Things have moved on for Greg Searle since we caught up with him in the snow in Marlow just before Christmas.
Back then he was training on his own, hoping to prove that he had what it takes to make a comeback to the Great Britain squad at the age of 38, with his real aim to compete in his fourth Olympic Games in 2012, when he will be 40.
Since then he has shown his mettle in two sets of official trials, has given up work to train full-time and has been travelling on training camps with athletes marked as probables for the 2010 season.
And on Tuesday he will find out whether he has achieved his first aim, making the squad for the season's three World Cup regattas, with the on the last weekend in May.
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For the estimated quarter of a million people who watched from the banks as , the bigger picture was unimportant.
The 18 competitors involved had enough to think about as they battled side by side for four and a quarter miles without asking what part they played in a greater story.
The 156th Boat Race was entertaining enough as a one-off sporting event but several of those involved could look back on it as a key step on their paths to Olympic success.
The race often attracts top foreign oarsmen but this year three young British rowers played key roles in ensuring Cambridge's 80th victory in the race from Putney to Mortlake.
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As the new year begins, there are still two-and-a-half years to go until the start of the but 2010 will provide another crucial proving ground for British competitors hoping to step on to the podium in 2012.
And this year will also provide a great chance for people living all around the UK to watch Olympic sport at the highest level, as part of an .
Here is a taste of what is to come in 2010 - important dates for GB athletes and events that you can attend yourself - as momentum builds to the London Olympics.
There are loads of events not on this list but I've aimed to cover as wide a spread as possible. Please let me know what and who you will be watching in the next 12 months.
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I'm Martin Gough and I cover all Olympic sports but in particular rowing, which I've been a fan of since the age of three, when I watched on TV as Cambridge sank in the Boat Race. .
