Glorious history placed a weighty burden on the shoulders of the UK’s rowers at the Tokyo Olympics. A measly return of one silver and bronze was as good as sinking without a trace. Tough questions were asked, and a refit undertaken. Four golds on a single sunny morning at the European Championships in Munich on Saturday provided a potent, if still incomplete, answer to whether the ship has been rapidly righted.
For Louise Kingsley, British Rowing’s new performance director, cycling along the riverbank for a close inspection as the regatta resounded to her squad’s victories, this is a promising foundation in the rebuild. There were enough fourth places in Japan that marginal gains might be transformative.
