Polly Swann’s ambition to conclude her return to rowing with a second successive Olympic medal were knocked on their heels when she and pairs partner Helen Glover squeaked into the semi-finals in Tokyo.
Last summer, the 33-year-old was performing ward rounds in Livingston as a junior doctor following 36 months away from the sport to complete her medical degree. In parallel, Glover was fully retired with her focus on family and her three small children at home.
The extraordinary feat of winning the European title in unison in April spiked expectations but they are tempered now. On a disappointing Saturday morning for the British team, the duo advanced in third place behind their Australian and Russian rivals but with a time of seven minutes and 23.98 seconds that would have flung them into the consolation repechage in any other heat.
"It's always good to win the first round,” acknowledged Swann. “Sometimes that's not how it happens but people still come away as Olympic champions. We have dealt well with how the race went. And we are ready to learn and progress."
If Glover is to capture pairs gold three times in a row, it will require improvements in Tuesday’s semis. “I guess there's definitely value in learning in the early rounds,” she said. “We are open to what is coming next. We know we have done better in training. It would be more frustrating if we had a perfect row and didn't have anything to improve on.”
After sharing flag bearing duties for the UK at Friday’s Opening Ceremony, Moe Sbihi was among a men’s eight whose Olympic title defence must now survive Wednesday’s repechage following third place in their heat. Their female counterparts fared worse still, dead last out of four and adrift by a margin of almost 16 seconds.
Some joy came from the British men’s four who took victory from their heat with some ease in a positive start to their quest for a sixth successive Olympic gold.
But the women’s four, featuring Scottish pair Karen Bennett and Rowan McKellar, toiled to fourth in their opener. The crew must now rebound emphatically in Sunday’s repechage to have a sniff of the final in the event’s return to the Games.
“We’re very disappointed,” said Bennett. “We obviously wanted to come out and make a big impression and go straight into that A final but sometimes that just doesn’t happen. It doesn’t go to plan. Now we know how we don’t want to do it. So we can take that.
“We’ll go back and have a chat. We’ve been through the repechages before. We had to go through the reps in the Europeans. We’ve done it before and we’ll do it again.”
The schedule has already been disrupted by a typhoon that is expected here on Monday. That, on top of Covid, has just added to this unusual mix. “The masks after racing are horrific,” Bennett added. “But that’s what has to be done.”
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