As you know 5 Molesey oarsmen were selected this week in Olympic class boats for the first World Cup in Munich.
For me it has been a bumpy ride on the way to selection for the eight. I had a really good camp in Varese but unfortunately picked up a bug on the way back to the UK and spent the next 5 days in bed. With the pair from last year’s World Championships coming into the eight’s group everything was still up in the air so my timing couldn’t have been worse. When I finally got back to training I only managed two days before developing some painful tendonitis in my forearm. A steroid injection forced me to miss more training and by this time I was nearly pulling my hair out!
Thankfully things have worked out well and I have been selected for Munich in the eight along with our cox and Molesey stalwart Acer Nethercott. The eight has been going well in training (mostly without me!) and we are all looking forward to racing after a lot of hard training.
Olly Moore, the big six-man from this year’s winning Oxford boat, has been selected to race in a pair with Tom Lucy. Having spoken to Olly he is very excited about the combination with Tom and is eager to see what damage they can do to the World’s best.
Simon Fieldhouse has been selected for the quad which will be looking to qualify for the Olympics this season. Munich will be a good indicator of the quad’s speed and you can be sure that Monkey will be calling the shots and using all his experience to motivate his young crewmates. The quad has looked pretty slick in training and Monkey told me that he is pleased with the progress they have made so far and is confident of what they can do in Munich.
And last but not least I’m sure everyone associated with the Club is delighted that we now have two athletes in the flagship coxless four with Tom James joining prolific Molesey man Andy Hodge and Steve Williams and Pete Reed both of whom are fantastic oarsmen from another club whose name escapes me…
I watched some of the press conference held this week when the team was announced and TJ was asked what he brings to the crew. Being the modest person he is Tom spoke about the fact that he is still learning and trying to blend in with the other three guys. I asked Hodgey the same question: “Not only is he a superb rower and a great bowman but he has brought a new perspective to the boat, getting the most out of the rest of us.” High praise indeed from Molesey’s floppy haired powerhouse!
I’ll let you know how things go in Munich!
Tom
