The beginning of 2019 comes with the reminder that there are just over 500 days on the clock till the start of the Tokyo Games. There are many more thousands of training miles to be covered before we get there. On whose necks the rowing medals will be hung is, if anything, less clear now then it was a year ago. Nonetheless time hurtles on, and Tokyo will soon be upon us. As part of Row360’s preparation, we have asked British Olympic rower Tom Ransley to report on his experiences of the host country during his recent training camp in Tokyo with the British team. Beguiled by the ‘otherworldly’ and ‘ethereal’ elements that he discovered there, Ransley describes a “tapestry woven by ancient and modern threads…that harbours the dreams and aspirations of many future Olympians”.
One such Olympian is the 29-year old New Zealander Robbie Manson. He is a man who has proven his pedigree time and again over the last two years, yet his world championships medal cabinet remains conspicuously bare. For our cover story Manson speaks candidly about his successes and failures, going solo and taking on Mahé Drysdale.