Welsh Para-rower Ben Pritchard hopes his successful European title defence can be the springboard to retaining his world title later this month.
The 34-year-old will head to Amsterdam having overcome a freak pre-event injury to beat Italian Giacomo Perini in the PR1 men's single sculls at the European Rowing Championships in Varese, Italy last weekend.
"When I landed in Italy, there was a malfunction on the hoist that got me on to the coach and the cable snapped, so it dropped me from the top of the hoist to the bottom, which obviously causes a bit of an injury, which I was managing throughout the championships," Pritchard told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast.
Pritchard, from Mumbles, Swansea, added: "I actually thought I may not have come out on top given the injury that I was coping with, but I'm glad I did. It was a great race though.
"It's probably one of the best races we've had in in a couple of years because it was neck and neck until the last 250m."
Pritchard named BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year 2025
Pritchard, the BBC Cymru Wales Sports Personality of the Year for 2025, and his Great Britain team-mates have stayed at Varese to complete their preparations for the World Rowing Championships, that take place from 24-30 August at Amsterdam's Bosbaan venue.
"I always feel that this this camp is where we get the most speed," said Pritchard.
"We do a load of speed work in this last block now for the world championships, so I'm hoping that that'll set me in good stead for the future.
"I have just seen my competitor Erik Horrie from Australia training this morning, and he looks really fast as well. So hopefully we can get a good race but it's an outdoor sport - anything could happen.
"But it's going to be nice to be out on the Bosbaan in Amsterdam because the Welsh men's hockey team and ladies' team have got their World champs as well, so I'm going to hopefully get across and watch some of their games too."
Pritchard is one of Para-rowing's dominant forces. Since winning gold at the 2024 Paralympics he has set multiple world records in his event and added the 2025 European and world crowns to his tally.
He says he went to Italy with added desire to succeed after his Swansea coach Andrew Williams lost his father.
"It was a big one and an emotional one, but gave you the actual motivation when the going got tough in the race, that's for sure," he said.
However, Pritchard was comfortable facing and beating Perini on his home waters, saying: "I think it's more my home water than his.
"You know, we're in his home country, but as a team, we come here twice a year to train and spend two weeks of time here, so I've been coming here now for nine years.
"It feels like a home to me, and the club members know me and all that kind of stuff, so I feel that actually I had a good share of the support in the stands."
