Olympic rowing champion Emma Twigg can be forgiven for having a feeling of dējā vu going into this week's World Championships in the Czech Republic.
Emma Twigg (NZL) wins gold in the Olympic women's single scull. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
For the second year consecutive year Twigg is heading into a major regatta without any international racing.
The 35 year old single sculler was meant to compete at a World Cup event and the Henley regatta earlier this year but was hit by the pandemic.
"I ended up having two weeks on holiday in Europe after getting Covid, Twigg said.
However she's not letting the disruption affect her going into the World Championships, which will be her first international competition in more than a year.
"I came back to New Zealand and got a decent block of training in, while we had ten days in Italy preparing for the World Champs.
16 years competing at the elite level, Twigg knows what to expect, she was in a similar situation in 2021 when Covid preventing any major competition before she went on to win gold at the Tokyo Olympics.
"We seem to have a recipe (for success) but I guess the unknown is what the rest of the world is doing.
"Especially the year after the Olympics things change with people in different boats and so it'll be interesting to see where you stack up.
35 year old Twigg feels the competition within New Zealand Rowing means she isn't at a huge disadvantage not having had racing this year.
"One of the positives is that our team has depth, so we've got some really great benchmarks and we do a lot of internal racing and replicate World Cup races within our team.
Twigg training in New Zealand Photo: PHOTOSPORT
"We have a fair idea of where we've been in the past and where we need to be.
"That was the resource we took into Tokyo last year as well as we didn't get to any World Cups because of Covid.
"It's almost been a replica for me personally of the build-up to Tokyo in terms of the amount of racing."
There is a new bunch of younger singles scullers coming through the ranks lead by Karolien Florijn of the Netherlands and Alexandra Foester of Germany.
In fact there is just one other rower from the Olympic final that is lining up in the women's singles sculls at the Wold Championships in Racice.
Twigg has only won one previous world title, in 2014, and while she'd like another she admits this year has been about enjoying herself and setting herself up for a tilt at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The last time she was in the Czech Republic was 2006, at the start of her elite career.
Twigg will meet up with her wife Charlotte and five month old son Tommy after the regatta.
"It's nice to have balance and to have other people to think about and they'll certainly be some motivation for me when I line up at the world champs.