Paralympics 2008

With the first Paralympic rowing competition starting on Tuesday, all of the hard work has now been done and we are now putting in the final touches to make sure we are 100% prepared for what lies ahead.

We have been in Beijing since last weekend and I have been really impressed by the scale of the village.

The biggest event I had competed in before the Paralympics was the World Rowing Championships but this is massive, although it seems really well organised and the facilities have been impressive.

There has been a lot to take in, even at the village, so we are just going between the apartments, the rowing lake and the food hall and trying not to get too distracted.

The first day we were here we relaxed but we have now been to the course at Shunyi a few times to get familiar with it and get used to the landmarks.

It looks really good but the conditions seem to be more headwind-orientated. I haven't had a lot of racing into a headwind so it might be a bit of a test for me.

I was expecting it to be hotter here. We are used to training in Spain where conditions can be 35C plus with a lot of humidity.

But we have done a lot of indoor training at the environmental chamber at Bisham Abbey so we are we prepared for the conditions we will expect.

I'm happy with the amount of race practice I have had coming here and my whole preparation has been really good and I am drawing a lot of confidence from that.

On Tuesday there are two heats of the men's single sculls, with the winners of each heat going to the final and everyone else going into the repechage, so my priority is to win my heat and not have to worry.

My biggest rival will probably be Australia's Dominic Monypenny who was second at last year's World Championships.

He is looking to retire after this year and has been keeping a low profile, not racing that much.

I've seen him out and about around the village and at the lake and he is the person I will be watching the most when competition starts.

I am starting to get a bit tense but normally I get nervous on race day.

I'm not getting too caught up with medal talk. I'm just focusing on rowing well and doing the things I know will make me go fast, rather than the outcome.

It might be too easy to get carried away or get complacent and I have to keep in mind the task at hand.

There is a good spirit in the team but everyone is keeping their feet on the ground and reminding each other what we train for and the sacrifices we have made to get to this stage and why we are here.

Hopefully we can do it and good luck to everyone!