WHERE IT ALL BEGAN . . . I was at school at Kingston, in southwest London, and someone had bust their neck playing rugby a few years earlier. I thought I’d rather try rowing.
MY FIRST SPORTING HERO I was 12 during the 1984 LA Olympics and Daley Thompson was on TV for two days solidly, on his way to decathlon gold. He was such an amazing competitor.
MY FIRST BIG LESSON You learn most from your mistakes. I was in the Olympic squad for the 1992 Games and a mate said: “We’re one short for our rugby match, can you sub in?” And I went, “OK, yeah.” I broke my shoulder and had to miss the Olympics. Then, four years later, I was in Atlanta for the Olympics and got tonsillitis on the day of the opening ceremony. I couldn’t race again. The biggest lesson is: don’t give up.
THE MOMENT I KNEW I BELONGED When I won the Under-18 World Championships. We all go to school with people who are quick when they’re 14, because they’ve hit puberty early. Later, everyone levels out, so by the time I got to 18 and thought, “You’re the best in the world in your age group, then you may as well give it a proper go.”
THE COACH I LOOKED UP TO Jürgen Gröbler, who is still the British chief coach at 73. I stopped in 2004 but spoke to him the week before I did the Boat Race last year. He’s not afraid to be unpopular, but he also doesn’t bear any grudges. I really pissed him off a couple of times but if you perform, he’ll back you.
BEST MOMENT IN ROWING When the GB men’s four first got selected together in 1997. Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent had won our only gold medal in Atlanta in 1996, and for the next Olympics they were going to be the four with me and Tim Foster. For those two to put their Olympic reputation in your hands, that was huge.
THE HARDEST THING ABOUT ROWING The lack of free time. We used to train seven days a week, six weeks, and then have a day off. We’d only have one weekend off a year, and then two weeks off after World Championships or the Olympics, so you couldn’t go away with a girlfriend or to a wedding. Or, if you did, you had a rowing machine in the car. It’s a lot of training and not much fun.
I LEARNT MOST FROM . . . Racing with Steve Redgrave. When I left school at 18, I went to the club where Steve rowed. If I could beat him one day a month, then one day a week, then every day, then I thought I’d have a chance of winning the Olympics. Training with him, you’d learn a lot. Then when you raced him you realise there’s a massive difference between good training and a good race. When we were standing on the Olympic podium at Sydney, I said to Steve: “What do we do now?” And he goes: “Drop the flowers and don’t cry.” That’s such a Redgrave bit of advice.
THE HANGOVER TO END ALL HANGOVERS? When we won the Olympics in 2000, our race was 10.30 in the morning, and then we were done. We had all agreed that we wouldn’t drink from New Year’s Eve 1999 until the Olympic final, which was nine months. We had our first beer at midday. We then carried on partying all night and as the sun was rising over the Sydney Harbour Bridge, I realised I had to be at the bridge for a BBC Breakfast interview. I’d come straight from the pub.
ADVICE FOR A SPORTSMAN OR WOMAN Back yourself. You need to be able to ask “Are you doing everything you can?” If you’re not honest with yourself, then there’s no point in doing it.
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