boat because they have a big chance of winning medals and becoming famous.


desperate to become a part of that


The young boys are


of different crews in the boat since 2006. “The Golden Four has had such an unprecedented story of success in Danish sports history that everybody wants to be a part of it. The young boys are queuing up to get into the national training centre (in Copenhagen) and are desperate to become a part of that boat because they have a big chance of winning medals and becoming famous. Therefore, we can easily attract the biggest talents of the country,” says Fransson.


Looking to peak in Amsterdam The Danes were also dominant at the European Championships in Belgrade at the end of May. Kasper Winther Jørgensen, Morten Jørgensen, Jacob Søgaard Larsen and Jacob Barsøe proved far too strong for their competitors and in the final they defended their gold medal from Seville, winning by almost a boat length in front of Great Britain in second place. However, despite winning the gold, the most experienced member of the crew, Morten Jørgensen, reveals that the crew members still have some way to go to reach their best form. “We certainly weren’t looking to reach the peak of our form in Belgrade, unlike the rest of the Danish national team squad. Physically we are doing very well, but we strongly need to improve our endurance and especially our oxygen uptake before the World Championships in Amsterdam, which is the highlight of our season,” says Morten Jørgensen. On the back of the gold medal in


High standards Such results, of course, raise the bar and the standards for others to follow. But the successes have never tempted the different crews to rest on their laurels, says the 42-year-old Eskild Ebbesen, who won the prestigious Thomas Keller award on the back of his incredible performances in the Danish LMX4, which already began back in 1994. “The


crew from the early days quickly set a standard ruling it impossible only to settle for putting in the same effort as the people who won gold; you always had to do better, go one step further and make sure that the development within the boat continued,” says Ebbesen. Indeed the success of the boat has


become nearly self-sustainable, reveals Bent Fransson, who has been coach


Belgrade, optimism is at a high in the Danish camp. And despite suffering one of their rare defeats, when they lost the World Cup final in Aiguebelette to New Zealand by 2.36 seconds, coach Fransson believes that his boys are on the right path for defending their World Championships gold medal from South Korea last year. “Last year we had all sorts of problems going into the European Championships. The crew was not in good shape, we had to make changes in the boat shortly before the championships and Morten Jørgensen was ill for an extended while. And we still won it. This year we have had lots of continuity in the boat. The crew have had the luxury of working together for a long period now, we have no injuries. So, really, the sky is the limit for us,” Fransson concludes. ROW360


ROW360 // Issue 001 71


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