Munich World Cup Regatta, 17th – 19th June 2005

Unusual for the middle regatta in the World Cup season, the majority of what will probably be the World Championships field turned up to Munich. Admittedly some crews will always be outclassed, but when all the major nations turn up to the same regatta, it was going to be hard to make the final, the first objective for any crew with medal aspirations.

Arriving a couple of days before racing gives you the chance to get into race routine, settle into the hotel – uniquely for this regatta we get individual rooms, as opposed to the usual twin - find out all the mundane things, such as shuttle bus timetables and eating arrangements, so they won’t provide a distraction from the main aims for any competition: eating well, sleeping as much as possible and racing hard.

At any competition, the first race is the most nerve-wracking; while you may have competed against some of the other crews at previous regattas, it’s impossible to know how they have progressed. While it’s unlikely that a crew will have made significant changes in the three weeks since the previous meeting, competition for the few places in the final is usually tight, and it’s important from the start to have a good idea where you fit into the field. The initial race provides an opportunity to find out whether your changes have transferred into increased speed, and gauge the speed of the main opposition by analysing their times from other heats.

Although the fastest crews generally make the final, there is always a chance of slipping up, either through a bad draw or some crew having the perfect row, so you often feel less pressure once you’ve made it – if you mess up there you just lose, rather than end up with the ignominy of being in the B-final if the semis go wrong. After the worries about losing in the semi, the objective becomes much clearer: win medals.

For Josh and I in the pair, the last race didn’t go too well: we hit a buoy in the third 500m and lost out on the bronze medal. Not so great - it would have been good to get some material return for the hard work of the last few weeks. Fortunes varied for the rest of the team; the coxless four and women’s quadruple scull both won comfortably as expected, the men’s and women’s doubles were disappointed with not making it through their semis, while three of the six lightweight men and women made their finals. Not a bad set of results, but they can be improved and there’s always Lucerne in three weeks.

Editorial by Kieran West