Virginia becomes Olympic rowing proving ground

By Whitey Reid

Published: August 2, 2008

Head straight down Hydraulic Rd., hang a left on Earlysville Rd., another left on Rt. 676, and it’s the third driveway on your right: the Rivanna Reservoir Boathouse — a place that Virginia rowing coach Kevin Sauer has helped transform into a quasi-Olympic training grounds.
“People have no idea that CVa kids, rowing here in the reservoir — that they’re world-class athletes,” said Sauer recently.
Well, they should now.
This week, Wyatt Allen, Lindsay Shoop and Melanie Kok — all University of Virginia rowing alums — will be competing at the Olympics in Beijing. The rowing events begin on Saturday and run through Aug. 17.
All three former Wahoos are said to have a good chance of medaling.
Allen, a 2001 UVa grad, has already won Olympic gold at the 2004 Games in Athens.
“It was unbelievable,” Allen said. “Sometimes I’m still in a little disbelief that I got to experience that. Hopefully we can come close to that again.”
One would think Allen’s experience might come in handy this time around.
“I don’t know if that’s an advantage,” said Allen, a member of the U.S. Men’s Varsity Eight, “but it’s certainly changed my perspective a little bit. It’s a little bit different to be one of the experienced guys on the boat and project that in a positive way on the crew.
“I think we have a good boat. I think the Canadians are probably better than ever, so it will be a big challenge, but hopefully one we’re up to.”
At the world championships in 2005, Shoop came in fourth in the Eight and sixth in Pairs. A year later, her boat won the Eight, shattering a world record in the process by 12 seconds. Then, this past year, the Covenant School alum’s boat won its second straight Eight title.
“Everyone will be really good and really fast,” said Shoop, when asked about her boat’s chances. “We’ve raced some of our competition already, but you never know if they’ll shuffle their lineups or pick up speed … we try and not to worry too much about everyone else.”
Meanwhile, Kok, a 2007 alum, will be competing in Lightweight Women’s Doubles for her native Canada.
“I’m very excited,” Kok said. “Training has been going very well for us. The competition is going to be very stiff. It’s going to be all the best lightweights in the world, but we won a gold medal at the third world cup in Poland, so I think that sets us up well — and our training has only caused us to get faster.”
Kok said it hasn’t quite hit her that she’s going to be competing on the biggest athletic stage on the planet.
“It’s a little crazy to think about,” she said, with a laugh, “but I think Virginia prepared me very well for the national team and the Olympics.”
Kok, Allen and Shoop have remained friendly over the years.
“We all really enjoy each other’s success,” Kok said, “and it’s always nice to see a familiar face when you’re in a foreign country.”
“It’s very cool,” added Allen. “I do think that we all share that special bond to the program.”