Back to Basics in Boston (Lincs)
12th December 2011The GB Rowing Teams' Winter Assessment takes place on a 5km course at Boston in Lincs next weekend (17 December) pitching the nation's leading Olympic contenders - including a host of rowers from Somerset - against each other and the clock.
Names like defending Olympic Champions Mark Hunter and Zac Purchase and World Champions such as Anna Watkins and Katherine Grainger will go back to basics to race in singles on the gruelling stretch of water.
Olympic champions Pete Reed, Andrew Triggs Hodge and Tom James who will be amongst the open-weight men will race in pairs on the same course, along with World Champions Alex Gregory, Matt Langridge, and Ric Egington.
Paul Mattick from Frome, Stephen Rowbotham from Winscombe and Cameron Nichol from Glastonbury each helped qualify their respective boats for London 2012 by their performances at the World Championships but now they are in the fight for seats in the squad for next season - and at the Olympic Games. It is the boats which qualify for the Games, not the rowers.
This is the time when contenders outside of the current senior squad can stake a claim for consideration in the Olympic season. It is also an opportunity for those seeking World U23 Championship places potentially to draw the eye.
So the event has attracted a significant entry across the divisions. Division One, starting at 10.30am, features open weight races in the men's single (where world medallist Alan Campbell will start as favourite), women's single and men's pair. Division Two, starting at 13.00, will include the lightweight men's and women's singles.
The tradition of using this stretch of water for two annual assessments (the first was in October but did not feature the 2011 World Championships squad) goes back many years now. It is a rare stretch of suitable water for this kind of endurance trial.
Performance Director David Tanner knows that the competition will be intense in Boston in the run-up to the Olympic season. He will be hoping that the test will show just how well his squad's winter training is progressing.
"Boston always provides a challenging test for the rowers. All the "greats" of our sport like Sir Matt Pinsent, Sir Steve Redgrave and James Cracknell have been through the process, just like today's crop of talented rowers. They all know how valuable it is not only to gauge winter training but to provide a route into the squad for any serious challenger".
After Boston, the next milestone will be the GB Rowing Team Senior Trials on the Olympic course at Eton-Dorney in March (10-11).