By Paul Daugherty
Enquirer staff writer

ATHENS - The end was bittersweet for Greg Ruckman. He and partner Steve Tucker won the B final of the men's lightweight double sculls Saturday. But all it got them was a disappointing seventh-place finish. The A (medal) finals are today.

"We knew we had the potential to race for a medal. But it didn't work out," Ruckman, a Wyoming High grad, said. A fourth-place finish in the semifinals Thursday sent the pair to the B group.

Ruckman and Tucker breezed through the middle 1,000 meters of the 2,000-meter race, to finish in six minutes, 45.20 seconds, three seconds better than second-place Spain.

"Our classic race plan. That's the way we've won international races before," Ruckman said.

In earlier races here, the U.S. duo had been more aggressive, starting quickly, hoping to avoid the wake of other boats and make other teams catch up. It was an unusual plan for Ruckman and Tucker. Going harder for longer off the start made it harder to maintain.

"I don't want to second-guess myself. We did have a plan," the 30-year-old Ruckman said.

He was asked if he'd try again in four years. "Hard to say. There is nothing else in life I've found that brings so much happiness and so much pain. I remember so clearly saying in Sydney that you could see this hole in my chest where the medal would have been. It's still there. If I'm talking to you again in four years (from Beijing, site of the 2008 Games), that would be great," Ruckman said.

A fast final 500 meters helped Pat Todd (St. Xavier High) and his mates in the men's lightweight four to a third-place finish in their B Final, and ninth place overall. The U.S. men rowed in last place for the first 1,500 meters, then closed quickly. Their time of 6:22.24 was 3.24 seconds behind the winners from Serbia and Montenegro.

Two other local rowers, Kelly Salchow (Walnut Hills High/UC) and Bryan Volpenhein (Kings High), will race for medals today, Salchow in the women's quadruple sculls and Volpenhein in the men's eight.