My planning for the Nations Cup 2000 was a little less organized than in the previous two years for the Junior World Rowing Championships. Uncertainty regarding both how many boats the Great Britain squad would enter and Alex's selection for one of the crews left me making travel plans at the last moment with my cousin as a companion supporter.
Nevertheless, one week later, various plane, train and bus journeys found my cousin and me sitting in the natural grassy grandstand on the edge of Copenhagen's charming Lake Bagsvaerd. Once again I was going through the mental preparation of psyching myself up for another stomach-churning, nail-biting, caffiene-transported regatta...and I am just a spectator!
Alex had been selected to row in the GB coxed four along with Chris Martin, Angus Rivers, Angus Warner and their cox Mark Snowball. They had come together two weeks previously for the GB training camp in Belgium where they had undergone the inevitable rigours associated with building a world class team in only two weeks! They were scheduled to row in one heat and, depending on their success, a repechage and, hopefully a final.
My cousin and I, on the other hand, had only four hours to train as world class spectators! Being a rowing spectator is a bit like being a triathlete. The first element is the endurance event. The long anxious wait after arriving at the regatta, politely watching someone else's protégé perform, and then the usually unheard cries of "good luck GB" as your own protégé's boat heads down to the start. The need to make split second decisions - whether to get another coffee or get rid of the last one and, all the while, trying to look very nonchalant about it! The middle element is the race itself which is generally the easy part. Despite the six minute adrenaline high, there is nothing to do for the first five minutes but listen to the commentator while the boats come into sight and screaming range. The final minute, on autopilot, is a flurry of jumping up and down, the aforesaid screaming and taking photographs with a very fast film. Fortunately, nonchalance is not required of the world class spectator during this stage of the proceedings! The final, post-race stage, while physically less demanding, requires supreme emotional control and great patience, with so much depending on the outcome of the actual race. The long wait before the crews join the spectators is never long enough to skillfully, and again nonchalantly, manage the distance between "well done!" and "well tried!".
And so, mental preparation behind us and grassy grandstand beneath us we set about the business of spectating. All GB boats made it through their heats in fine style. Our first lucky break came when Alex's coxed four got off to an excellent start and came in a confident first in their heat, beating Slovenia and Argentina into second and third place, thus avoiding the repechage. This meant that we could rest our spectating muscles and enjoy all that Copenhagen and the lovely Danish hospitality offered!
Sunday, finals day, found us again in line for coffee(s), again anxiously awaiting the start of Alex's race and again trying to appear nonchalant. The GB crowd's spirits were lifted by some fine early rowing including gold medals for the women's single and double sculls and the men's single sculls. The coxed four rowed late morning. Drawn in lane four, the GB crew got another excellent start and established an early lead. At 1200 metres, the Italians made a strong push to which the GB crew were able respond well, so finishing comfortably with GB's fourth gold medal of the regatta.
The medal ceremony could not happen soon enough and the Union Jack could not stay up long enough. Tears were quickly mixed with champagne before we raced to catch our flight home. As my short season of world class spectating drew to its close, I was happy not to pull another "well tried" out of my emotional kit-bag but finish with a suitably nonchalant, but privately heartfelt "well done" for Alex and his colleagues.
Jane Partridge