PHOTOGRAPHY NAOMI BAKER & ANTHONY BENOIT
There was a flavour to the 2015 world championships which pictures cannot capture. A sense of thrumming, desperate intent and excitement which has never before been seen at a worlds, running right through from day one to day eight. The Rio Olympics are coming, and rowers who want to be there were fighting for their sporting lives from the very start.
Record-setting numbers tell the tale: 498 crews in 26 events, from 75 countries with a total of 1266 competitors. That's 44 more crews than in 2011, most of them in Olympic and Paralympic events. The places for Rio are fewer, and more people were after them. Time for some serious competition.