Canoeing: Paddlers not worried by Athens wind

By DANIEL GILHOOLY

New Zealand's canoeists want the Schinias regatta course to hit them with its best shot.

Team coach and canoeing legend Ian Ferguson was bemused to hear that yesterday's third day of rowing was cancelled because of predicted heavy winds.

Criticised as a poor choice for years, Schinias is turning into one of the most discussed venues in Games history because of its exposure to the elements.

New Zealand rowing officials held their tongue for more than a week, but hit out yesterday at the wisdom of holding an Olympic regatta at the site of a former airport.

They fear further delays will force the Games organising committee to resort to contingency plans - either turning races into time trials or halving them from 2000m to 1000m, or both.

The rowing regatta cannot be extended because canoeing begins there on Monday.

Ferguson was not as alarmed about the strong winds that have descended on Athens in the last two days, joking that his sport was more "hard-arsed" than rowing.

His two medal-prospect paddlers, Ben Fouhy and Steven Ferguson, have trained in the gusty conditions.

"You don't want to suddenly turn up on race day and find that it is choppy and you're not ready for it," Ferguson said.

"With chop, different places feel different. We want to get used to that so it will be a chance for us to test ourselves in those conditions."

Apart from a regatta in Poznan, Poland, Steven Ferguson and Fouhy had trained and raced on flat water throughout their European build-up.

The controversial rowing contingency plans do not apply in canoeing, which did not surprise Ian Ferguson.

"We tend to handle it a little better than they do," he said.

"I've never been to a regatta where it's been cancelled for wind. I wish they would cancel it sometimes because it becomes unfair and you lose out."

Also, floating weeds causing angst among the rowers should not trouble Fouhy and Ferguson because their races are over 1000m. Most of the weeds are at the start of the 2000m rowing course.

New Zealand rowing manager James Sheehan was frustrated by the lack of compulsion from officials to clear weeds.

Getting a handful of men with pitchforks to work around the water's edge was a token gesture at best, he said.

Two rowing sessions are scheduled for today. Single sculler Sonia Waddell and pair Nicky Coles and Juliette Haigh are the only New Zealanders involved, having had their repechages put on hold for 24 hours.

"We're keeping them simmering," Sheehan said, hoping the women rowers would not be adversely affected by having to race their semifinals the following day if they qualify.

The greater concern was that the time trial or 1000m races could become a reality if strong winds persisted.

- NZPA