dormitories, and they cannot sleep because of colleagues returning from late shifts.

A meeting between the Transport Workers Union and Games organisers heard that drivers are working 12-hour non-stop shifts. Drivers are also angry at the size of meals.

Security is tightening around venues with police coming in from all over Australia.

The only thing they have loosened up on is cannabis, the New South Wales Government introducing late legislation to reduce possession of 14g or less to traffic-ticket level.

Meanwhile, the fiancaacée of the Nigerian athlete killed when hit by a car on Thursday has arrived in Sydney but is undecided whether she will compete. Glory Alozie is a medal chance in the women's 100m hurdles but the team have said no pressure will be put on her. She is in the athletes' village. "Everybody in the team loves her. In Africa, grief is shared," said team spokesman Nkem Ofu.

The body of husband Hyginus Anayo will go home with her.

Security guards have been warned to watch for sport's greatest interloper, Peter Hore, Ananda Marga sect member and disrupter of the Melbourne Cup, Australian Open, World Cup soccer games and other events.

The 40-year-old disguise artist was last positively identified at Uluru when the Olympic torch relay landed in the country.