FEATURE: Jess Eddie gearing up for “intense” Rio 2016 Olympic Trials
The Olympic season has reached a “pretty intense” stage for Jess Eddie and her GB Rowing Team mates but she is excited about the prospects ahead as Rio 2016 moves ever closer.
Jess Eddie
With the Olympic Trials at Caversham less than a week away, GB’s rowers are putting in the miles in training as they make their last push for a Rio place this summer.
Eddie has already been to two Olympic Games, finishing fifth with the women’s eight at both Beijing 2008 and London 2012, and knows only too well the pressure rowers will face in the coming days as dreams are made and broken.
“The focus right now is purely on selection, that is the big thing weighing on people’s minds,” she said.
“It’s pretty intense but it’s in our own hands – if we’re good enough we’ll be in the boat, if we’re not we’ll miss out. We just have to make ourselves the best we can be.”
We are looking very strong and it will be really exciting to see what we can achieve
The Olympic Trials are taking place from March 21-23 and Eddie believes there will be some big performances from the women’s squad if the encouraging signs in training are anything to go by.
“The depth is looking really good in the women’s team,” said Eddie, who is one of the most experienced members of the squad having first represented GB as a junior in 2001.
“We are looking very strong and it will be really exciting to see what we can achieve.
“Each Olympic cycle is slightly different but in general I think the sport is just getting more and more professional, more slick.
“The margins are tighter and tighter, and the crews we are racing are getting faster and faster. We just need to put ourselves ahead of the game and at the front of the field.
“We were up there challenging with the eight last year and we’ve just got to push on from that.”
The GB Rowing Team is supported by the Lottery through UK Sport and has Science in Sport as a supplier. SAS Analytics is the Official Analytics Partner of British Rowing and the GB Rowing Team. Follow Britain’s rowers on the Road to Rio via Twitter – @GBRowingTeam – and at www.facebook.com/GBRowingTeam.
