30 May: Leander athletes kicked off the international season in style at the first World Cup regatta of the season in Munich. Twenty returned with medals - four of them gold - to show for their efforts in helping Great Britain win the trophy for the most successful nation.
The new line-up in the British men's four included Leander's Alex Gregory, Matt Langridge and Ric Egington, together with Molesey's Tom James, who replaced Alex Partridge, and together they dominated the event.
With memories of last year's fourth place at the world championships still fresh in their mind they were led briefly by Germany at 500m before they took control and went on to cross the line a length clear of the field,.
"It feels like a whole new crew dynamic this year and that makes it fresh and different" said stroke Alex Gregory.
"We did what we wanted to do - it's still not perfect but it’s a good performance to build on" said Leander captain Rick Egington.
Pete Reed and his Molesey partner Andy Triggs-Hodge hadn't won a World Cup regatta in the men's pair since their arch-rivals from New Zealand appeared on the scene exactly two years ago.
With a narrow lead over the field in the early stages they opened up the throttle and drew right ahead to take their first gold medal since 2009. But both men knew it was a hollow victory in the absence of the Kiwis, who have now notched up 12 successive wins in head-to-head encounters.
"It felt pretty good, it wasn't crazy and it's a good progression on the training" said Pete Reed afterwards.
The 'Red Express' - Leander's Matt Wells and Marcus Bateman - came within just 0.05 sec of another gold in the men's double sculls.
From the halfway it had all come down to a race between the two German crews and GB. But despite a storming burst in the home stretch the red-haired duo couldn't come back on Eric Knittel and Stefan Kruger, the Germans who took the world title in 2009. The second German crew took the bronze medal.
"We led off the start and tried to soak up everyone's pressure from there. It felt like we were the salami in a German sandwich", said Bateman of the race to the line.
But there was disappointment for Olympic and world champions Mark Hunter and Zac Purchase in the lightweight men's doubles.
The former Leander captain and his Marlow partner had taken an early lead but by the 500m they had been overhauled by France and Germany. The two leaders opened up the gap on GB who were a length adrift at 1500m, before Belarus came through hard to snatch the bronze.
"We've put in a lot of training and will now go back and work on a few things", said Hunter.
There were further shocks to come for reigning world champions, this time for the lightweight men's four.
Leander's Paul Mattick, Chris Bartley, Richard Chambers and their London crew mate Rob Williams were fourth at halfway but still in contention. With little to choose between the leading four boats, the field was as close as last year's world championship final.
A gut-wrenching burst past the grandstands pulled the British four right up on the action and as France, Denmark and GB crossed the line it was too close to call, and needed a photo to give Denmark the verdict with France taking silver just 0.02 sec ahead of GB.
"At this stage of the season we're not ready to do our very best race", said Paul Mattick. "But it's a good step on again".
The next world champion crew to settle for bronze was the GB women's quad scull which included Leander's Fran Houghton, Debbie Flood and Annie Vernon with Gloucester's Beth Rodford. Ukraine set the early pace ahead of Germany and GB. With 500m to go the Ukrainians lead was unsurmountable and the world champions never looked like threatening the Germans.
"Right now we are all pretty angry. It's important to feel how bad it is to lose to inspire you through the training sessions" said Annie Vernon of their defeat.
"The whole weekend has highlighted what we need to work on. It's all totally achievable. You never want to finish down but you can learn from it", said Fran Houghton.
The women's eight, which included Leander's Jo Cook, Emily Taylor, Lou Reeve and Katie Solesbury, were well-placed through the first 500m of their final, lying a close second to the Netherlands.
By halfway the Dutch had eased into a strong lead while Britain and Romania raced for silver, with a late push by the GB crew finally earning them their first medal of the 2011 campaign.
"We were very focussed on our boat and we didn’t really know what to expect from the Dutch and I think we let them get too far ahead" said Jo Cook.
The final race of the regatta was the men's eights where the British world silver medallists were keen to have another go at the German world champions.
As expected the Germans took the early lead, with France second but only half a length separating all six boats at 400m before Germany went a length clear of the field at halfway.
But the race was far from over for the British eight who stormed back into the running in the second half and were still closing on the Germans as they approached the line.
But it was all too late as the advantage of home water helped Germany hang on to gold with Britain taking silver and Poland third.
“It was a good start to the World Cup series and a good base to build from” said Alex Partridge.
