Reed and Triggs-Hodge happy to be underdogs ahead of World Champs

PETER Reed insists he and partner Andy Triggs-Hodge have settled for second best for the last time as they begin preparations for next month's World Rowing Championships in Poznan, Poland.

UNDERDOGS: Reed and Triggs-Hodge happy to head to World Championships with the pressure off

Having been members of the gold medal winning coxless four at the Beijing Olympics last year, Reed and Hodge decided to take on a new class this year and switched to the pair.

The duo took gold in their first international regatta together at the Banyoles World Cup, but have lost out to New Zealand pair Eric Murray and Hamish Bond on three occasions this season - including the World Cup events in Munich and Lucerne and the Henley Royal Regatta.  

But as the British men's squad head to Austria for an intensive altitude training camp ahead of the World Championships, Reed is adamant Poland is still a long way away yet.

"They‘re definitely beatable," said Reed. "We haven't let our heads drop and we know what we've got to do to beat them - it's going to revolve around physical and technical development over the next five weeks.

"Fortunately we've got the training camps and the opportunity to develop those things at the right level so it's an exciting time.

"I'm looking forward to the worlds but I'm putting it out of my mind at the moment and focusing on this altitude camp and training hard.

"I think we've seen the best of everybody now and I'm not worried about the rest of the world. We've laid down a marker with our performances and it's just the Kiwis we're going to be chasing."

While Reed and Triggs-Hodge floundered five seconds behind their New Zealand rivals at the final World Cup event in Lucerne, the newly-formed GB coxless four were raising a few eyebrows with an impressive victory.

But Reed insists he and Triggs-Hodge made the right choice in changing class and admits he is enjoying a more relaxed season compared to the stress of last year's Olympic build-up.

"That Olympic pressure is completely off us at the moment," said Reed. "It's a wonderful feeling to be able to come down to training every day enjoying the sport.

"It's good to be racing as the underdog as well. The focus is on another crew rather than us and we don't have that pressure of being the fastest in the field and setting the standard for people to chase you down - it's just a completely different dynamic.

"It's been a big change for us with who you're racing against and the racing style but they‘re all subtle changes and it keeps things fresh really.

"We're still confident because we know we are a very good pair. We're top of the British team and there's nothing we've done wrong - it just happens we've got an even faster pair in our event right now."