With all three pre-Olympic rowing World Cup regattas now concluded, the sport is now turning its full attention to Beijing Olympics where China, New Zealand, Britain and Germany look like the nations to beat and duel.
There are 14 rowing events at the Beijing Olympics to be held in Shunyi International Rowing Park in August. Australia will compete in all the events. Germany and the United States will compete in 13 out of 14 events while host China will compete in 11.
In recent years, rowing has netted big medal gains for the British team and Britain is expecting it to lead the way yet again. "Clearly, rowing is very, very strong sport for us," double Olympic gold medal winner and London 2012 Organizing Committee Chairman Sebastian Coe said.
Britain has enjoyed some memorable moments on the water at the Olympics through Steven Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent but this time round they will be looking for their women to make the breakthrough in terms of gold.
If that is to be the case their best hopes lie in the women's quadruple sculls and would be due reward for the veteran of the crew, 32-year-old Katherine Graiger, who has silver medals from the 2000 and 2004 Games.
Grainger is determined to sign off with gold. "Olympic gold is the only one missing from the set," she told the BBC. However, they will have to go some to beat the Chinese, who have dominated women's rowing in Asia for many years.
China's deputy sports minister Cui Dalin told reporters last year that China had identified some talented individuals in sports like boxing, wrestling and rowing.
Another senior sports official said in April that China had been building up for a breakthrough in rowing in the Beijing Games, implying that gold chances were increasing.
Australia will send a 48-strong rowing team to the Beijing Games. For the first time Australia will compete in all the events.
The rowing team will be the biggest among the Australian Olympic delegation. Australia has competed in rowing since the 1912 Stockholm Olympics and has won 29 Olympic medals - eight gold, nine silver and 12 bronze.
Triple gold medallist James Tomkins was selected for his sixth Olympics on July 3. He will compete in the men's eights in Beijing.
Dual Olympic gold medallist Drew Ginn and four-time Olympian Duncan Free will compete as world champions in the men's pair.
World champions Amber Halliday and Arguerite Houston will view for gold in the women's lightweight double scull.
(Xinhua News Agency July 15, 2008)