Video of the Week: Men's 2-, Sydney
This week's video comes to us from the Sydney Olympics, and features one of the greatest sprints in Olympic history. The French men's 2-, who cross the 1000 m line in 4th place, take up the rate just before 750 m to go. From then on, it is an all-out, cracking sprint to the finish. They have their moment, and they make their move, much like Tufte in the final of the 1x in 2004 and 2008, or the Searle brothers in 1992 (the last time the 2+ was an Olympic event). It's one of the things that makes racing small boats so exciting—the opportunity to shift speeds so greatly over so few strokes allows well-timed moves to completely change a race. This race also features a great performance in a small boat from a U.S. crew (Ted Murphy and Sebastian Bea)—something that McLaren and the US men's team are striving for in the Games to come in London.
-RR