Olympic Rowing Regatta: Media Highlights on 6 August

While the Guardian focused on the Serbian men's coxless pair boat flipping in the unstable wind conditions, the CNN re-aired an older report featuring the Angolan lightweight men's double scull that had secured the African nation the first Olympic rowing appearance ever.

The Late Serbian Rower Had a Negative Doping Test Few Days Before Death

The nightmare is here: used to hearing news of sudden death cases among young athletes in other sports, no rowing friend anywhere in the world can ignore the death of Serbia’s 24-year-old elite rower Nemanja Nešić (Немања Нешић). He has passed away during a morning training session on the Danube river in his hometown, Smederevo (Смедерево).

YouTube screen grab from a local television report on the funeral of Nemanja Nešić on 8 June 2012.

Nemanja Nešić rowed on Wednesday, 6 June in a lightweight double scull with partner Miloš Stanojević (Милош Станојевић), accompanied in a motorboat by coach Dejan Guslov (Дејан Гуслов). The Secretary-General of the Serbian Rowing Federation, Nebojša Jevremović (Небојша Јевремовић) described the tragedy as follows: “Nemanja got sick during the training. The fellow-rower from the boat hurried to help him and so did the coach. (…) They immediately took him off the boat and went to the shore where an ambulance was waiting. But, unfortunately, he had already been dead.” The ambulance team tried to resuscitate Nešić but in vain, Serbia’s rowing head told the media on 6 June.

Speaking about the regular medical testing, Jevremović said: “Nothing showed that a tragedy might happen. Nemanja had been a member of the national team for eight years, and, just as other team members, he would undergo a medical check twice a year. Last time he went for the check five months ago and the results simply did not indicate any problem.”

The chairman of the Serbian Olympic Committee, Vlade Divac (Владе Дивац) told the Serbian media on 7 June that Nešić was even scheduled for a regular medical check on that date, one day before which he had passed away. In Divac’s words, “Nemanja Nešić passed the last medical check in November and also in the meantime underwent common medical testing for athletes. Today, on Thursday, he was about to go for another check.”

An online version of Serbia’s Sportski Žurnal (Спортски Журнал) newspaper wrote on 7 June that international anti-doping commissioners visited Nešić in Smederevo some ten days before his sudden death and the doping test was negative.

The Inseparable Duo: Knapkova and Her Coach Run for World Rowing Awards

Czech sculler Mirka Knapková has been shortlisted for this year's World Rowing Awards along with her coach, former lightweight sculler Tomáš Kacovský. They have been nominated in their categories of women's crews and coaches, respectively. The winners are due to be known on 11 November, the International Rowing Federation (FISA) has announced on its website.

As the Idnes.cz news website (affiliated with a broad circulation newspaper, Mladá fronta Dnes) wrote on 2 October, Knapková and Kacovský have been training together for eleven years. Within that period, they were also life partners for six years. That part of relationship broke up but their sport cooperation continues. “That was very demanding. At that moment, you must get clear what you want. It would have been easier to split up, say 'good-bye', and find another coach. But what was connecting us was that both of us wanted to achieve something in the sport. I believed that he as a coach is one of the best,” said Knapková to Idnes.cz.

Veslař doufá v olympijskou podporu v soutěži portálu Idnes.cz

ENGLISH TITLE: Czech Rower Hopes in Olympic Support in a Web News Portal Contest

V neděli 30. října skončí internetové hlasování v soutěži Tvůj příběh. Zpravodajský portál Idnes.cz (propojený s deníkem Mladá fronta Dnes) v této „první zpravodajské reality show“ nabízí prémii 100 tisíc korun mladým lidem ve věku 18-24 let, kteří do svých 25. narozenin dokážou splnit vlastní ambiciózní cíl, ať už v oblasti pomoci druhým, zdraví, kultury, podnikání či sportu.

Mezi stovkou semifinalistů, které ze zaslaných nápadů vybrala porota, se ocitl i otrokovický veslař Adam Atarsia, jehož předsevzetím je kvalifikovat se na olympiádu 2016 v Rio de Janeiru.

(AKTUALIZACE: Nápad Adama Atarsii nakonec získal 298 hlasů a postup mezi 50 finalistů mu těsně unikl. Projekt, který se umístil na 50. místě a jako poslední tak postoupil, nasbíral 301 hlasů.)

Výřez ze soutěžní prezentace skifaře Adama Atarsii. Zdroj: Idnes.cz.

Hlasování veřejnosti rozhodne o tom, kterých 50 projektů ze semifinálových 100 postoupí do finále. Hlasovat lze přes Facebook nebo registraci na internetových stránkách Idnes.cz. Každý z 50 finalistů pak získá odměnu 100 tisíc korun, jakmile dosáhne vytčeného cíle. Tím by v Atarsiově případě byl úspěch na seniorském mistrovství světa v roce 2015 (v jihofrancouzském Aiguebelette), případně v dodatečné olmypijské kvalifikaci 2016 (obvykle se odehrává ve švýcarském Lucernu). Z jeho přihlášky do soutěže Idnes.cz vyplývá, že chce uspět společně se svým bratrem Jakubem Atarsiou, zřejmě na dvojskifu lehkých vah.

Dějiště olympijských soutěží ve veslování 2016 – jezero Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas v pohledu od sochy Krista Vykupitele. Zdroj: Chensiyuan, Wikipedia.

Mirka Knapková má šanci na titul nejlepší veslařky roku

ENGLISH TITLE: Mirka Knapková Has a Chance for the Year’s Best Woman Rower Title

Česká mistryně světa na skifu Mirka Knapková je nominována na Cenu světového veslování (World Rowing Awards), kterou každoročně uděluje Mezinárodní veslařská federace (FISA). Veřejnost může na internetových stránkách FISA až do této neděle 2. října vybírat mezi letošními mistry světa v kategoriích mužů, žen a handicapovaných. Zároveň je umožněno alternativně navrhnout jinou posádku, která letos na světovém šampionátu nevyhrála. Dalšími kategoriemi, kde už je nominace zcela otevřená a závisí čistě na návrzích z řad hlasujících, jsou nejlepší trenér a osobnost s největšími zásluhami o veslování.

Jak uvádějí stránky FISA, konečné vítěze nakonec z předložených nominací vybere její Výkonný výbor 14. října.

Czechs, Poles Head for Karapiro

The teams of the Czech Republic and Poland set for Karapiro, New Zealand, the scene of this year's World Rowing Championships. Four Czech and three Polish boats are going to fight for medals.

Czech rowing will be represented in men's and women's categories by singles and doubles. The Poles are sending women's doubles (standard and lightweight) and men's eight. The nominations have been announced on the websites of the national rowing bodies of both countries.

The Polish team left Warsaw on 14 October as confirmed on the personal website of Magdalena Kemnitz who rows in the bow seat of lightweight women's double.

According to the Czech Rowing Association website, the Czech rowers will fly from Prague on 16 October evening. They will join their team fellow Mirka Knapková, the women's single sculler who has already been in New Zealand since late September. Knapková was the first athlete to arrive at the World Championships venue, the websites of the FISA and the Czech Rowing Association have reported.