Photos & Video: Pearson Finishes 3rd In Heat

August 8, 2016

Shelley Pearson is looking forward to Tuesday’s quarterfinal race where she could make history.

Pearson finished third in her heat on Saturday and is poised to beat Jim Butterfield’s 16th place finish in the 1972 Munich Games to become Bermuda’s greatest Olympic rower.

Pearson told the Bermuda Broadcasting Company’s Patrick Singleton that she was “happy and relieved at the results.

“There were some terrifying moments out there. The winds are pretty horrific and we normally race in much calmer conditions so this ends up making it a different type of race; more of a survival of the fittest than who is the actual fastest rower out there.”

Pearson, who has been training at the venue in Rio for the past two weeks, said Saturday’s race conditions were the worst she has seen in that time frame.

She is hoping for better conditions for Tuesday’s race which will determine which final she ends up in.

“So let’ see what I can do, I’ve got nothing to lose.”

Photos courtesy of Patrick Singleton/BBC, click to enlarge: