Losing is a good lesson, insists Triggs-Hodge

By Chris Cottrell, Sportsbeat

OLYMPIC rowing champion Andy Triggs Hodge has admitted he is keeping his options open for London 2012.

NEW DIRECTION? Andy Triggs Hodge (pictured left) is trusting head coach Jurgen Grobler to make the right decision about which boat he'll race in 2010 (Getty Images)

Triggs-Hodge and Peter Reed, half of the successful British men's four in Beijing, moved into a pair in 2009.

And despite claiming silver at the World Championships in Poland, they were consistently edged into second placed by powerful New Zealanders Hamish Bond and Eric Murray.

However, Triggs-Hodge insists a series of defeats will be valuable in the journey to London 2012 but admitted the crew he would join remains up in the air.

Tom James, another member of the gold medal winning four, took the season off but has recently returned to training, prompting speculation head coach Jurgen Grobler would again put his top oarsman in a four - as he successfully did in Sydney, Athens and Beijing.

"It is too soon to say which boat I will be in for 2012," said Triggs-Hodge.

"Jurgen Grobler is the guy who makes the shots and calls the plays with regards to that. We had a lot to learn this last year and it was a really good experience to go through.
 
"The four year process of winning an Olympic gold medal involves losing. We achieved a lot of positive things in that pair outside of the final, which gave us a good indication for the future.
  
"However, it's all about winning on the day and if there's one person who gets that right is Jurgen - we have a lot of faith in him and trust him to make those decisions.
 
"Whichever boat I'm in my job is to go as fast as possible - you've got to keep your options open."