Canoe star Brabants to try rowing

By Martin Gough

Brabants won Great Britain's first ever canoeing gold medal

Double Olympic canoeing medallist Tim Brabants is set to take up rowing next month but he does not anticipate making the move permanent.

Brabants, 31 from Surrey, hopes to join Alan Campbell, a finalist in the Olympic single sculls, for the Pairs Head in London on 11 October.

"I've had a couple of sessions so far and it's a bit of fun - I've never sculled before," he told BBC Sport.

"Who knows what might happen but it's probably too late to change sports."

Brabants won Great Britain's first ever canoeing gold in the men's K1 1000m last month and then took bronze over 500m the following day.

BBC OLYMPICS BLOG As veteran of three Olympics, Brabants could also become a Sir Steve Redgrave-type figurehead to a flotilla of talented young paddlers BBC Sport's Claire Stocks

Brabants approached Campbell and his coach Bill Barry with the suggestion during the Games.

Athens Olympian Mike Hennessy has been coaching him in rowing, which is very different from canoeing in terms of technique, with a focus on the legs rather than the arms.

The Pairs Head features over 300 crews, including internationals, racing in a time trial between Chiswick and Hammersmith - at 4km twice the Olympic distance.

Many rowers see it as a fun event as it takes place at the start of the new season, when most of Great Britain's Olympians are still resting.

Brabants has already said he plans to return to work as a medical doctor for 18 months before turning his attention to preparing for London 2012.

Rowing and canoeing will take place at Dorney Lake near Windsor, where Brabants won a sprint triathlon event last weekend.

This weekend he will be back in a canoe in Toronto in a 200m sprint event.

"I'm keeping my options open but it's more about trying something different and enjoying it for enjoyment's sake," he added.