Somebody was asking me why the C2s aren't faster than the C1s. Running the same course in the semifinals and finals this week, the top C1 times were around 96 seconds, whereas the top C2s were finishing about ten seconds slower. Why is that?
Well, yes, you do have the extra power of another paddler in the boat, but you've also got the extra weight of that other paddler. And then the C2 itself is a longer, wider, heavier boat. It's a little harder to get a C2 up to speed than a C1, and it's also harder to get it stopped, meaning that it takes a bit more care and precision coming into those tight turns in the upstreams and places like that.
C2 teams also have to be careful to get both paddlers' bodies through each gate. If one paddler's body passes through the gate but the other paddler's body doesn't, that's a 50-second penalty, as if the boat had missed the gate entirely.
A great C2 like the ones that medaled today has both paddlers working as one most of the time. But the laws of physics work against them more than they do against the single-boat racers.
NBC is starting to post some C2 highlight videos on its Olympic website. Go check them out. You can watch the joyful Brits frolicking in the water here. I was hoping it would include the official yelling "Out! OUT!" but it doesn't. The medal ceremony is here. I love how the medalists all get up together on the top step of the podium after the winner's national anthem is over. There's a real camaraderie among slalom racers that cuts across national boundaries.
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