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Caroline Lind is a pretty versatile rower

Not that I'm an expert on this sort of thing, but my rule of thumb is this - if you're very capable of earning an Olympic medal in more than one event, that qualifies you as versatile.

(I came up with that all by myself! Impressed? No?)

You already know about Lind's experience with the U.S. women's eight, a group that just happens to be the reigning world champion. Lately though, Lind's been dabbling in the women's pair, with partner Elle Logan. And by dabble, we mean making the medal stand in the first two World Cup regatta's they've competed in.

In their first race Lind and Logan picked up a bronze. In this weekend's regatta in Lucerne, the duo picked up a silver. Not too shabby, eh?

Of course, this brings up the same questions we asked after Lind's first women's pair World Cup performance; does this mean Lind might race in the Olympics in the pair instead of the eight? Or might she do both? Or is this just really high quality training for the women's eight for Lind?

Here's what she had to say after the Lucerne race:

"It’s still up to the coach to decide if we are going to stay in the pair."

Here's what Anna Cummins had to say. She rowed on the USA #2 pair team, which took the bronze.

“It’s great racing with our mates. And we are hoping to race in the Olympics with these guys.”

So we at least know where Cummins stands on the issue. And obviously I'm not the only one asking the question about Lind's status, based on the quotes being given to Rowing World.

I'm not even going to try to read the tea leaves in a sport in which I know so little. But here's the background to consider.

The U.S. women's eight won the gold at Lucerne without Lind in the boat (scroll down toward the bottom of the article). But its margin of victory was a scant 0.42 seconds over Australia. There was an interesting quote from crew member Anna Goodale:

"We don’t know yet if we are selected to be in this boat but we really hope that we can stay together as a team!”

Maybe Goodale really feels like this is the best eight-person crew the U.S. can put on the water. Or maybe she's just caught up in the feel-good moment of winning a gold. Or maybe the U.S. coaching staff will look at the narrow margin of victory and feel like it needs Lind back in the eight boat to increase its chances of winning the gold in Beijing.

As for the pair, certainly Lind and Logan have come a long way in a very short amount of time. But the time difference between the first place Chinese team and Lind and Logan was a sobering 3.31 seconds. Is that a gap Lind and Logan can close by the time the Olympics come around? I'm no rowing expert, but I'd have to imagine it would be pretty difficult.

So these are the options the U.S. coaches have with regard to Lind.

1) Keep her on the pair with Logan, hoping that the eight can still win a gold and the U.S. can increase its medal count by getting Lind and Logan and perhaps the U.S. #2 pair boat on the stand in Beijing.

2) Put Lind back in the eight boat to make darned sure that the favored U.S. team wins the Olympic gold.

3) Put Lind back in the eight boat and keep her in the women's pair with Logan.

The third option would clearly be the sweetest for Lind, provided its possible to do both events and not get too fatigued. Given that it's an option the U.S. team is at least considering - that's what a spokesman for U.S. Rowing told me back in May - I'm guessing they think that's feasible.

I certainly can't speak for Lind, but I'd have to think it would be a bummer to be taken off the eight and put purely in the pair. While that would likely increase the U.S. medal count, it looks like it would diminish Lind's chances to win a gold.

But let's end this on an optimistic note. Right now we're just talking about which Olympic events in which Lind will compete. We're pretty much treating her spot on the team as a given. (Barring anything unforseen, of course. Knocking on wood as I type this.)


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