Wadlow, Spaulding sail into contention
Tim Wadlow of Marblehead and Pete Spaulding of Miami had few problems aboard their speedy 49er skiff yesterday, finishing third in the 12th race of their series day on another bizarre afternoon of sailing on the Saronic Gulf.
American sailors John Lovell and Charlie Ogletree held on to their lead in the Tornado catamaran class and Paul Cayard jumped up three spots in the Star class.
A northerly Meltemi -- the wind that whips through the hills around Athens -- was predicted to bring at least 13 knots of breeze onto the gulf, but it never developed.
It didn't slow Wadlow and Spaulding, though, who jumped to fourth overall with four races left.
"One good race and we're in the medals," Wadlow said.
Wadlow and Boston College alum Spaulding, in their first Olympics, have 60 points, 5 behind crews from Ukraine and Britain. The Spanish crew leads with 46 points after finishing second yesterday.
While the Tornados got in their two scheduled races, the Stars got in just one before the breeze died. The boats drifted under the brutally hot sun for about three hours before attempts to start the second race were abandoned.
Lovell, of New Orleans, and Ogletree, of Houston, steered their catamaran to consecutive ninth-place finishes to keep the lead over defending gold medalists Roman Hagra and Hans Peter Steinacher of Austria with six of 11 races sailed. In their third Olympics together, Lovell and Ogletree are looking for their first medal.
Cayard finished third in Race 5 of the Star series to jump into a tie for fourth with Swiss skipper Flavo Marazzi. He was 14th after the first of three laps around the windward-leeward course, but had moved up to fifth after the second lap.
It was nice comeback for Cayard, of Kentfield, Calif., who was knocked out of first place Sunday with finishes of 15th and 10th. The America's Cup star had to perform two 720-degree penalty turns in the first race and then was over the starting line early in the next race, so he had to turn back and restart.
Synchronized swimming
A sport that might seem better suited for a Las Vegas showroom took the Olympic stage, with Russia and Japan holding down their customary 1-2 spots and the United States in third after the duet technical routine of synchronized swimming.
The Russian duo, world champions Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova, swam to the theme from "The Matrix" and scored 49.417 points.
As expected, the Japanese team of Miya Tachibana and Miho Takeda claimed the second spot with 49.000 points in the technical routine, which will be combined with scores from tonight's free routine to determine the 12 teams competing in the final tomorrow.
The US duo, Anna Kozlova and Alison Bartosik, was in third with 48.334. They swam to a clarinet and percussion piece with a bit of Indian flair.
Men's volleyball
The US men's volleyball team knew it was moving on to the medal round, so its match against Brazil was simply a bonus warmup against the top-ranked team in the world.
And the Americans got a confidence-building win, too.
Reid Priddy led the US attack in a four-set victory over the Brazilians, 25-22, 25-23, 18-25, 25-22 -- a match in which both teams played their reserves extensively.
The Americans finished pool play at 3-2, winning a tiebreaker over Russia for third place, and will face host Greece in the quarterfinals tomorrow.
Men's diving
Troy Dumais was in fifth place after the 3-meter springboard preliminaries, trailing leader Alexandre Despatie of Canada. Despatie, the first Canadian to win a world title on the 10-meter platform last year, led the way with 517.59 points. Peng Bo of China was second with 495.45, Russia's Alexander Dobroskok was third with 489.75, and Japan's Ken Terauchi was fourth with 456.15.
Kayaking
Seven-time kayaking gold medalist Birgit Fischer of Germany -- trying to become the first woman to win Olympic medals 24 years apart -- had a strong start in Schinias. Her four-person kayak never trailed in its 500-meter heat.
Fischer's kayak won its heat by 0.69 over Hungary with China third. The Germans' time of 1 minute, 31.61 seconds was fastest of the day in the event, 0.34 better than Poland, which won the other heat. Fischer's boat advanced directly to Friday's final. The American women's K-4 boat finished last in the same five-kayak heat but remains in contention. An Olympic format allows boats finishing outside the top three to enter a semifinal.
Equestrian
Debbie McDonald of Orange, Calif., moved into contention for an individual dressage medal with an energetic, fault-free round on Brentina that scored 74.760 percent.
The ride moved her from fifth after the team competition to fourth overall, with an average for the two days of 74.067 percent. German Ulla Salzgeber on Rusty still led the competition, but they made several mistakes and scored 74.840 percent to tighten the standings. Robert Dover of Flemington, N.J., scored 74.04 percent on Kennedy to move up from ninth to sixth.
