Grainger opens door to resuming Watkins partnership

KATHERINE Grainger revealed yesterday that she has yet to feel she has done everything she can in rowing, and repeated her belief that she and Anna Watkins have a lot more to offer the sport if they choose to reunite their partnership.

The Olympic champions are both taking a year out at present – Grainger to complete her PhD, Watkins to have her first child – and neither has committed herself to anything beyond that. But, speaking in Dunblane at the Sport Scotland Institute of Sport annual high-performance conference, Grainger agreed that if she did return to competition, it would ideally be with her double-sculls partner from last year’s London Games.

In a witty and entertaining speech to a packed conference hall, the 37-year-old from Glasgow looked back over her four Olympic Games, the first three of which yielded silver medals. One of the differences last year, she explained, was that she and Watkins had so many weapons in their armoury and were prepared to deal with any number of challenges – challenges which did not materialise.

“We could have gone another step if we had to,” she said. “We didn’t need to – but we know that’s there.”

Speaking to The Scotsman after her speech, Grainger said not too much should be read into her use of the present tense, but insisted that, if she and the 30-year-old Englishwoman did reunite, they were confident they could go faster yet. “We do know it’s there. We’ve both said since, whatever happens in the future, then racing with each other is the fastest, most attractive option. It really is a special combination, and I think we both feel there are areas we could still improve on, together and individually.

“And that’s always exciting. If you continue a partnership there needs to be a reason why, and it has to be that there’s more challenges.”

Earlier this week, Watkins said it would be “madness” not to carry on in the same boat if the duo returned to rowing. But Grainger said both were sure to respect whichever decision the other came to, and there was not one specific date when the pair would have to make their minds up about a return.

“I haven’t actually spoken to her since she said that. The really lovely thing is because we have this incredible respect for each other – and we really do have this love for each other – we didn’t ever put any pressure on each other to make a decision or a commitment. We knew it would naturally come to whatever decision it comes to, and there would be no pressure or disappointment if one of us wanted one thing and the other one wanted another thing.

“Ideally we both agree. But I’m absolutely over the moon that she’s going to have a baby, and the future is unknown at the moment.

“I always said I’d take a year. The [Great Britain] team will reunite towards the end of September, and if I was going to continue I’d need to be back for that. And I think I’ll need to know before that.

“I honestly don’t think there’s a D-Day, because there are almost too many factors. If I 
decide to go back, Anna won’t have made that decision – she won’t know until after she has her baby in tow.

“It’s hard knowing that if I went back, shorter term Anna wouldn’t be there. She may or may not come back.

“If she were then to come back, I think we would both hope to reunite the partnership. It was so special.

“But I feel there are just so many stages between now and then to even think realistically about it. It’s whether or not I want to go back, whether she will want to go back after the baby, or if she’ll want to take four years off and come back for the Olympics after that.”

On 3 August last year, as the British duo won gold, there were even many within rowing who presumed it was Grainger’s last race, including those commentating on the race for television. The Scot herself resisted any such presumption then, and almost eight months on appears no closer to thinking of herself as a former competitor.

“You watch the commentary and it’s like ‘For one last time . . .’ and ‘This is the moment, this is it, her last shot’. In a way it did complete the story. It was the perfect ending if you did it on home ground.

“However, I thought I might feel ‘I’m done now. I’ve got everything I could ever want and I did it in the best possible way’. And that moment that Anna and I had will remain in history forever, and we both know how special it was. How could you ever top that?

“There is an element of that. But I think as a competitor, as a sporting performer, yes you live for those moments, but if you still have the drive and the passion then there’s no reason to stop just because you’ve got a perfect moment.

“I certainly didn’t want to go into that race thinking ‘This is the last time I’ll ever race’. 
Because I think that’s another pressure I didn’t need.

“And I’ve been enjoying it too much to definitely say I’m done with it. Because I know a lot of athletes who think ‘I don’t even enjoy it any more – I just want it done’.

Whereas I’m still like, ‘Well, you know what? I do love it’.

“It might be that I want to do other things in life. However, if that’s what I still want to do more than anything else, then I’ll do it.”