The King's Cup (a real love hate relationship)

Hi readers,

The 8th-10th of march was spent in Johnsonville on the Tambo river in Gippsand, Victoria. I was there on a training camp with the Victorian rowing team men's 8. In Australia, one of the most prestigious, if not the most prestigious domestic race, is the 'King's Cup'. Each state is able to enter a men's 8 for national honours held as the final race in the Australian Rowing Championships (as part of the broader interstate regatta with events across various boat categories). In 2008, while still eligible for the interstate youth 8 race, I was fortunate to have been selected into the King's Cup crew. It was a crew stacked with superstars such as; James Tomkins and Drew Ginn ('Oarsome Foursome' members and Athens Olympic pair champions), David Crawshay (won Olympic gold in the 2x in Beijing that year), James Marburg and Cameron McKenzie-McHarg (won Olympic silver in the 4- in Beijing), Karsten Forsterling (won Olympic bronze in the 4x in London last year), Tom Swann (member of the 8+ in London) and myself. Unfortunately, the NSW crew was stacked with just as many superstars and beat us across the line by 0.21 seconds to claim a win and begin their dominance in the event that has stretched on for the past six years.

Coming into the line in 2008, me in the bow seat hanging on for dear life as Drew in the stroke seat kept winding it up. 

Kings Cup podium 2008

At the time as a young and confident (somewhat cocky) athlete I was bitterly disappointed with the defeat. However I can vividly remember thinking to myself that I would have multiple chances to win the race over the next 5-10 years...how wrong I could have been....

• 2009: I barely rowed for the first half of the year due to a shoulder reconstruction in late 2008 following the U23 world champs and therefore wasn't a chance to row in the King's Cup. 
• 2010: following good rehabilitation from the shoulder injury I was selected into the crew, only to have been struck down with my leg condition for the first time just two weeks before the race. I was in hospital for surgery ten days before the race and obviously didn't get to the start line.
• 2011: I got my second chance at the King's Cup but we were beaten by the NSW boys by 2.5 seconds who won in the slick time of 5:22.08!
• 2012: I had been selected into the crew only to be struck down with my leg condition for the second time just three weeks before nationals and was subsequently unable to race. 
• 2013: experienced some serious deja vu having been selected into the crew and was stroking it in training, only to be struck down with my leg condition for the third time just four weeks prior to the race. 

So as I mentioned earlier, I was on a training camp with the crew earlier this month. We were rowing along the Tambo river (see video below) and I was distracting myself from the physical effort while we were some 80kms into the 130kms we would complete over the 3.5 days. Anyway, rowing along and my mind started reflecting on all the experiences I have had with this boat and this historical race, the two occasions I was involved in, and the times I watched from the sidelines/hospital bed. I thought how lucky I was to once again be back in this boat considering the significant periods last year where I wondered if I would ever row again. I may have become a little emotional...prior to slapping myself in the face and getting stuck back into what I was doing!

On March 29th I will race (touch wood) in the King's Cup for the third time. The outcome is yet to be determined, but if I was a betting man I would say that it will be a nail biter between us and the NSW men once again. Be sure to keep an eye out for the results and a follow up post. You can catch all the live results through the Unsinkable: The Race To Recovery Facebook page and Twitter account. 

Cheers, John