For a third consecutive day, Ireland’s Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove hold second place overall in the men’s skiff event at the Paris 2024 Olympic regatta in Marseille.
The Dublin pair faced fresh but challenging wind conditions on Tuesday and still retained a small lead over third-placed New Zealand who were the previous overall leaders.
Although the Kiwis appeared unstoppable at the front of the fleet, their form slipped and Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie found themselves unable to score inside the top 10 in any of the three races.
Conversely, Spain’s Diego Botin le Chever and Florian Trittel Paul were impeccably consistent, scoring one third place and two seconds.
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Dickson and Waddilove had a fourth, then a heart-stopping 13th place that dropped them back to third place overall until they placed ninth in the last race of the day that saw the wind shut down entirely on one part of the course.
That calm caught out the Kiwis, already languishing at the back of the 20-boat field, and their 17th-place saw them fall back to third overall, leaving Ireland still in second place behind Spain.
“I think a day like that you just need to remember that everyone’s going to have – apart from the Spanish – most people are gonna have ups and downs,” said Dickson after racing. “You just have to be able to stay cool, and even if the race isn’t going your way, you just need to keep looking and see what you can do next.”
It was the Spanish crew who took Dickson and Waddilove to the Protest Room on Monday evening, alleging that they had been impeded in Monday’s third race.
Although not a deliberate error by the Irish crew – the rugby equivalent of a boot touching the chalk of the touchline – the jury concluded that they most likely had infringed and disqualified their result, giving them an eighth-place for that race.
That weighty penalty used up their single worst score discard but now every contender for the podium can’t afford to slip up on the final day.
Dickson and Waddilove appear on course to achieve a place in Thursday’s medal race final; a place on the podium will need their best day yet.
