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Aug 18, 2004

New Zealand's Sonia Waddell, wife of 2000 Olympic champion Rob, qualified for the semi-finals of the single sculls rowing on Tuesday after the strong winds which forced Monday's programme to be called off died down.

Waddell finished more than 12 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor from repechage two to go into Wednesday's Olympic semi-finals.

"It was such a tricky side wind today, really difficult to row in," she said. "I was actually quite surprised by my time and that it was so good."

Waddell said it was important to win, both for her confidence and for the placings in case the winds blew up again and certain races, such as the semi-final, were scrapped.

Mexico's 39-year-old Martha Garcia Mayo, who has made a comeback after 10 years out of the sport, qualified from the first repechage.

She returned to the sport in 2003 "for fun" and now believes she can inspire other women of her age.

"I'm enjoying it a lot more now," she has said. "Back then I was like a soldier. Now I'm wiser."

Bulgaria's Ivo Yanakiev was the fastest of the 12 male scullers to qualify from the repechage.

There was also joy for the host nation, as the Greek lightweight women's double sculls raised their game to qualify in third place from their repechage.

"Our goal was to qualify for the semi-finals and we did it," said Chrysi Biskitzi, who races with Maria Sakellaridou. "Now we only want to try our best."

The strength of the wind had dropped by Tuesday afternoon but conditions remained difficult for the smaller boats.

Organisers said forecasts were good for Wednesday and Thursday and even better for the finals on Saturday and Sunday.

Racing was postponed on Monday due to strong winds which left the course too dangerous to race on.

Organisers have rescheduled all the remaining repechage races to be held on Wednesday and the programme should return to normal by Thursday.