The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

RIO de Janeiro, Brazil — Although this is just her first major international exposure to the sport, Emily Morley feels as if she has progressed tremendously in the two races she competed in so far at the 2016 Olympic Games in the women’s single sculling event.

Morley, 22, competed in the Repechage, a race for competitors who didn’t qualify out of the preliminary round. She was fourth in her heat in 8:22.77. The 22-year-old student of Ithaca College will race again Tuesday at 11:40 am EST to determine her final international ranking.

“It was a lot better, a lot easier,” said Morley of her second race after finishing fifth in her opening heat on Saturday. “It was rather nice because the weather actually held up this time and obviously some wind, but not as bad as two days ago. So I’m very happy with what I did.”

During the race, which was postponed from Sunday because of the light windy conditions, Morley advanced out of fifth place mid-way and was able to open up a slight lead on Camille Valle Granados from Peru, who took the final spot in 8:32.88. Amina Rouba from Algeria came back as well to take the tape in 8:04.21 over Trinidad & Tobago’s Felice Chow, who joined Rouba in qualifying for the quarter-final in her time of 8:04.91.

Despite the fact that she didn’t qualify for the quarter-final, Morley said she was glad that she improved on her time of 9:22.12 seconds for sixth place.

“Every time you touch the water, you get a little faster,” she stated. “This is a new brand of boat that I never rode in before, so being on the water and feeling really fast and strong in the boat, was something I felt really good about. Hopefully by the next race, I will be even faster and at the next race I will be at my peak.”

She admitted that she’s honoured to be able to break these new grounds for the Bahamas in competing in rowing for the first time for the country.

“Being here wants to make me want to go to 2020 (Olympic Games in Toyko, Japan,” she projected. “It’s so cool. You walk around and you’re like ‘oh, that’s Venice Williams, the American tennis player. It’s like I only see her on TV, but she’s walking around. So it’s pretty awesome to be among those elite athletes.”

And if she intends to be a contender in Toyko, Morley acknowledges that she will have to bulk up a little more to complement her height.

“I’m a tall woman, but I’m not as tall as a lot of rowers here,” she said. “So building up my muscle mass to bring in a good stroke is what I need to work on, my strength.”

Looking back and comparing her first two races, Morley admitted that her nerves got the better of her in her initial race.

“Today, it was a little less tense than it was two days ago,” she said. “Every time you get to the starting line, you want to take a deep breath and relax. I think I did that better today.”

And having had the two races under her belt, Morley said she’s looking forward to continuing to improve as she gets her international ranking to work on her future participation in the sport.