Ed Coode, the rower who lost out to Tim Foster in the race for the
prized final place in Steve Redgrave’s coxless four boat, was cruelly
denied the salve of a consolatory medal here in bright sunshine at
Penrith Lakes this morning. Coode and his partner in the coxless
pairs, Greg Searle, led their final for three quarters of its 2000
metres length before they were overhauled in the dying instants.
Coode and Searle had always seemed destined to be the support act for
Redgrave, Matthew Pinsent, James Cracknell and Foster, who rowed an
hour later. As they stormed into the lead at the start of their race,
though, it raised hopes that they might be able to claim Britain’s
third gold medal of these Olympic Games before the team’s flagship
boat even took to the water.
Searle has won gold before when he claimed the coxed pairs first prize
with his brother, Jonny, at the Barcelona Games in 1992 and when the
crews went through 500 metres, Coode and Searle were more than a
second ahead of their nearest rivals from Yugoslavia. They held their
lead up to the half way point as the favourites, the Australian pair
of Matthew Long and James Tomkins, silenced the crowd by struggling
to make any impression.
Just before the 1500 metres mark, though, the French boat, crewed by
the world silver medallists, Michel Andrieux and Jean-Christophe
Rolland, made its move. They overhauled Coode and Searle so quickly
that they appeared to be going backwards and their surge was so
powerful that they were never in danger of being caught.
For Searle and Coode, the rest of the race was a desperate struggle to
try to hang on to a medal position as they tired. Cheered on by
sections of the crowd that had draped Union Jacks over the front of
the stands that line this regatta course, they were gradually caught
by the USA and Australia, who were rowing in the lanes either side of
them.
For the last 100 metres, the three boats were neck and neck, each
edging ahead for a split second, then being reined in by the momentum
of the other. The USA, crewed by Ted Murphy and Sebastian Bea, were
the first to catch the British before, right on the line, they were
pipped by the Australians, themselves cast-offs from the more
celebrated Oarsome Foursome boat that later challenged Redgrave,
Pinsent and the rest. They missed out on a bronze medal by one tenth
of a second.
All the crews, including the French, lay exhausted in their boats
after they had crossed the line but Coode must have felt particularly
despairing. Searle at least has his previous gold for consolation but
Coode, one of Britain’s top-rank rowers, has never competed at the
Olympics before and deserved some reward for all the setbacks he has
had to endure.
When Foster eventually ousted him from the coxless four late in the
spring, he said he could take no real pleasure in his achievement
because Coode was such a valued friend. Coode and Foster even roomed
together during their duel for that last place and Coode bore his
removal from a boat which he had helped to win a gold medal in the
1999 World Championships with good grace.
It has been hard for Coode and Searle to maintain their focus and
their motivation as media attention has been lavished on Redgrave’s
attempt to win a fifth gold medal. The four have newspaper columns
and a variety of endorsements. Even though Coode and Searle have
trained with the coxless four at their base in Henley, the Leander
Club, they have had to work in obscurity. A bronze medal was the
least they deserved.
Their failure only hit home when the medal ceremony took place without
them on a pontoon at the edge of the regatta course a few minutes
before Redgrave, Pinsent and the rest were manoeuvred into position
for the start of their race. That there is a fine line between
success and failure, between fame and anonymity, has never been
better illustrated than it was here in the space of 40 minutes on a
lake on the western outskirts of Sydney yesterday.
JOHN GOODBODY
The Times
