MATT Langridge thrust his arms into the air in celebration after his Team GB crew romped to victory at the World Cup finals in Switzerland.
The Northwich rower, 25, was in the bow seat once again as the men’s four earned gold-medal glory in Lucerne at the weekend.
The comfortable win for Langridge, who was joined by Knutsford’s Ric Egington, Alex Gregory and Alex Partridge, tasted all the more sweeter as last time out the four could only manage a disappointing third in Germany.
Speaking exclusively to the Chronicle, Langridge said: “After Munich we were a bit disappointed not to win so it’s nice to be back on top.
“We felt that we raced a lot better this time and we are working out what tactics work best for us. It’s a huge positive for us that it was such a controlled race.
“We got our noses in front straight away and it seems to be an effective tactic for us.
“We would rather be in front than trying to catch teams up.”
Team GB bosses were delighted with the crew’s victory which came in a time of five minutes 57 seconds in front of Slovenia and USA.
Preparations for next month’s World Championships in Poznan, Poland, will begin later this week and former St Nicholas High School pupil Langridge, who won a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics, is looking forward to some intensive training.
“Camps are great because they really bring everything together and you learn a lot more about each other.
“Some countries choose to camp inbetween regatttas but we have saved ours until after the World Cup.
“We have got a lot of work to do but we have got make sure we finish thing soff with a win in Poznan.”
Team GB head to Silvretta, Austria, for three weeks high-altitude training before settling at a camp in Germany for 10 days before the championships.
