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August 17, 2004 3:41 pm

Tucker, Ruckman row through to semis

By ANN GREEN

Gannett News Service

SCHINIAS, Greece — If you were to reduce Steve Tucker's rowing biography to a single paragraph, it might read something like this: From a row-'til-you-blow party in a college frat house to an Olympic semifinal in Greece in 14 short years.

Tucker, 35, from Mooresville, Ind., and teammate Greg Ruckman of Cincinnati advanced to the semifinal in lightweight men's double sculls Tuesday with a time of 6:19.35. Tucker and Ruckman finished second to Japan and ahead of Germany and Cuba. They will race again on Thursday.

Tucker and Ruckman were part of a perfect five-for-five day for U.S. crews in Tuesday's second-chance races under much calmer conditions than earlier in the week.

"We had a helpful tailwind," Tucker said of the 2,000-meter race. "We wanted to make a push 300 meters into the race, then step it up again at 750 meters. We were trying to get going hard early in the race. We just weren't aggressive enough in Sunday's heat. Technically, it wasn't as clean, but we wanted to get a hard race under our belts."

Tucker took up the sport at age 21 at Massachusetts Institute of Technology after trying out an ergometer at a frat house during a party.

A physicist by training and a two-time Olympian, Tucker likes to invent devices to help him analyze and improve his rowing stroke. Lately, he has been part of Home Depot's job opportunity program, which offers a version of flex-time to employee/athletes so they can train and compete.

Now Tucker and Ruckman are trying to join the U.S. men's eight and U.S. women's eight in Sunday's Olympic finals.

"Looking at the heats and the races Tuesday, I don't see an unbeatable boat," Tucker said. "Everyone is in the mix this time. In previous workups, the Italians and Poles have stood out. But now, anyone has a chance for any of the medals."

The races are taking place at the Schinias Olympic Rowing and Canoeing Center, about 25 miles from Athens near the Aegean Sea.

High winds are common in Greece in August. A year ago this month, the Schinias course made international news when the World Rowing Junior Championships were whipped by winds so strong that boats sank. The U.S. men's eight had to swim with their boat to the finish line.

A full day of racing was canceled Monday, and Tuesday's racing didn't start until 2:30 p.m. to give the wind a chance to die down.

U.S. boats also advanced to semis in women's single sculls, men's four, lightweight women's double sculls and men's quadruple sculls.

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