More Power by Hugh Matheson

Author:Hugh Matheson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2018-07-24T16:00:00+00:00

The four set their sights on racing to win and dominating their event in the world cup regattas leading up to Sydney. It began well on the Oberschleißheim course in Munich. Cracknell wrote that he looked forward to travelling there: ‘Steve and Matt had to carry our bags, try our breakfast and call us “my lad” after losing to Tim and I on the golf course, where our hit-and-hope technique proved surprisingly effective.’ On arrival in Munich, however, the omens were not good because the Union flag was flying upside down at the course, and the Brits were using a new, unfamiliar boat. Fortunately the final worked out well. After Slovenia led off the start, France and Britain moved up in the second quarter, and the British won. The crew’s verdict on their performance was one of good and bad bits over their heat, semi-final and final. The understudy British four finished in fifth place.

The four won again at the Vienna world cup regatta, chased by New Zealand and the second British four, and then lined up against Australia in the final of the Stewards’ Challenge Cup at Henley. In a storming race, Redgrave notched up his nineteenth Henley medal when the Leander-tagged crew crossed the line two-thirds of a length in front. Leander were warned for steering several times. They led by a canvas at the Barrier and a half-length at halfway. From there the Aussies never rated below forty strokes to the minute, and the Brits never dropped below thirty-eight. At the Mile Post the Aussies had closed the gap to two feet as a sudden shower drenched Henley Reach. Pinsent took the rating up to forty-three, and the finishing time was 6:50. He immediately made a twirling motion to request permission to take a lap of honour, and the umpire, Mike Sweeney, answered with a thumbs-up. The British crew turned and paddled past the enclosures to honour four years of being first at the line and their last race on home waters.

Searle and Coode won the Silver Goblets over Ramon di Clemente and Donovan Cech of South Africa. The British eight met the Australian crew they had beaten in Vienna in the Grand Challenge Cup, and went down by a length and a half.

Then, at the third and final world cup regatta in Lucerne – the last race before the Olympic regatta – disaster struck. The four’s unbeaten record fell in the semi-final as they finished second, and their dominating confidence took a mighty dent when they plunged to fourth in the final, beaten by Italy, New Zealand and Australia.

Heads went down, or in Redgrave’s case up as he gasped for breath. They had rowed eight races in three weeks, and the Lucerne final on 16 July showed them up. ‘It is not a time to run around like a headless chicken,’ Grobler told the Guardian. ‘We get chased every time. The opposition expect us to win and win and win. This time the glycogen stores were a little empty.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.