The official website of Pete Reed, Great Britain rower

The fact of the matter is that Andy and I are out to win gold medals and anything else can easily be seen as a loss.

It’s been a while since I’ve written something personal and maybe this is most important time to do so. It is actually the time when press and public (not to mention friends and family) show a lot of interest in what is going on. There are more questions now than ever about, changing the crew order? Changing technique? The New Zealand pair? Training? Pair? Four? Plans? Confidence? Feeling? Aims?

The fact of the matter is that we have to make up some speed and we are honest with each other and ourselves about that. This is the most important thing, as without that frank admission, we could never hope to improve. Andy and I always work hard and put training first, and a little bit of something to focus on never hurt anyone. What are the answers? Jürgen has the answers. He’s seen everything and done everything before; as well as trusting Andy and myself, I would trust Jürgen’s calls to the end of the course and beyond – who wouldn’t?

Nothing has suddenly happened to make us slow so we are still working from a very high level and neither of us have ever quit or backed down from a good scrap on the water.

Apart from this, all I really want to say is a huge ‘thank you’ to everyone who’s been out there supporting us in this new pair. We need it and appreciate it. The support at Henley Royal Regatta was the loudest and most inspiring I’ve ever heard from the Henley banks – I’m just sorry we didn’t give you what you wanted to see. Have faith – we both have and we’re working on it.

As for me in the stroke seat (so many people have asked)? We’re both learning a lot in our new positions which is a good thing whether we stay like this or not. Now is the time to try new things out.