Five years ago, Adam Neill was a teacher in Canada with a patched up back and his dreams in tatters, planning for a life without the one thing he loved to do: rowing. The Peterborough athlete suffered a disc prolapse so severe that he was told he would not row again. Fast forward to this weekend, however, and he is chasing a first World Championship gold. Neill is part of the men’s four, the flagship boat of the Great Britain team and one that has won Olympic gold at every Games since Sydney 2000 and spawned legends such as Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent. A medal is certainly on the cards and today they compete in the semi-finals, hoping to bag a place in Saturday’s showpiece – something that seemed a world away for Neill when he first went down in pain. “I spent three years not rowing. I had double back surgery. I had retired from rowing really when I was about 22 or 23,” he said. “I thought my dreams of being at a World Championships or Olympic Games were over. And then I was living out in Canada and working at a school. “There were some very enthusiastic members of staff and one in particular urged me to get back in a boat. One thing led to another and I got back into it. “My back was fine so everything clicked. I moved back to the UK a year later and rowed for a year at Leander Rowing Club. “I managed to get myself into the UK team and I thought I might get in for Rio. But then I had another back injury and it kept me out. “It has been a series of injuries and it has taken me a long time to get to where I am now. If it comes good, it will be worth it." Neill returned to competitive action in the men’s eight and rowed in last year’s World Championships. They came away empty-handed from the final but Neill impressed enough to be promoted to the men’s four – the most sought-after seat in British Rowing – along with Thomas Ford, Jacob Dawson and James Johnston.
A silver medal at the European Championships last month was a fine reward and marked Neill’s first senior podium place at an international tournament.
“Although we wanted to win, for me the fact that I got myself into the four and we won a major championship medal after years of set-backs was a big moment,” he added.
“I thought I can actually get myself into a position to win championships. Hopefully I can now push on. It has taken a long time.”
And so on to Plovdiv and the World Championships, where Great Britain are hoping for a stronger performance than they could manage in Glasgow in August.
They finished 12th in the medal table without a gold but Neill is optimistic they can turn that around.
“It is our main event of the year so we have been looking to peak for it. We had a good Europeans and managed to get ourselves a silver,” he said.
“It is only six weeks from the Europeans to the worlds so we went to a camp in Austria and went back to basics with our training.
“It is a historical camp and it’s very Rocky-style training, you go back to basics. There is a shed where they keep all this old equipment which the likes of Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent used to use.
“It is the same gear so there is a lot of history there. It’s helped produce Olympic and World champions.”
Neill and the men’s four are out to make sure that it produces some more.