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Top British rower Peter Reed was named as
Newcomer of the Year at the BBC West Sports Awards in December
2005. It's an award which has capped a phenomenal twelve months
for the Nailsworth-born rower.
In 2005 Peter won an incredible three Gold
Medals on the World Cup circuit in the Men's Four, and he was
also part of the Gold medal winning crew in the World
Championships in Japan. It's an amazing achievement for a man
who's only been in the sport of rowing for a little over four
years.
BBC Gloucestershire caught up with Peter for
a quick chat about his fantastic year and his plans for the
future ...
2005 wasn't a bad year
for you really?
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Peter Reed (2nd left)
celebrates victory in Japan |
No, it was stunning. I went from just a young
rower at the start of the year to selection for the GB squad.
Becoming World Champion this Summer was a terrific end to a
great season.
What about 2006, what
will you hope to achieve?
I'm hoping to keep my world title and become
world champion again. This time the UK is hosting the World
Championships at Dorney Lake at Eton College, Windsor and it's
going to be very special to row in front of a home crowd on the
world circuit. Also to go undefeated again through the season,
keep my place in the fours and go on to become Olympic Champion
in 2008 is definitely what I'm planning to do.
Is everything geared
towards the Olympics now?
The World Championships is the next big
hurdle but at the back of my mind is always the Olympic Games in
Beijing 2008. That's something that every athlete at world level
wants to achieve - going to the Olympics and becoming an Olympic
Champion.
As a Gloucestershire
boy born and bred, how did you get into rowing?
It's surprisingly easy to do. I started
rowing at the University of the West of England in Bristol - I
just joined the university club and then moved on as I got
better and progressed in the sport. I went to Oxford University
and then got selected for the national team. But there are clubs
all over the country, GB Rowing is looking for new talent all
the time and it's open to anyone who wants to get up and have a
go at it.
So you didn't start
very early then?
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Peter Reed (left) celebrates
victory in Lucerne |
No, I've been in the sport for four years
now. I've just had a really good run at it and taken to the
sport. I've loved every second of it. It doesn't take long to
get very good, it just takes a long time to really polish it and
become perfect.
How do you spot a good
talent in rowing, because it's not like football where you can
see if someone has talent straight away. If you're one of a
group of four, how does someone spot that one is actually better
than the others in that group?
You need a really keen eye. It takes coaches
twenty or thirty years to develop the eye for spotting a really
good rower. The early signs are being really big and really
strong - having physical capacity to never stop. There's a
mental side of things, there's a technical side with good
rowing. It's looking at a person who can row in the water and
least disturb the boat, least disturb the water to maintain
efficiency - that's the way you spot a good rower.
Is there much
camaraderie between you as a team because there might be eight
guys fighting for four places - is it all done through gritted
teeth?
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The BBC's Bob Hunt presents
the trophy to Peter |
No, we're all best of friends. We see each
other all the time and, just because of the nature of the sport,
there comes a time in selection where you're put up against your
mates and it's business as usual - it's all down to who's the
fastest guy. Everybody in the team wants the fastest boat to go
and represent the country, they're very supportive once the
selection is over. Hopefully I'll be in the crew this year.
Rowing has got a high
profile, Olympic-wise, which is thanks to Redgrave, Cracknell
and the boys - you've got a lot to live up to, really, haven't
you?
Very much so, yeah. I think it's the sport
that Britain has done the best in over the last twenty years in
Olympics, if you look at it. The nation has really got behind
the Olympic teams in rowing and look to it for a sure Gold
medal. In the past they've got it, hopefully we're going to hold
that mantel and carry on. But we're looking to the future rather
than the past and we've got a very strong team this year.
Obviously you follow a
very strict training regime - were you allowed to enjoy
Christmas?
I've had a great Christmas. We train three
times a day, every day but we had Christmas Day off and Boxing
Day was only one session so it was very relaxing in comparison
to our normal regime!
Peter Reed was talking to Bob Hunt of BBC
Gloucestershire on Boxing Day 2005 |
On the pull
