Cracknell and Pinsent move to four

Reigning Olympic champions Matthew Pinsent and James Cracknell will train as part of a four between now and the GB National Team Trials on April 13 and 14.

They will be joined by Steve Williams and Josh West in a boat to be stroked by three-times Olympic champion Pinsent. Williams and West were part of the Great Britain four which has won World Championships silver for the past two seasons. Their team-mates from that crew, Toby Garbett and Rick Dunn, will now form a pair.

Chief men’s coach Jurgen Grobler has made the decision following the recent 5km Winter Assessment and the pairs matrix trials in the UK from which Pinsent and Cracknell clearly emerged as the top two athletes in the squad. Grobler is in the process of examining all possible combinations before settling on Great Britain’s leading Olympic boats.

After all six men have competed in pairs amongst all the other contenders at the GB National Team Trials in April, crews will be selected and announced for the opening Bearing Point World Cup of the season in Poznan, Poland from May 7-9. Olympic entries have to be finalised in June.

“James and Matthew have proven themselves to be our top two athletes. A four, strengthened by them, could have a very good chance of winning gold but we will wait until after the Trials to finalise things for the opening World Cup regattas”, said Grobler.

“It has been good to race in this combination this weekend”, said Pinsent yesterday at the FISA Team Cup in Seville. “However, the GB Trials in April are still the priority for us”.

“It must have been a tough decision for Jurgen”, said Cracknell. “He took all six athletes involved by surprise but I have total faith that what he is doing is in the best interest of the top athletes and British Rowing”.

If the four become established within the squad, then a good opportunity will open up for Dunn and Garbett to prove themselves in the pair.