Chow not thinking of a medal yet

Chow, who is the first rower to represent Trinidad and Tobago at the Olympics, qualified for the quarter-finals after finishing second in repechage one. Chow, needing a top two finish to advance, ended the 2000-metre race in second place in eight minutes 04.91 seconds (8:04.91). Winning repechage one was Amina Rouba of Algeria in 8:04.21. Chow will line up in lane six in the second quarter-final today from 8.20 am TT time.

In an interview with Newsday following the race, Chow acknowledged making it to the quarter-finals would not have been easy but said it was always possible.

Chow said, “It’s amazing. I have not been preparing that long so just to make the Olympics was pretty cool. I sat down and looked at the competition and I felt making the quarter-finals will be really difficult but doable. For heats it was a disappointing performance because of the wind, it was really rough conditions so I felt I was not able to perform at my level.” On Saturday, Chow finished fifth in heat six, which meant she needed to compete in the repechage for a chance to advance to the quarterfinals.

Chow said she does not have any expectations going forward.

“No I am not thinking of a medal.

For me making the quarter-finals was a tough goal. I am going to do my best, at this point I have no expectations because the women I will be competing against are superstars.” The conditions were rough in the heats but the calmer conditions in the repechage helped Chow perform at a higher level.

“The conditions were a lot better (in the repechage). Today (yesterday) the first 1000m was pretty calm and the second 1000m got a little bit rough. It gets rough there (second 1000m) everyday because the crosswinds blow in. That makes it hard because that is where you want to pick up speed but it is more technically challenging.” Chow said she got a strong start in the race but tried to be conservative in the second half of the race to avoid technical problems and maintain a top two finish.

The biopharmaceutical scientist, who suffered leg cramps during the heats, said she would be ready for today’s quarter-finals.

“It’s basically just to massage and ice down. I am just hoping to relax everything.” On the possibility of having a TT rowing team at the Olympics in the future, Chow said, “That will be amazing if TT was able to get a local rowing team, that would be pretty awesome.” Yesterday, national sailor Andrew Lewis began competing in the men’s laser category. In race one Lewis finished 42nd among the 46 participants, before improving in race two to finish 34th.

Lewis will compete in eight more races between today and Saturday with the top sailors advancing to the medal round on Monday.

Lewis is now 40th overall.

Today, swimmer Dylan Carter will make his debut for TT at the Olympics when he competes in the men’s 100m freestyle from 12.11 pm. Carter will line up in lane two of heat four.