Waikato out for Great Race win against Oxford
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/2890470/Waikato-out-for-Great-Race-win-against-Oxford
Graham Oberlin-Brown hasn't had much time to sit and ponder a disappointing European campaign.
The Te Awamutu rower is part of the Waikato University crew that will battle Oxford University in the Gallagher Great Race on the Waikato River on Sunday.
Since his lightweight coxless four's struggle for form in the World Cup and world championship regattas over recent months, Oberlin-Brown has turned his thoughts to a win on Sunday and the year-long build up to the 2010 world champs at Lake Kara piro.
"You place a lot of high expectations on yourself," Oberlin-Brown admitted following the failure of the rookie Kiwi lightweight crew to fire in Europe.
"We were an inexperienced crew and we never found that top-end speed," he acknowledged.
But he's still keen on them working together towards the 2012 London Olympics.
"Ideally we want to keep the four going to London 2012. It'd be good to race a lightweight four there."
But only Oberlin-Brown and James Lassche were named in the Rowing New Zealand summer squad recently, with crew-mates Todd Petherick and Richard Beaumont omitted, making it difficult for the four to build on their European experience.
"Ideally we need to get our combinations going. I'd imagine me and James will be in a pair most of the summer."
The summer squad training starts on Monday and Oberlin-Brown admitted that because of the Great Race training, he's not had much of a break.
"It's a pretty fine line. I've been surfing with some mates, some of us have got uni going on it's just a matter of staying away from the daily routine at Karapiro."
For now, he's out to reverse last year's defeat in his Great Race debut against Cambridge University.
"We've been playing musical chairs since we've got back (from Europe) trying to sort a good crew set-up," Oberlin-Brown said.
"There's some strong club guys that have been the backbone of the crew while some of us have been away in Europe.
"The river takes a lot of getting used to we've been rowing fives times a week in the mornings to get that combination right. Nathan Twaddle has a lot of experience on it and we've been trying to feed off him."
Oberlin-Brown said the coin toss on the morning of the race was a critical part.
"It's a big thing a lot can be gained or lost from which side of the river you start on," he said.
"The coxswain has a large role to play, keeping us in close to the river banks and away from the currents."
Oberlin-Brown was wary of the strong Oxford University crew featuring Kiwi Olympian George Bridgewater. Ad Feedback
"George said he wasn't going to come over with a half-pie crew. We were at The Rowers Arms the other night for a function and were sizing each other up they look pretty decent.