THE GAMES

WORDSRACHEL QUARRELL | PHOTOGRAPHY IGOR MEIJER

The Lagoa's eight days in the centre of the rowing world were made of weather warnings, FISA explanations, and grand panoramas of rough water. At times it felt as if Christ the Redeemer was directing the wind from his perch high above what will now be the most famous rowing lake in the world, as helicopters splashed the view onto global TV.

Swampings and flips on the opening Saturday were followed by an entire day of cancelled racing, while forecasts were sought from the sailors' expert meteorologists. Racing caught itself up by Tuesday evening, only to be blasted by more wind on Wednesday, which should have been the first day of finals.

And then, suddenly, the lake started to behave, and the medals could be awarded on the last three days of the rowing week. It was epic, it was spectacular; the racing was out of this world. And Row360 was there. Here are the best of the images as nineteen countries claimed glory at the Rio Olympics of 2016.

M1x MEN'S SINGLES

We will go a long time before the men's singles final of Rio 2016 is bettered, perhaps by any event. Defending champion, Kiwi Mahe Drysdale, said he was expecting a hand-to-hand fist fight, and he got one. Every sculler impressed at different times, including Cuba's Angel Fournier Rodriguez; however, it was the best three scullers in the world who again proved their quality.

Back issues or not, Croatian Damir Martin and Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic bolted off at above 50 strokes a minute and then settled at the head of the pack. Drysdale, sandwiched between them, looked in danger of being washed down, but as Martin and Synek eyeballed each other and went stroke for stroke, Drysdale was just biding his time. The Kiwi began to turn the screw at 800m gone, and Drysdale, by now level with Synek, begn to challenge properly. The rest – Belgium's Hannes Obreno, Belarussian Stanislau Scharbachenia and the Cuban – dropped back.

So far so standard, but just as one might have expected Martin to fade with 1250m gone, he held Drysdale's second push, as did Synek. The Kiwi wasn't having any of it, and turned the heat up another notch, belying his own spinal issues with the power he is known for. But Martin hadn't read the script. The Croatian bow surged again, so Martin banged the rate up above 40, and with 350m to go started closing on Drysdale, who went up again, and Martin followed, now rating 47 on a short slide, Synek was out of the picture and it was dead level between them with five metres to go.

Martin, who had more momentum, took one last pounding stroke and Drysdale, instinctively knowing he needed something special, took one and a half. He shortened and knocked in one extra catch, generating the surge that made Olympic history. The two crossed the line locked together in a photo-finish and nobody, not even the scullers, had the faintest idea who had won. The crowd bubbled with nervous energy as the scullers drifted, and the finish camera was consulted. Minutes passed, and more minutes. And then it was announced.

Extraordinarily, the time was exactly the same, the first time for the win in Olympic sculling. The time of 6:41.34 marked a new Olympic best time and close to the world best. Yet Drysdale was adjudged the winner, under the new rules which split the result if a visible difference, however small, can be seen at the line. Less than a bow ball's width separated them, and many watching would have given the gold to Martin too, not least for the generosity with which he greeted the result. The race and the reaction were both a salute to the sport at its very best.

W1x WOMEN'S SINGLES

The women’s singles final promised the match-up of the year, in which thwarted 2014 world champion Kiwi Emma Twigg would go up against 2015 star Australian Kim Brennan in their first championship meeting for two years: a superb last chapter of this Olympic cycle for a great friendship and rivalry. But a spanner was thrown into the works when they ended up in the same semi-final, in the end a more thrilling race than the final.

The week started with Brennan making a forceful point to FISA after taking on gallons of water during Saturday’s heats and being virtually unable to row. Brennan's situation may well have been the final point FISA needed to be convinced: if an athlete of her calibre couldn't row, conditions weren't suitable for racing. There will have been scullers and pairs thanking her all over the boatyard.