‘We have the experience and the power to be the boat that everyone fears in five months’ time’
Ahead of World Cup I, Matthew Tarrant believes Great Britain could be the boat to beat in the men’s four at this year’s World Rowing Championships
Matthew Tarrant and Stewart Innes at the GB Rowing Team Senior and U23 Trials (Naomi Baker)
It may still be more than five months away, but Matthew Tarrant believes Great Britain’s new look men’s four could be the boat to beat at September’s World Rowing Championships in Sarasota-Bradenton.
Tarrant is part of Jürgen Grobler’s top boat, which will take to the water for the first time at the first World Rowing Cup event of the summer in Belgrade this weekend. He is joined by Olympic champions Moe Sbihi and Will Satch, as well as world champion in the men’s coxed pair Callum McBrierty, who replaces the injured Stewart Innes.
Tarrant and Innes were two of the standout performers across the Winter Assessments, finishing third at the GB Rowing Team Senior and U23 Trials after a mechanical problem upset their surge for the line in the final.
Now, in the leading men’s boat for the World Cup in Belgrade, Tarrant believes Great Britain has the chance to lay down a marker to the rest of the world in Serbia.
“It’s quite a lot to live up to, with the reputation the four has, but I don’t really think about it to be honest,” Tarrant said.
“Everyone in a boat has earned their place in it, and you can take confidence in the fact that you’ve already done the work to get that seat. Now I need to keep producing. We have the experience and the power to be the boat that everyone fears in five months’ time.”
The World Championships in Florida are the main goal for the GB Rowing Team this season, with an early outing in international competition this weekend to gauge the levels of the new look team at the start of the Tokyo 2020 Olympiad.
And Tarrant, a spare at Rio 2016, admits that having two Olympic champions in the boat makes his job slightly easier.
“I’m in the two seat, so I’m making the calls. It makes my life easier [having two Olympic champions] when I get my words muddled up or I’m not able to get out what I’m thinking – those two are very quick to react and already know what I’m trying to say. I don’t necessarily have to tell them what to do, they already know what needs to change.”
Follow all the action from World Cup I on the British Rowing website, as well as on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
