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Matthew Pinsent guides the reader through his career, from the first moments in a rowing boat as a teenager, selection in the Junior World Championships, life on the Oxford Boat Race team through to his partnership with Steve Redgrave and the formation of the coxless four, ending with a nice diary entry format of his experience leading up to and through to the Olympic final in Athens.
The only disappointing aspect of the book is there isn't really a great deal of autobiographical detail, not even when the great man's birthday is or much about his experiences off the water; such as involvement with the IOC etc... However after reading a little way into the book you soon appreciate that Matthew is a very private man and by the end of the book you will have nothing but utter admiration and respect for him as a supreme athlete and ambassador for British sport and also as the person he is. (I am a little biased as I'm a fan and also got to meet him a few days ago!)
Unless you are involved with rowing at some level you will be surprised and shocked at the tenacity, courage and willpower a rower of Olympic standard needs to achieve their dreams. It certainly makes you think of how few people there are whom could endure the training required.
The book also gives some interesting insights on dynamics and relationships within rowing clubs, teams and between rival nations. All in all, a great read!
This book isn't challenging, but it's a good read. He doesn't obviously make many allowances for non-rowers, there are plenty of technical terms in there which perhaps a non-rower might not be able to always skip over, but that's not really a criticism. What comes across clear as day is that he's someone who doesn't take for granted that what he is, what he does and what he has achieved. He seems very balance, personable, humble and grateful.
But there's so much not here that would have made the book even better. It's very factual, lots of descriptions of races and of specific events. He doesn't spend a massive amount of time analysing and parsing through the things he's experienced.
For several years he was a member of the IOC, yet this isn't even mentioned! I would have found his inside story on that shady institution fascinating. Perhaps he hankers to return or was worried that his comments might have damaged London's 20112 bid? But to not even mention it seemed strange.
Similarly, in the lead up to Sydney, one of the reasons that the Coxless Four was so popular was the TV programme Gold Fever, yet he didn't mention that for 18 months he and his crew had video diaries. It would have been interesting to learn about how that affected them.
It rolls along easily enough and you'll learn some things; non-rowers especially, will get a good picture of just what it is that drives us rowers to train for hours and hours on cold winter mornings. It's inspirational ... and there enough gaps that volume two, when it appears, will be worth reading, too.
However...
The book seems to have been prepared in haste with poor continuity and... Read more
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