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Ginn freed-up for next challenge

 

Ginn freed-up for next challenge

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AOC
Ginn freed-up for next challenge

The success of Australia's rowers at the recent Poznan and Munich World Cups has highlighted the strengths within the team...

The success of Australia's rowers at the recent Poznan and Munich World Cups has highlighted the strengths within the team, illustrated the benefits of several new initiatives, and thrown up a few challenges ahead of August's World Rowing Championships in Eton, England.

Two-time Olympic champion Drew Ginn, with Duncan Free, claimed gold in the Men's Coxless Pair at the Poznan World Cup.

With the imminent return of Olympic legend James Tomkins, the success of the Ginn-Free combination raises a potential selection challenge.

"I guess it's not a bad dilemma to be in," Rowing Australia's High Performance Director, Noel Donaldson, said.

"James is obviously a tremendous athlete but it gives me and the other selectors some food for thought ahead of the Beijing Olympics."

The integration of the men's and women's squads following the 2004 Athens Olympic has proved a tremendous success.

"Over the past couple of years both the men's and the women's squads have contributed to our strong international results," Donaldson said.

"The squads now travel and train together and both head coaches are in constant dialogue.

"Last year we saw the women's team have a particularly strong international season, but now the men's team is starting to win medals. We also delayed the selection of crews so we could try a number of different combinations before the World Cups. This provided some added competition for the athletes and it will allow the selectors to pick the best-possible crews ahead of the World Championships in Eton."

In between the team's two World Cup events, the world's pre-eminent high performance expert, Thor Nilsen, visited the AIS European training hub in Varese, Italy to lend his expertise to the team.

"Thor assisted in a number of areas including team training methodology, sports nutrition, selection and deciding boat priority, and that assistance proved to be pivotal in our results at Poznan," Donaldson said.

Rowing Australia

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