Katherine Grainger said that her return to competitive racing at this weekend’s GB Rowing Trials Senior & U23 Trials had confirmed she still loves the sport – and is hungry for more success.
The four-time Olympic medalist from Glasgow took a two-year break after memorably winning double scull gold with Anna Watkins at London 2012 but returned to training this winter. And she enjoyed an encouraging weekend at Caversham, winning both the time trial and her semi-final before finishing runner-up to Vicky Thornley in Sunday’s final.
“It would have been lovely to take the title again but it was a feisty second place,” said Grainger.
“I always prefer winning but if I have to come second to someone then Vicky is a good person to come second to. She is an amazing sculler and honestly it is a pleasure to train and race against her. I definitely feel like I’m progressing. It has been a bit of a rollercoaster and it was always going to be. I will never think it’s enough until I am back on top and performing at a level that I expect to be at.”
“My standards haven’t dropped just because I have taken time out, if anything they have gone up and that’s where they need to be if I am realistic about achieving international success again. The fight is still there, the hunger is still there, the desire is still there but I guess the big thing for me this weekend is I still want to enjoy racing and I did. That’s a great sign – if that had gone away that would have been the biggest worry for me.”
Sir David Tanner, GB Rowing Team Performance Director, said: “We have had some outstanding racing today with some fantastic tight finishes and whilst most of our top guns have performed to their best we have seen some young talent come through as well. The attitude and discipline of our rowers this weekend has been exceptional and this will be a good base for us to form our boats for the European Championships over the next few weeks”.
Article thanks to Scottish Rowing and photo’s with thanks to GB Rowing