Die Macht » Trainer Tony Gollan is happy to keep his

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Apparently filthy water is nothing to make a stink about at the Olympics.All seemed well Saturday at the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon, a picturesque body of water not too far from the famed Copacabana Beach. Flanked by deep green mountains and gleaming white high rises, it looked to be the perfect spot for the worlds best rowers to chase Olympic gold.It didnt even smell that bad, though locals say there are many days the lagoon emanates odors usually associated with a toilet in bad need of plunging.This is a beautiful venue, Canadian rower Eric Woelfl said. How often do you get to row in a place with mountains, sun and a fantastic crowd? What more could we ask for as competitors?Uh, clean water might be nice. So would decontamination spray for the pair of Serbians who were last seen bobbing up and down in the water after becoming the first Olympians to capsize their boats in 12 years.Milos Vasic and Nenad Bedik picked the wrong Olympics to take a header. An Associated Press investigation over the last year showed 1.73 billion adenoviruses per liter in the lagoons water at one point, though by June the readings were down to 248 million adenoviruses.Levels like that would have authorities in the U.S. closing down beaches and lakes and taking emergency measures to protect the public health.Here in Rio they simply handed out bottles of hand sanitizer.We wash our mouths out with an anti-bacterial wash after rowing, and really try to prioritize our hygiene, said Australias Kim Brennan. We try to avoid any hand to mouth contact and try to avoid getting any of the water in our mouths.That was dicey duty on the opening day of the Olympics, when the winds picked up and water not only sprayed over competitors but filled boats so much that some thought they might sink.Rio is a dangerous city, something that anyone reading about these Olympics surely knows by now. Some spectators at the opening ceremony found that out Friday night when they came upon the body of a man who had been shot dead near Maracana Stadium, blood still coming from his wounds.There was also a bizarre incident Saturday at the Olympic Equestrian Center, where a military bullet pierced the roof of the media tent and landed on the floor in front of startled reporters.So maybe a little dirty water isnt so bad after all. Unless, of course, youre the one covered in it.I was greeted with a bottle of hand sanitizer on the dock. So, thats one thing, said Canadas Carling Zeeman, who rowed in a boat she said was filling with water.If the water at Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon was bad, at least no rowers noticed anything fishy floating around in it. That figures to change when sailing opens at nearby Guanabara Bay, where helicopters and roving trash-collection boats will be employed to spot and remove floating rubbish that often clogs the bay.Half of Rios sewage flows untreated into Guanabara, which you might think would give Olympic organizers pause. The fact it didnt is that the bay looks beautiful on television, with Sugarloaf Mountain and the famous Christ the Redeemer statue in the background.Thats the same reason rowers were dipping their oars in a lagoon where last year thousands of dead fish washed up on shores. Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon looks good to everyone but the horrified scientists who test its waters.Rowers are by nature a hardy bunch and this is the Olympics, so they werent complaining much. There was more grumbling about the fact they held the race with white caps on the lagoon than the chance they had to get violently ill by coming into contact with the very water they race on.Obviously, we were pretty much swimming in it today, so well find out soon enough whats in there, Brennan said.Listen to those running the sport, and Brennan and her fellow competitors should have no worries. Matt Smith, who heads FISA, the rowing federation, called the water swimming quality and suggested fears over getting sick from it were overblown.On the opening day of a very troubled Olympics there were at least two drenched Serbs hoping he is right.----Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg(at)ap.org or http://twitter.com/timdahlberg Gary Harris Jersey . "I wrote 36 on my sheet at the beginning of the game," the Cincinnati coach said, referring the yard line the ball would need to be snapped from. 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Trainer Desleigh Forsters decision to miss the Melbourne spring with Too Good To Refuse is set to pay dividends after the horses impressive win at Eagle Farm.Too Good To Refuse ($4) came from last to beat Sony legend ($13) by 1-1/4 lengths in the Listed Keith Noud Quality (1200m) on Saturday, with Most Important ($3.60) half a length away in third.Forster has always had a huge opinion of Too Good To Refuse, which won the Toowoomba Guineas and was second in the Gunsynd Classic during the winter.The option was there to take him to Melbourne for the spring but in the end I decided to keep him here for our summer races, Forster said.I have decided to keep him to the sprint races and his next starts will be in the George Moore Stakes (1200m) and the Lough Neagh Stakes (1350m).I then have the choice of trying to qualify him for the Magic Millions in a wildcard race or starting him in the Bernborough Stakes at 1600 metres.No matter what, Forster is keen to get Too Good To Refuse into the Group One races in Brisbane next winter.I think he will make a good Stradbroke Handicap horse but lets just worry about the summer first, she said.Jockey Jim Byrne said Too Good To Refuse was a most promising horse that could sprint very quickly at the end of his races.The Stradbroke Handicap is a good way off but who knows if he keeps improving, Byrne sad.Trainer Tony Gollan is happy to keep his smart gallopers Another Sllipper and Tiyatrolani apart until late December after they won the divisions of the QTIS Three Year Old (1000m).ddddddddddddnother Slipper ($8) won the colts and geldings division, coming from well back in the field.He failed at 1400 metres at his last start but he over-raced. So I sent him out to Washpool Lodge for a few weeks and freshened him up, Gollan sad.The plan was also to have him ridden from behind and it worked perfectly.Tiyatrolani ($5) failed first up at Doomben two weeks ago and also had a few days at Washpool Lodge before going back to Gollans Eagle Farm stables.She was a lot more settled before the race today and it showed in the run. I think she can run a strong 1400 metres later in her career.Another Slipper ran 57.73 and Tiyatrolani clocked 57.80, winning the fillies division and confirming Gollans belief that there isnt much between them.They will stick to races for their own sex before they meet up in the Listed Gold Edition (on December 17), Gollan said.Trainer David Vandyke is close to taking Emerald City to Sydney for the Christmas Cup and Summer Cup in December.Emerald City has won four metropolitan races in a row and deserves a crack at better races. I just want to see how he comes up after this run before making a final decision, Vandyke said. ' ' '