Rower Ben Kirsop, a Perago Trust recipient in 2015, 2016 & 2017 provides an update on his training and competition:
I wanted to give you an update on where I'm at this season.
After I returned from Bulgaria last year the advice I received was to focus on my Erg time. I took that on-board and put on some extra weight and worked towards pulling a good 2K Erg. I achieved that goal and PB'd with a 6.03 in January (in the top 2 or 3 for the WRPC) and then slimmed down to race weight to build up to the National Champs. I went on to have probably my best performance at the national's ever winning gold in the U22 double with Olly Stephens and Bronze in the Single I was very happy with how things had gone and felt very comfortable with where I was at going into the U23 trials.
At the trials I again Erg'd very well and then felt I did very well in the seat racing as well. This year the trials were a lot different than previously. Very, very stressful to the point where 2 athletes quit during the trial.
At the conclusion of the trial I was told I wasn't being named in the team at this point as they had had concerns over my consistency across the season (some due to minor injuries) and that they weren't just looking at my performance at the champs.
What I have been told is that I have to race off with Mark Taylor to get the final spot in the squad at the first round of the winter series in May. I'm continuing to train hard so I'm feeling confident.