The Rise of FISA's Crew of the Year

We're talking about the men's four from Great Britain and after winning gold at Athens they have not been lacking in accolades.

To win the FISA men's crew of the year award the four came out ahead of some tough competition. The four won out over five other nominees including the likes of gold medal pair Ginn and Tomkins from Australia, the United States' men's eight who broke the world record in the heats at Athens and then annihilated a stacked field in the final. Then there was the Danish lightweight four who have maintained an unprecedented number of international wins since the 1990s. Norway's gold medal single sculler, Olaf Tufte was also in the running along with the French double of Sebastien Vieilledent and Adrien Hardy whose classy rowing had them beat the reigning Olympic Champions and the Italian favourites at Athens.

But there was something just a bit more special going on with the British four.

Sitting in stroke seat of their Athens boat and setting the rhythm was Matthew Pinsent who collected his fourth Olympic gold medal at Athens. He held the status of most accomplished rower in the boat. Much of his success had occurred during a partnership with Sir Steve Redgrave that began in 1990 and saw Pinsent collect ten World Championship golds and three Olympic golds. Pinsent continued this winning trend after Redgrave's retirement when he teamed up in the pair with James Cracknell. The winning continued.

Back in two seat Pinsent's most recent partner, Cracknell had used Athens to collect a second Olympic gold medal. Cracknell came through to the elite rowing ranks via gold as a junior in 1991. After mixed results through the early 90s Cracknell entered a six-year winning streak between 1997 and 2002 when he joined Pinsent and Redgrave in the four and after 2000 with Pinsent in the pair.

Sitting behind Cracknell in the bow of the boat, Steve Williams was the only member of the crew that had been in the four since 2001. In that time he had gathered two World Championship silvers and one gold.

Ed Coode found his way into three seat of the four just six weeks before the Athens Olympics when selected crewman Alex Partridge had to pull out due to a punctured lung. Accustomed to the role of substitute Coode had won the 1999 World Championships when he replaced injured rower, Tim Foster, in the four. But he was then ousted by a back-to-fitness Foster before the Sydney Olympics. Coode ended up racing in the pair, finishing a credible fourth. A year later he was back in the four and collected another World Championship title.

British men's four salute their fans
© Getty Images

The coach behind the four, head coach of the men's sweep programme, Jurgen Grobler was the man behind the overall squad decisions. His choice to take Pinsent and Cracknell out of the pair and make the four the priority boat caused waves and speculation in the rowing community and press. The decision came after Pinsent's first World Championship loss in 11 years when he and Cracknell found themselves out of the medals at the 2003 World Championships. This result set to wheels in motion for Grobler to rethink boating combinations in his bid for Athens and Olympic gold. He spent the 2004 season finding the best two to join Pinsent and Cracknell.

Grobler's decision certainly shook up the status quo. Great Britain's four of Williams, Josh West, Toby Garbett and Rick Dunn had been together since 2002, won silver twice and wanted to retain the line up. Putting Pinsent and Cracknell into the four changed all of this and not without controversy. The season came down to a series of trials, reshuffling and various illnesses that saw both Pinsent and Cracknell missing vital races.

Garbett and Dunn ended up racing at Athens in the pair while West joined the Athens eight.

At Athens the final four had the hopes of Great Britain riding on their shoulders.

Leading up to Athens Canada reigned as World Champions in the four. They had already beaten Great Britain at two of the season's World Cups and the odds were on them to win at Athens. Great Britain met Canada in the final for the first time of the Olympic regatta. The two crews battled each other side by side down the entire 2000 metre course. At the line a photo finish separated both boats by a mere 0.08 of a second. Great Britain had won, Pinsent earned his fourth Olympic gold and the race went down as one of the most exciting of the regatta.

"We finished second but at least I had the great privilege of racing against
Matthew Pinsent," Canadian crew member Cam Baerg told the Times Colonist. Pinsent gave credit to the Canadians, "At 10 strokes to go I was wondering 'why are they still ahead?' We had been performing at our best. Rowing never gets easier."

"I've been in the sport for 35 years, working with a lot of Olympic champions, and this was for me still something outstanding," Grobler said when describing the race to BBC Sport.

The four returned to a heroes welcome in England and subsequent speaking engagements, photo opportunities, parades and a steady stream of demands by the press. At least one of the four was regularly in newspaper headlines.

The release of Pinsent's autobiography, A lifetime in a race, also helped to keep the four in the limelight. Pinsent was then knighted Sir Matthew by Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom. 

The four, however, will never race again.

Pinsent announced his retirement two months after the Olympics saying he may move into sports politics. Then Cracknell revealed that he would take a year off from the sport. "For the first time in my career the hunger I need is not there," Cracknell told the Telegraph in his regular column.

Coode followed suit by saying he would take a year off but has since declared his retirement and moved on to join the law profession. Williams is the only team member to put himself forward for this year's squad. He recently joined the British team for winter training in St Moritz, Switzerland.

The four have received many honours including the BBC team of the year award which was bestowed on them last month. Pinsent was also honoured individually as the runner-up in the overall sports personality category.

Coach Grobler has also received accolades picking up the lifetime achievement award by the United Kingdom Coaching Foundation. This recognises the 15 Olympic golds to his name, including one to his former East German crew and since 1992 as head coach of the British men's rowing squad.

Jurgen Grobler
© Getty Images

Grobler accepted the FISA team of the year award on behalf of his athletes at the annual FISA coaches' conference. Despite the impending changes and losses to his squad, Grobler has stated that he will stay in Great Britain to rebuild the squad for Beijing.

"I want to hand over a healthy heavyweight men's rowing squad, that's why I'm still here," Grobler told the Times Online. But Grobler added he would change his focus. "I'd like to step back, coach the coaches more."

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