When I was a kid, I don’t recall exactly how old I was, I had a flat-bottom boat that my dad used to let me take out on the lake near our house. It wasn’t until I was at least 14 that I was allowed to use a motor, so I rowed everywhere to go fishing, which I did quite often in the summer time. I would row all over that lake, which had to be a well over 2 miles long. I would row and row hard. Unfortunately I didn’t have good posture, so it probably didn’t benefit my …read more

If the Swiss have their way, countries would be limited to entering just 10 of 14 Olympic rowing classes. The proposal, which will be voted on by the 126-member FISA (the sports’ world governing body), is designed to give smaller nations an opportunity to qualify for the final heats.
Many oppose the measure, including John Coates, a member of the FISA Council as well and the International Olympic Committee. He told the Associated Press last week that in his view, the proposal would do limit to help international rowing.
Only one country–Australia–competed in all 14 rowing categories in Beijing last August. Germany …read more

Image details: USOC Media Summit served by picapp.com
US Rowing announced its Olympic team on Friday and will send 13 crews to Beijing. Among the 45 athletes are ten returning Olympic contenders. Two, Paul Teti and Bryan Volpenhein (picture above), will be competing in their third Olympic Games.
The team was determined in part through a selection camp and in part by trials held June 9-13.

It’s not a common practice here in Light the Torch but I thought I’d share some of the things — from rowing to sailing, triathlon to skiing —that’s online right now.
A SINGLE-MINDED PURSUIT OF GLORY
Irish Rowing team to compete in opening World Cup regatta
ISAF World Sailing Rankings
FIS releases 2007-08 sport calendars
Triathlete Robertson to return in Madrid
It’s all about the athletes and the sports in World Cups, World Championships and, of course, the Olympic Games.

GRAINGER TARGETS OLYMPIC GOLD
Katherine Grainger has vowed to use this week’s World Championships as the perfect springboard for Olympic success in 2008.
No British woman rower has even won an Olympic gold but Grainger is favourite to finally break that duck in Beijing.
Read Full Article
Reading the headline, the first person that came to mind was the character in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books, Hermione Granger. Hahaha. Silly me. Of course, it’s referring to a different person — Katherine Grainger. Hermione’s pure fiction. Heh.
Well, according to the article, Grainger has been an important part of the British rowing team. Great Britain …read more

Sally Robbins is an Australian Rower. She was a member of Australia’s Women’s Eight Rowing crew during the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics. Sadly, she’s more famous for being “lay down Sally” rather than being an Athens Olympian.
The team was in medal contention when Robbins apparently stopped rowing and laid down on her team mate’s lap due to exhaustion. Australia finished last. What was the deal if there was a valid reason for her to stop rowing? Well, a lot of people saw it as a sign of her quitting. Australian media feasted on it. They’ve headlined the incident with “Just …read more

In the upcoming Summer Olympics, we can expect the following disciplines:

Aquatics
Archery
Athletics
Badminton
Baseball
Basketball
Boxing
Canoe / kayak
Cycling
Equestrian
Fencing
Football
Gymnastics
Handball
Hockey
Judo
Modern Pentathlon
Rowing
Sailing
Shooting
Softball
Table Tennis
Taekwondo
Tennis
Triathlon
Volleyball
Weightlifting
Wrestling