Olympics 2008

Great Britain's top men's crew, the coxless four, is in turmoil, but then what did you expect in Olympic year?

And why are we still focusing on the four when there are as many as nine crews in contention for gold in Beijing?

All of them will be looking to further cement their credentials as the international season steps up a gear with the second World Cup regatta in Lucerne this weekend.

This weekend sees the second of just three top-class events this season before Beijing, and the Great Britain four is without two of its first-choice line-up as Tom James and Andy Hodge are both nursing back problems.

But Steve Redgrave's four at Sydney in 2000 came together late after Tim Foster's struggles with back problems and then a hand injury (suffered when he put his hand through a window at a party) and still came out with gold.

And Matthew Pinsent's fourth Olympic triumph came with a crew that had never raced before the Athens Games as Alex Partridge suffered a punctured lung in the weeks before the event and had to be replaced by Ed Coode.

James Cracknell, who won his two gold medals in those crews, spoke about the current situation on BBC Radio 5 Live's Olympics programme this week.

"We turned up in Athens having never raced together which, psychologically, was hard," he said.

"We got our heads around it but you'd be lying if you said it was a situation you want to arrive at the Olympics in."

The headaches could be worse for coach Jurgen Grobler, though. Twenty-year-old Tom Lucy substituted superbly for James as the four took gold in the World Cup opener in Munich three weeks ago.

Colin Smith - strokeman of the eight which finished second in Munich - has moved to the four for this weekend in Hodge's place (but the return of Alastair Heathcote from injury should mean the eight does not suffer).

Four other GB crews took gold in the opening World Cup event, while two more grabbed silver but all will find it tougher to win on the Rotsee as more countries - in particular New Zealand and Canada - join the fray in the run-up to Beijing.

The women's quadruple scull of Katherine Grainger, Frances Houghton, Debbie Flood and Annie Vernon are arguably now Great Britain's best bet for gold in Beijing after following up last year's third successive World Championship gold with a winning start in Lucerne.

But as Houghton writes in her recent 606 diary entry: "We already know we will be facing tougher opposition than in Munich as the Chinese have put their two top doubles [who came first and second in Munich] into one super quad, and the Germans will be gaining momentum as they spend more time together as a crew."

Single sculler Alan Campbell may have been the best of the bunch three weeks ago but he faces tough competition from his own club this weekend. World champion Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand trains with Campbell at Tideway Scullers School on the River Thames when he is in the Northern Hemisphere, and has generally had the upper hand over the man from Coleraine over 2000m.

Drysdale managed to edge out Sydney gold medalist Rob Waddell for the spot in the single in hard-fought New Zealand trials, and Waddell (with partner Nathan Cohen) gets a chance to vent some frustration this weekend on British double scullers Matthew Wells and Stephen Rowbotham.

GB lightweight double Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter won in Munich but their nemeses from last season - world champion Danes Mads Rasmussen and Rasmus Quist - had opted to race among the heavies.

The world champion lightweight four of Richard Chambers, James Lindsay-Fynn, Paul Mattick and James Clarke were pushed into second by China in Munich and must re-establish their credentials with Germany also pushing them hard and both Australia and Canada joining the field.

And Heathcote returns from a wrist injury to join a GB eight aiming to justify the pre-season hype after the addition of the talented Alex Patridge and Matt Langridge this season.

Hodge will be in the BBC studio in Lucerne for the finals on Sunday with an update on exactly when he expects to be back on the road to Beijing.

You can see how they all get in the finals live on BBCi and the BBC website on Sunday - sessions are between 0945-1100 and 1215-1430 BST. Highlights are on BBC TWO from 1400-1500 BST.

And if, like me, you're one of the hundreds of the rowing community planning to spend the weekend dodging showers at Metropolitan Regatta, you can watch on BBC iPlayer for the next seven days.

Which event are you most looking forward to watching, in Lucerne or in Beijing in August?