I t's only 10 a.m., and it's already hot in the bare-metal warehouse that's home to the U.S. National Sculling Center. A leaking roof is just one of the problems plaguing the facility. The four athletes who will represent the United States in the men's quad sculls in next month's Olympic Games are stripped to the waist as they move quickly from weight machine to weight machine.
Sweat mats their hair and drenches their shorts in the still, humid air.
They have to drink plenty,'' coach Igor Grinko says as he watches the four men work. There are none. The only running water near the warehouse is a fire hydrant, which has been rigged with a garden hose. It wasn't supposed to be this way. Two years ago, when an Augusta delegation convinced the U.S. Rowing Association to move the sculling center from Occoquan, Va., to Augusta, plans were to build a boathouse, complete with a climate-controlled weight room, showers and meeting rooms.