Day off & building for Henley Royal - Oh and Happy Father's Day!

Today was a day off, it's been a while so it was nice to have a break.  It's been a mixed week and so good to get some time to prepare for the coming weeks.  Henley Royal will be our next race, our event is packed with talent - our first race will be against either Germany, Australia or USA (the gold, bronze and 6th place crews from last year's World Championships).

I had a great nap yesterday afternoon, much needed. I then had dinner with my brother Ben, Louise and my housemate James.  Louise cooked a great Terry&Aggy Chicken thing.  This morning I went coaching and then went to Women's Henley for a picnic lunch.  Above is a picture from my day, I'm there with Sarah, Kara and Louise [L to R].  James was taking the photo, good job really as he has a face for radio.  After a couple of hours by the river, and numerous duck attacks, I headed home to relax.  After mentioning Henley Women's there are invariably many "poo-sticks" and "competitive drifting" jokes, today I will refrain.

As anyone who has passed a Clinton's Cards in the last week will know, today is Father's day.  I am lucky to have a great dad who has done so much for me and all my brother's and sister's.  It would be nice to have our training centre closer to home as it would mean I could see my family more; I get to see Ben more often (he is studying in London and also rows for ULBC).  My dad was the one who got up early on school days to take me to training before lessons started, my dad was the one who was/is always in my corner, my dad is more of an influence on me than I would ever had imagined (for better or worse!!).  There are four other "Fathers" that have had a distinct influence on me and how I am.  My grandfathers, John Reilly and Patrick O'Donnell - both victims to cancer, both so much more than that.  JR took me to my first ever Sunderland game and encouraged my interest in sport, POD had genuine physical strength I am yet to see any Olympic athlete match in the gym.  In a paragraph I can't do justice to their stories, but they are regularly in my thoughts.  Two other "Fathers" that have shown me great support are Fr Corbett and Fr Hayden; they were my local parish priests as I grew up but are so much more than that to our family (Fr C is now based in Newcastle).  Fr Corbett was my sponsor when I was confirmed and he recently celebrated 40 years as a priest, he must be cracking on a bit now, but there are no signs of it showing.  Fr Hayden is calm, considered and, like Fr C, has a great sense of humour - a truly good man.

I best go, training starts again at 07:30, lots of sleep stops the wheels falling off.  Feel free to subscribe to blog posts on the left or leave comments below.

Oh nearly forgot, congratulations to Gina and Alex Partridge who became first time parents to Eva Florence!  Great Fathers Day gift!