Twaddle plans a last Great effort

A long international career may be winding down for Nathan Twaddle.

Nathan Twaddle has yet to decide if his international rowing career will continue but he's sure on one aspect.

"This is definitely my last Great Race," the dual Olympian said ahead of tomorrow's race for the Harry Mahon Trophy between his Waikato University crew and Cambridge University on the Waikato River.

Twaddle climbed into the Waikato eight on his return from the Beijing Olympics with a bronze medal from the men's pair with George Bridgewater.

"I foolishly said it last year but this time it's definitely my last row in the event.

"And I want to go out on a winning note."

Twaddle said the appeal of the annual event, which Waikato has won on all but one occasion since its debut in 2002 was two-fold.

"It's quite cool to be in a big boat," Twaddle said. "It takes a bit of the pressure off you it's not that you're not trying as hard, you still are, it's just that you've got the support of eight people around you. And it's such a great event, I always enjoy the experience even though it hurts like hell.

"To be on your home track with the support of the Waikato community cheering you on is always something special to motivate you."

The vastly experienced international has been trying to integrate with the young crew in training this week as they attempt to stave off the challenge of a talented and determined visiting eight.

"We've been working on getting the combinations going, trying to gel together as a crew.

"It's not easy having a few guys come in at the last minute, including me," said Twaddle, who believes teamwork will be a huge factor in determining success tomorrow.

"Who can get the combinations together is a key there's a real need to get as much speed out of the blocks as possible."

Twaddle said the Waikato crew would endeavour to make the most of home knowledge of the course.

"It's always been a coxswain's race and we've got faith in (coxswain) Ainslee (Ashton).

"But they've done a good job in removing the local knowledge from being too big an influence with the changes to the rules.

"The visiting crews get a fair shot and last year anyway we had a big lead after getting the start but they (Harvard) nearly passed us at the end there was just a canvas in it.

"The advantage at one end can be a disadvantage at the other," Twaddle said.

"We've tried very hard to set a high standard every time we've gone out on the river this week, really trying to nail things in training."

Waikato coach Ross Tong said the changing nature of the river made it difficult to read.

"That's part of the beauty of the event," Tong said.

"It's not like a 2000m Olympic course race.

"It's an absolute dog fight. It's like a pub brawl, you've got to get that first punch in and if they go down, you've got to kick them to keep them down.

"If you have a clash of blades, you've got to come out on top."

Tong had plenty of praise for the involvement of his Olympic star.

"It's a wonderful example to the younger guys what he puts back, it's absolutely brilliant."

When Twaddle steps from the boat tomorrow and rests his aching muscles, he'll do so for an extended period. "I'll take some time out to ponder what's next," he admitted.

"If I was 24 I'd be guaranteed to continue. But the older you get, there's the need to start balancing out the thrill of international racing with the other things coming into your life weekends off, Christmas with the family.

"I think the break will let me find out pretty quickly where I'm at," said the 32-year-old, who won gold with Bridgewater at the 2005 world championships.

"There's an exciting opportunity to see if there's another pathway I can achieve in a career sense," Twaddle said.

"I'd hate to carry on just because I didn't have anything better to do."

Waikato University: David Eade, Graham Oberlin-Brown, Nathan Twaddle, Graeme Hill, Ben Hammond, Tobias Wehr-Candler, William Shaw, Jared Pehi, Ainslee Ashton (coxswain).

Cambridge University (from): Joel Jennings, James Strawson, John Clay, Shane O'Mara, Henry Pelly, Hardy Cubasch, George Nash, Colin Scott, Rob Wietermeyer, Helen Hodges (coxswain).

 

THE GREAT RACE -Previous crews and victories:  

MEN:

2007 Waikato beat Harvard University (US)

2006 Waikato beat Cambridge University (UK)

2005 Waikato beat Washington University (US)

2004 Waikato lost to Cambridge University (UK)

2003 Waikato beat Oxford University (UK)

2002 Waikato beat Cambridge University (UK)

 

WOMEN:

2007 Waikato beat Melbourne University (AUS)

2006 Waikato lost to Melbourne University

2005 Waikato beat Australian National Crew

2004 Waikato beat Melbourne University (AUS)

 

- © Fairfax NZ News