Andy Beadsworth interview

In Auckland Ed Gorman speaks to the former Olympian about GBR Challenge and his role within it

Andy with fellow Olympian and crewman Mark Covell

mfs: You are a senior member of the team. What is it like to be part of quite a big squad when everyone knows that, at the end of the day, a team is going to have to be picked and it's going to be difficult for some people who don't make it? How do you handle that?

AB: Depending on who you are, some people find it easier and some people find it harder. From my personal point of view I find it quite hard in a lot of ways just because I've done my Olympic campaigns for 10 or more years and I've been pretty much in control of the whole thing. I was a very big cog in a pretty small machine where now I'm now quite a small cog in a very big machine and, although I am one of the more senior members, I can still only exert a small amount of influence.

That's the way it is for most of us because the whole thing is much bigger than all of us - it's a new concept if you like, it's just different to what we've done before. There are some things you agree with, some things you like, some you don't and you can't have everything your way.

mfs: So what's you personal goal within the team?

AB: I'd like to drive the boat for sure but, we've had a lot of discussions about it, and I think everybody in the team feels that if they are not the best person to be on the boat, they don't want to be on the boat. So my actual personal goal is to be the best person and, taking that a step further, is actually to be the best person in New Zealand not the best person in Britain. Our dream goal is to be the best in the world.

mfs: Is it tricky for you that, as a helmsman, you are up against Ian Walker who happens to be the sailing manager when he might be under a certain amount of political pressure to do the job himself.

AB: It is difficult. It is probably as difficult for Ian as it is for me. We were peers on the Olympic scene but he is the sailing manager of the team and I am not and that's hard for me. But it's also hard for him because he has to deal with me. I think both of us have tried to make it as easy as possible so that it is as beneficial as possible. But I think there is that influence...but it's not the be-all and end-all of life.

mfs: But would you expect to see quite a lot of rotation, whether or not you start as a helmsman, so that there might be opportunities later?

AB: I've no idea. I don't think anybody really does. I think that at the end of the day we will do our best endeavours to select the best team to do the right job and that may mean that there's rotation. But it's not clear now and we're not sure that it's going to be clear later - it's quite a difficult position for everybody.

Continued on page 3...