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From the start of December there seemed to be a little bit more pressure on us than in the last two months. Coming home from our high-altitude training camp, I was very happy and confident because of my good test results which is a great way to feel going into a month of rowing trials.
 We started practicing in our pairs, the two man boats, the day after we got back from altitude. My pairs partner is called Andrew Triggs Hodge, or “Hodgey” to everyone he meets. He is the top athlete on stroke side and a worthy replacement to the recently retired Sir Matthew Pinsent in the stroke seat of our World Championship crew. We have been winning races together in pairs, fours and eights since rowing for Oxford in the University Boat Race in 2005.
With a week of practice before the first national selection trial of the season, we got the boat moving very efficiently (which is the key to rowing) and we had a lot of confidence in what we were capable of. However, the team is very strong this year and we knew that the 5km time trial left no room for error.
We raced in a very cold head wind for nearly twenty minutes at full speed. After a good row and inspection of final times we were pleased to see we had won with the other strong British pairs close behind. I am always delighted to win races and realised that this is why I love my sport and train so hard to win at this level. We had about thirty of the country’s best boats racing us that day. Hodgey and I were happy with that.
In the same week, the top eighteen pairs got together on our 2km rowing lake for the second stage of selection in the form of a mini regatta. The race schedule was for a time trial, a semi-final and a final all in one day. Each race is a full power, fierce contest leaving us exhausted and in pain after the finish line. This big day is the reason that we felt pressure from the start of the month because each time we test ourselves against each other, our chief coach can form a better picture for Olympic selection.
Hodge and I finished in first place, exhausted and ecstatic in one moment. Again the team were close behind in a similar order to the 5km trials but we had done it again; cementing my feeling that winning is why I race. After a very tough, but satisfying month, the short Christmas break arrived not a day too soon.
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