Walton: Crew must dig deep for World Cup success

The 26-year-old was part of the quadruple sculls team which scooped bronze at the first round in Belgrade, Serbia, last month.

Walton competed with Jack Beaumont, Thomas Barras and John Collins as the crew finished third, with a second British crew, made up of Harry Leask, Rowan Law, Harry Glenister and Joel Andrew, just behind them in fourth.

Despite not winning the final – the top two spots were respectively taken by Lithuania and Poland – it was a strong showing all round for the British crews, who topped the medal table with 11, including four gold.

And the Leicester-born oarsman has called for consistency in the British ranks as they look to produce a World Cup-winning performance in Poznan, Poland, this weekend.

"We have a good last few weeks and looking forward to stepping up at the next World Cup," said Leander Club's Walton.

"It's all about consistency, we've put together some good races, but it's about going a bit further and executing that excellent race.

"We've shown in the first half and second half [of races] that we probably haven't quite got it at 100 per cent yet, so we want to build on what we have done.

"If we do what we do in training, we'll be into a good place. The racing is definitely the highlight of the year and we want to showcase ourselves in the world field.

"There's a massive respect and shows there is great depth in the squad at the moment, a lot of good scullers in the squad at the moment.

"Even if we weren't racing with the top choice of combination, it's still great to a get the result we did out there and we can be confident our team is in a good place."

Walton and his crew were two tenths of a second from finishing on the podium at this year's European Championships, held in Racice, Czech Republic, just over two weeks ago.

The rower has experienced the thrill of home crowds in the past, and next year's championships will see thousands line the banks of the waters along Strathclyde Country Park.

For the first time ever, a new multi-sport event will combine the existing European Championships for aquatics, cycling, gymnastics, rowing and triathlon, along with a new golf team championships, between August 2-12 in Glasgow. The 2018 European Athletics Championships meanwhile will be held in Berlin from August 7-12.

More than 3,000 of the continent's finest athletes will descend on the Scottish city over 11 days of action for the biggest sporting event in the country since the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, with tickets now on sale – and Walton can't wait for the action to unfold.

"It's always very special racing on home waters, so I'm definitely looking forward to getting a Glasgow roar like we did at Eton Dorney," he said.

"The crowd massively spurs us on – it adds an extra bit of adrenaline – it's great to know the whole country is behind you and it really does give you an extra tenth if you need it.

"It's always very special to be racing on home water – to be able to do it at a championship event, I'm sure it will be really, really special."

Sportsbeat 2017