Connecticut's Michelle Guerette Energized by Rowing Competition

Michelle Guerette

Harvard graduate Michelle Guerette from Connecticut, a BW top Olympic physique winner, finished second in her qualifying heat.

August 9, 2008

By Seth Livingstone, USA TODAY

BEIJING — In her younger days, Michelle Guerette got her energy from eating Pop Tarts. Now, the two-time Olympian from Bristol, Conn., is feeding off the competition of the Beijing Olympics to fuel her medal hopes.

RESULTS: View full list of qualifying times

"It just felt good to do some work today," said Guerette, 27, who finished second Saturday in her qualifying heat to two-time Olympic and reigning world champion Ekatarina Karsten of Belarus in women's single sculls. "We've been resting so long, to go full blast and sustain it for a bit felt a little new."

Guerette and her U.S. Rowing teammates arrived in Beijing on July 27 and have spent much of their time getting acclimated to the intense heat, humidity and smog. She visited the Great Wall, but took the gondola to the top, forsaking the steep climb. One of her hobbies is running through the cities she visits, but in Beijing that will have to wait until after the rowing competition.

Pop Tarts became Guerette's lucky food before races and ergometer tests early in her college days at Harvard.

"In college the crew team had ergonomics tests really early in the morning before the dining halls opened," she recalled. "So, the only thing to do, if you hadn't planned the night before, was to go down to the vending machines and buy a Pop Tart. I'd usually get the sugar-cinnamon."

Although she confesses to visiting the Wu Mart in Beijing, Guerette is trying to eat better these days. She needs every edge to compete with the likes of Karsten, who drew away by nine seconds on the 2,000-meter course at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park.

Guerette, a bronze medalist at the 2007 World Championships, said that racing an Olympic champion in her first heat gave her not only an idea of where she stands against the competition but a better handle on the speed of the man-made course.

But a qualifying heat, particularly on a day when 24 of 26 competitors in her event advanced to Monday's quarterfinals, can't be considered an accurate barometer for gauging the competition when medals are on the line. China's Xiuyun Zhang and New Zealand's Emma Twigg won their heats and are considered strong candidates to medal.

"It's definitely a game going on over four heats of racing," Guerette said. "Most of us are just racing our own race plan and putting out what we want to put out for the first race. I felt like I was going pretty hard. I felt like I'd done a lot of work at the 1,000 (meter mark). But this is the first day after resting, so that is always different."

Guerette's coach Charley Butt called Saturday a "very good day."

"(Karsten) hasn't lost a race in four years. Just to(stay) with her for half the course — it's nice to get a feel for things that you're doing well," he said. "(Guerette) is up against women in their mid- to late-30s, someone who's been an Olympic champion since 1996. So it's good to get in there and mix it up with them."

No American boat won its heat in any of the eight disciplines contested Saturday.

That could change when the eight-man crews take the water on Sunday. The U.S. men's eight took gold in Sydney. Anna Cummins, who will be in the fifth seat for a U.S. women's boat that won the silver medal in 2004, was also in action Saturday with Portia McGee in the women's pair.

"I'm really looking forward to the eights,' said Cummins, 28, who finished behind Romania and the favored German pair of Lenka Wech and Maren Derlien and were also edged at the line by Great Britain in their five-boat heat. They'll be among eight pairs looking for the final four spots in Monday's repechage or second-chance race.

"It was exciting to know we were in there against two really great crews," McGee said. "They both had good races and we felt like we had some really good parts against them.

Cummins, a University of Washington grad, and McGee, a Brown University product who is married to Washington coach Luke McGee, have only been paired since the 2007 World Championships.

"Every time we go out against crews who are not our teammates, it's a great opportunity and we're going to learn by leaps and bounds," McGee said. "It may be a little bit (of a disadvantage, but) we're learning to communicate, we have a lot of fire and know what we want to get done out there. We're not scared of anyone."

In the other womens' race Saturday, USA's double sculls, Megan Kalmoe and Ellen Tomek finished third behind New Zealand and Great Britain and will race in Monday's repechage.

On the men's side, USA's fours — David Banks, Paul Teti, Giuseppe Lanzone and Brett Newlin — advanced to the semifinals, finishing third behind Great Britain and Italy.

Ken Jurkowski, 26, from Fairfield, Conn., took an early lead in his single scull heat. With fourth place and a spot in Monday's quarterfinals in hand, Jurkowski lengthened his stroke and cruised across the line.

Brothers Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss of Greenwich, Conn., finished fifth in men's pair but will get their second chance on Monday. The double scull pair of Wes Piermarini and Elliot Hovey posted a time fast enough to have earned a spot in the semifinals had they been in the third heat. But they finished fifth in Heat 1 and were relegated to Monday's repetage.

Source:  USA Today