Returning from Switzerland with three weeks to the final world cup race In Poland, It was clear that there was going to be some further changes to the personnel and our rowing technique.

We spent the first five days training in coxless fours, a slower moving boat and by the weekend we were back rowing in the eight. I had moved seats along with a few others plus trying two different people. Another five days followed, swapping people into different seats trying to find the best place for everyone to get the boat moving quickly and efficiently as possible. During this time we committed to using our backs in the stroke with much more aggression, the back opening on the drive of the stroke adds speed, which is initially taken by the legs. This change brought about increased speed and the general rhythm of how the boat was moving seemed much improved.

The last world Cup race of the season had a weaker entry as some countries had returned home to prepare for the Olympic games, namely China, Canada and Australia. It was really important to go and race to a high standard and get a good result.

Training in Poland on the Thursday and Friday felt encouraging, recording some good performances in set pieces.

Racing a new German eight after their poor early season racing was going to be interesting. I was much more confident about my own rowing and how much better we were moving as a unit. This became apparent when we dominated from the start of the race and moved strongly away from the rest of the field.

Winning the Final world cup, even in a weakened field suggested to me that we were back on the right track. However the competition at the Olympics will be electric, to be up at the top end we have much work to do but nothing that is impossible.

Having Three days off after returning from Poland was needed before I begin the final preparation for the Olympic games. I spent some time with friends that have an alternative life to rowing which consumes mine! This was relaxing and I returned to training on Wednesday afternoon refreshed.

Official selection was on the Thursday morning, but nothing was mentioned on the Wednesday so we were all left wondering if a decision was going to be made. Arriving at seven for training on Thursday a meeting was called, where we were told that the crew that raced in Poland was the selected crew for the Olympics.

Everyone was happy that a decision had finally been reached, however with two colleagues left out of the men’s eight life didn’t seem quite fair. I have trained and raced with these guys day in day out over the past few years and have every confidence in their ability, but there are only eight seats available and this situation was always going to arise.

In high performance sport a persons dreams can be shattered in seconds and this to me is one of the hardest parts to accept.

Before the Press conference scheduled for 10am we were issued with some of our Olympic Kit, which was a nice experience. Beijing will hopefully be my first Olympics and this felt like we are all a step closer to the event. On the Saturday after completing training we headed to Birmingham to be issued with our full Olympic Kit.

I returned home with three suitcases full of kit. Now finding somewhere to hide it so my friends wouldn’t “borrow it” while I’m away on training camp was going to be a bigger task than I envisaged!