The Beijing Games is probably the last one for Austrilia's three-time Olympic rowing champion James Tomkins, head coach Noel Donaldson said?in Beijing?on Wednesday.
Tomkins won his first Olympic gold in the men's four in 1992 and successfully defended the title in 1996. In 2004, he teamed with Drew Ginn to win the men's pair in Athens. The 43-year-old will compete in the men's eight in Beijing.
"He (Tomkins) is the only one that won in every of all the sweep boats classes on the international level," said Donaldson. "He won the world cup in Munich this year, so he isn't unfamiliar to the race (men's eight)."
The six-time Olympian was out of the sport for two years after Athens before making a comeback, but he missed the men's pair lineup.
"He's happy to be the focal point of the eight," said the coach.
The 52-strong team, which is to compete in all the 14 rowing categories, aimed for four to six medals at the Beijing Games, Donaldson told Xinhua at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park. In Athens, they won one gold, one silver and two bronze.
"If we win five to six medals, they are good returns for us."
"My best gold medal hopes are world champions men's pair and women's double sculls," he said. "The women's eight is also good. But the race is close. If in good form, they are also possible gold medal contender."
"In the world cups this year, we haven't won as many medals as China, but we are also very competitive."
The coach added: "Most of our rowers are not quite full-time ones. They have their own work and study and only during the three to four months before the Olympics, they trained all the time. That's why we tend to see alleviation in the performances in the Olympic year."
He acknowledged that rowing wasn't a big sport in Austrilia. "It receive good publicity during the Olympics, but after the Games it doesn't follow through."
"The weather is challenging, but we don't fear. It's the same to everybody," he said. "We have very good strategies in place to help rowers cool down and recover quickly. We also have very hot summers like this and we are quite used to it."
Donaldson noted that the team had a kind of special cooling drink to help the rowers cool down before and after the training. "The drinks are more effective than the ice vests other teams had."
(Xinhua News Agency August 7, 2008)