THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT Pinsent and Cracknell’s subsequent win at the Oberschleißheim World Cup came against a depleted field, but they were Jürgen’s priority boat at the 2003 Worlds, and the British flagship had not failed to win for twelve consecutive years. When the international field returned to for the 2003 World l’Idroscalo Championships, the 1999 World Champion Australian Pair of Ginn and Tomkins was still an unknown quantity for that year, having skipped the World Cup races to train on the other side of the World at home. Pinsent: “They didn’t get onto the podium in Seville and were that much hungrier in 2003 because of it. They certainly were not an unknown quantity to us in 2003.”6921 In the final, the Australians took a half length lead on the field in the first 500. By the 1,500 they had open water on Croatia and Italy, with Great Britain a third of a length further back. In the last 500, Italy faded and South Africa moved up. At the finish it was 1 AUS 6:19.27, 2 CRO 6:20.75, 3 RSA 6:21.70, 4 GBR 6:23.26. The result shook Cracknell and Pinsent. The result shook Grobler. After twelve years and thirteen Golds, it was the first international championship final Matthew had lost since 1990. 2004 It was to be a rocky road to the Olympic course at Schinias. In late February, 2004, after running pairs trials and a pair matrix (with Pinsent and Cracknell on top), Jürgen announced that the priority boat for the Athens Olympics would change from the coxless- pair to the coxless-four, and so, as it had been prior to Sydney, the challenge became finding two oarsman to join the lead pair. 6921 Pinsent, personal correspondence, 2007 The men he first chose were Steve Williams and Josh West.6922 Alex Partridge soon replaced West, but then the injuries started to mount. Matthew Pinsent: “I had tonsillitis over the trials in April, and James then took his turn and went out with a stress fracture of his rib for the World Cup in Poland. [He was replaced by Ed Coode. They won anyway, with 2003 World Silver Medalist Germany second and Slovenia third.] “Then, just as we thought we would finally get up and running at Munich, [James] gets a chest infection, and we had to race the final with a spare. [They had won their semi-final with Cracknell in the boat but came in fifth in the final with Tom Stallard in Cracknell’s place, as the superb defending World Champion Canadians arrived in Europe and won over Germany and Slovenia.] “We did well in the run up to Lucerne with all four selected athletes training together.”6923 Lucerne At Lucerne in June, the British and Canadian boats won the two morning semi- finals and lined up in the afternoon final next to one another and eyeing each other. The Canadians took a deck in the first 500 and pushed out to half a length by the 1,000. Everyone else was open water down as Grobler’s crew began to reel in Spracklen’s after the half-way point. With 500 to go, the margin was down to a third of a length with the British continuing to chip away at the lead. Then in the last 250, the U.S. Four, qualifiers for the final only through the repêchages, stunned everyone as they tore through first the Brits 6922 Pinsent, The change no one saw coming, Rowing News, May, 2004 6923 Pinsent, As the world turns, Rowing News, September, 2004 1925
