Take note of a few things:

• He doesn’t vomit words at the crew. He is clear and is always in control. Note how his “conversational” tone gets your attention (almost more than his high intensity calls!).

• He notes the crew’s speed and lets them know they’re at the right pace. He knows how fast “gold medal” pace is and he is able to assess that the Americans in particular are maybe going too fast in the first half. By telling the crew they are doing the job he gives them confidence.

• He doesn’t panic when they are a couple seats behind, but he never lets them get more then that. You can hear when he tells his crew to push back.

• There are code words in there- things he says for in “shorthand” than mean a lot to the crew. See if you can spot them.

• Note that he calls the rowers by name to encourage them. Throughout the race he is positive.

• Even as they edge in front he is reminding them to stay clean and sharp. No mistakes! Stay with the rhythm. Indeed, many of his calls are simply rhythm calls like “seeend” etc.

A brilliant performance under incredible pressure.