The golden days may still be to come, in more than one sense, but Great Britain’s quest to rule the waves once again has discernible momentum. Rowing was a sore point at Tokyo three years ago but this year’s brood made a more than satisfactory start at a sodden Vaires-sur-Marne facility whose crowd, huddled under umbrellas for much of the four-hour session, nonetheless exuded opening-day enthusiasm.
It was the women’s quadruple sculls crew, racing in the day’s final heat, that pointed tantalisingly towards a return to the era when Olympic medals were second nature. Georgie Brayshaw, Hannah Scott, Lola Anderson and Lauren Henry have world and European titles to their name but strange things can happen when the focus intensifies and immortality lies within reach.
