Last month GB Rowing's Rowing and Regatta magazine featured roller skiing and cross-country skiing as good cross-training for rowing.

Cross-country skiing has long been considered good training in other, more snowy countries: Norwegian sculler Olaf Tufte managed to fit in a top 100 finish in the Vasaloppet between winning two Olympic gold medals, and in North America, rowers often turn to cross-country skiing when the rivers freeze. Closer to home, coach Juergen Grobler introduced cross-country skiing to the rowers' training in the early days of GB's rowing world domination -