Molesey Boat Club have withdrawn from the elite men’s quad event at tomorrow’s Fuller’s Head of the River Fours regatta in London, which will disappoint those who were hoping to see the beginning of what may be one of the most improbable sporting comebacks.
Greg Searle, who won an Olympic gold medal in 1992 in the coxed pairs with his brother Jonny, is subtly testing the water about returning to top-flight rowing with a view, if he is still good enough, to competing in the 2012 Olympics, when he will be 40. He entered the first Great Britain trials last month, winning by almost two seconds against a field of fringe rowers, but faces a tougher task on Wednesday in a sculling test with the full senior squad.
“I’m just range-finding,” Searle said. “I’m training harder than I was but we’ll see how it goes.”
He was listed in Molesey’s first boat for the Head, from Mortlake to Putney, but although the club have scratched their entry, there are several other interesting quads.
Tideway Scullers defend their title with Alan Campbell, the Britain sculler, and Mah? Drysdale, the world champion from New Zealand, in the same boat nine days after Campbell beat Drysdale over the same course in reverse in the Wingfield Sculls.
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They will be challenged hard by a Reading University crew who won two World Cup silvers for Britain this summer and a Leander entry with four Olympians, including Mark Hunter, a gold medal-winner in Beijing, who returns to competitive rowing after a year off.
Tom James also returns to action for Molesey in the elite coxed fours event, rowing alongside Andrew Triggs Hodge, with whom he won Olympic gold in the four last year. Peter Reed competes for Leander.