Alan Campbell will take to the relatively unfamiliar waters of the Olympic course at Eton Dorney this weekend with a relatively familiar task. This proud product of Coleraine needs to win the Senior Trials in his single scull, again, just as he has in the last six years, if he is to maintain momentum towards his heart's desire: a gold medal on the same course next year.

At 27, Campbell has established himself as one of the world's best scullers, taking bronze at last year's World Championships in New Zealand behind the two men who remain plumb centre of his sights as he prepares for what he hopes will be the biggest race of his life on the same stretch of water.

Ondrej Synek, the winner on Lake Karapiro, and home sculler Mahe Drysdale were the two who finished ahead of the Irishman, and with reigning Olympic champion Olaf Tufte they are the main men Campbell envisages taking on, and overcoming, over the final 500 metres of the Eton Dorney course on that appointed day. Not that they are the only threat by any means.

"It will be a really competitive field," Campbell said as he prepared earlier this week. "But I definitely believe in myself, and I believe I've got what it takes to win that gold medal. It will come down to who really wants it the most in that final.

"We will all have sculled 36,000 kilometres, and done 800 hours of weight training, 400 hours of cross training and a huge amount of other work.

"For every second we race in the final it will be over 10 hours of training, and for the first 1500m it will come down to all that training, but for the last quarter, when your lungs are burning and it feels as if red hot pokers are being pushed down them and you can feel the veins around your teeth bulging, it will come down to who can delve down into their heart and soul the most."

At 6ft 3in and 15 stone, Campbell, who managed to finish fifth in the last Olympic final despite having had a knee infection requiring an operation on the eve of the Beijing Games so severe that one doctor told him he would not even be walking in time for the final, is hardly a weakling.

And the rigorous routine set by his coach Bill Barry, a former sculler who took silver in the fours at the 1964 Olympics, which involves him lugging around tractor tyres, sawing huge logs and running up sand hills, has hardened his body to match his resolve.

But even Campbell has to acknowledge the physical power of Synek, who is two inches taller. As the Irishman puts it: "He's a bit of a unit, so he is."

Being a terrifying physical specimen, however, is not the be all and end all in this sport, and particularly in sculling, where technique has such a bearing.

Campbell says every possible angle is being looked at by the British team to optimise his performance in the boat.


"We've got computers on the boat trying to work out if we can make up any margins," he said. "We are looking at different things like redesigning the blades so we could gain maybe three and a half metres over the course of 2,000. The small things add up, so we are working on all aspects.

"And I definitely feel the boat is moving better than ever. I've done a number of pbs already this year in the gym, so now the hope is that I will be transferring those pbs to the water this year."

But before Campbell can get too caught up in future calculations, he knows he needs to go through some more domestic strife as rival scullers of the calibre of Matt Wells, world silver medallist in the double scull, and the up-and-coming Brendan Crean.

"I have to watch my back the whole time," he said. "The other guys are out to get me. The trials are some of the least enjoyable races I do each year. I haven't really got the option of finishing anywhere other than first."

Apart from Campbell's contribution, there were eight other medals contributed by British rowers at last year's worlds, four of them gold. Not bad, post Redgrave, post Pinsent, post Cracknell...

"British rowing has really come into its own," Campbell added.

"We had a lot of really top individuals, like Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Matthew Pinsent, and it wasn't the case that we relied on them but they were real standout athletes.

"People wondered what would happen when they finished. But what has happened is they've inspired a whole new generation of rowers and it's the strongest team we've ever had.

"It was the best performance at a World Championships and that's a huge amount of momentum to carry with us going into the Olympics.

"I know even those who won are treating it as if they came second in the gym. They're hungry to maintain that gold standard.

"There's a good amount of confidence; we should be confident, but people are doing it in the right way. Nobody is getting complacent."

He is evidence of that. But the intensity of his ambition is astonishing.

Mike Rowbottom, one of Britain's most talented sportswriters, has covered the last five Summer and four Winter Olympics for The Independent. Previously he has worked for the Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, the Sunday Correspondent and The Guardian. He is now chief feature writer for insidethegames