Hello Everyone!

How are we already in April! One thing for sure I am so glad to say that spring is finally here and we are even starting to see some sessions with just a short sleeve on under the all in one and the sunnies are making more of a regular appearance.

So strap in and grab yourself a coffee for a little run down of all things #Iambenpritchard and British Rowing.

December saw the first round of trials, which normally I would be exempt from having just returned back from the Games and being on my off – season, however I wanted to take the opportunity to see just how well my new found seating position and core development was working so entered the British Indoor Championships, placing 1st and setting a New World Record. As I said in my interview then, I had only been back training for two weeks so whilst I was happy with my performance there was definitely a lot more in the tank and the job isn’t done just yet.

Towards the end of December, my four legged best friend and companion Winston suffered a herniated disc and had to take a visit to Davies’ specialist vets near Luton for spinal surgery, which I am glad to report went well. Winston was discharged Christmas Eve and joined me and the family back in Wales for Christmas day where he would remain with my parents to undergo his rehabilitation. I am happy to say that his rehabilitation is going well and prognosis looks good, although as I write this we are currently nursing Winston poorly. January 2022 saw the return of the wider Paralympic Squad at the training venue and it feels good to have some of my friends back in and around training and sharing the pain of those early morning sessions again. As I decided to return to training in November, I was invited to take part in the early winter water assessments where it seemed all the work of my winter training was paying off with me topping the results table of the assessment weekend! Excitement was and is still starting to build towards this summer’s racing to see where we line up against my international counterparts.

The seating project is also starting to take shape with several companies now being shortlisted and a design date being fixed in the diary for the 21st April, 2022. Watch this space…. Mentorship is something that I have been very fortunate to have received from my Godfather when I started working in London and is very common in the commercial space, but is something I feel is missing from the sports arena and something that I am very passionate about bringing across from my time in the City. I have partnered with The True Athlete Project (https://www.thetrueathleteproject.org/) to offer my services to a younger sportsperson and hopefully help them on their journey to the International Stage.

If any of you watch American sport you will have surely heard about March Madness (it is a basketball competition for American College’s), well I can confirm the Pritchard household also held it’s own version of March Madness.

I can now call myself a married man, following the weddings postponement with Covid. Megan and I had a fantastic day in The Orangery, Margam Park. I turned 30 and set a new “unofficial” world record as part of spring trials all in the same week and to close the month I managed to catch COVID-19 again. Luckily, this time I was not as ill as before and I am already back in the training venu undergoing a return to training programme. (sneak peak of some of our imagery below)

That’s it, you’re all caught up on things #iambenpritchard but here is a snippet of what the future holds:

• Screaming Beans Podcast – I will be featuring on the podcast at the end of this month.
• Gavirate International Regatta, 13th – 15th May.
• World Rowing, World Cup I, Belgrade, Serbia 25th – 29th May.

Now what we are all really here for: Ben’s Coffee Corner.

This month I am drinking my old staple, CoalTown Coffee but more specifically a limited edition of their beans which Megan and I blended as part of our special day.

But if you haven’t tried any of CoalTown’s coffee before then I thoroughly recommend them. They are a family run business based in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire www.coaltowncoffee.co.uk and are what I serve as my “House Espresso”. If you are new to specialty coffee, then why not try their Black Gold, this is a great entry place to the world of specialty coffee as it is very palatable and in my opinion very hard to get wrong in a variety of brew methods.

If you want some brewing method advice then why not check out my features on Instagram @BenjaminPritch1 for those posts.

Pictures provided by Page One Weddings (https://www.pageoneweddings.com/)