Alan Sinclair feels there is more to come from Great Britain’s eights boat after a second-place finish at the World Cup in Belgrade.
The GB eight were pipped to the line by world champions Germany and Inverness rower Sinclair is optimistic they can improve, with the next World Cup event less than three weeks away.
It was a new-look boat in Serbia, with Sinclair, Josh Rudkin and cox Henry Fieldman the only rowers remaining from the World Championships in Sarasota last year. Olympic champions Will Satch and Moe Sbihi were added to the crew by head coach Jurgen Grobler and further changes may happen before this year’s worlds in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, in September.
While Sinclair believes they were hampered by the lack of a competitive heat – only six boats entered the eight and a “race for lanes” provided a dress-rehearsal for the actual final – there is scope to improve for the trip to Linz in Austria on June 21.
He said: “It was a better showing but not what we’d been doing in training. For some reason it just wasn’t quite there. We still showed good fight and that we’re in the ballpark, despite not being at our best. Moving forward it’s not a disaster by any imagination. It’s the first race on the calendar and we know who the best boat in the world is.
“Normally you have a feeling of progression from the first race, that you’re building towards the final. There’s not many crews in the eight and there’s no boats that have similar times to it, so we need a more competitive atmosphere. But there was no major dramas with the new guys that came in to the boat and it’s a learning experience for the next one.”
The 32-year-old, who studied at Aberdeen University, still feels he is getting used to being in the eight, after spending the majority of his international career in the pairs or four.
Sinclair added: “I still don’t feel like I own my seat yet, in terms of being comfortable with how I’m rowing. It was said the selection for the first World Cup would not be the one for the World Championships and I wouldn’t be surprised if they change the order of the crews. Jurgen wants to see how everyone develops and you can’t get that all done in one World Cup.”