Where the Mountains of Mourne Sweep down to the Sea

It's that time again, back in Newry for the final long distance assessment of the 2011-2012 season. It look's like we've escaped the bad weather that has rolled in over England and Scotland from Siberia bringing some very low temperatures. So far the forecast is good for the weekend. After a camp in Greece for a small group of athletes where we experienced windchill of -12C and more days on the ergometer than than even the most hardened athlete wishes to endure, Ireland feels postively tropical (for February that is). Cork has been basking in 8-10C temperatures for the past few weeks.

All in all, the number of people suffering any winter ills prior to the assessment is small. Sanita is suffering from a winter bug, but as anyone who has young kids knows, that's one of the risks of parenthood so whilst she has to sit out this weekend she'll be back shortly. As usual, Newry is an ergometer assessment followed by a water assessment and I look forward to seeing the results of athletes' training over the winter. There's still a big chunk of strength and endurance training to be done before we get too concerned about the speed work leading into the regatta season, but this assessment provides a measure of progress in the investment made over the winter.

Closing the gap on world class standards of performance is no easy feat. First of all, those leading the way do not stand still and wait to be be caught. Additionally, those seeking to close the gap have to push themselves right to the edge to make progress. It sounds quite simple, it is anything but. Pushing right to the edge is more difficult than it sounds. It's relentless, and one of the big dangers is not going over the edge. Once over the edge, it can be very difficult to recover the gains that were so hard fought for. All our athletes and programmes are young. Our senior athletes are young senior athletes, and programmes like our junior programme are just developing but from my perspective there has been very definite progress. I'm seeing our young senior athletes pushing harder now that they've seen the standard and understand what's required. Over the past three years the performance and training numbers of our junior athletes have jumped forward. The bar has been raised and athletes have responded. As a support system (club & HP), all we can do is provide guidance and support, athletes have to have a real hunger to succeed, and I see that desire fermenting in our athletes.

We have a final Olympic qualifying chance in May, and I know that our athletes are giving it their all, but none of us are being unrealistically overoptimistic. We know what the standards are, and we'll do our utmost to give our athletes their best chance, but in an evolving system success cannot and should not be measured by qualification alone. Putting that expectation on a young group of athletes does not help. We have some great young athletes at all levels; junior, under 23, and senior. It's essential that we create pathways where these athletes can develop and move from one level to the next, serving their time, building their skills and physical capabilities, and finally standing on the top step where all of us would wish to see them. I've been down this road before and I know just how difficult it is. It's not the beautiful vision of a postcard perfect lake at sunrise or sunset, it's the endless hours of paddling, erging and gym work, seemingly a million miles from the beautiful lakes of europe, that make the difference. 

From the training returns across all our squads, I know our momentum is building, step by step. To our athletes, believe in yourself, keep pushing. Fortune favours the brave.

Matthew Pinsent talks about what it takes to win at an Olympic level