As things turned out, the two young British rowers who stepped up to fill the gap in the pair, George Nash and William Satch, finished third behind the French silver medallists and - of course - the New Zealand gold medallists.

Jürgen Gröbler, head coach of the GB Rowing men's team, pictured during the London 2012 Olympics ©Getty Images

Pre-noise, Gröbler had described the background to what was simply one in a long series of high pressure decisions he has taken in order to optimise performance at an Olympic Games.

"Before London 2012 we tried for three years to be the best in the pair, with Andy and Pete," he explained. "We gave the New Zealand pair some good races, we tried everything we could. But as a coach sometimes you have to be realistic.

"In the end we moved Andy and Pete to the four, and of course we defended the gold. But it is never an easy decision. Because you are looking at guys already in the four who were world champions in 2011. People might look at that and say 'The silver is safe in the pair, and maybe if there is a mistake made you will have gold. And the four could win another gold.'

"But I think in hindsight the big jump the Australians made with their four at London 2012 meant it was a correct decision. Otherwise we could have ended up with two silvers."

There is a momentary silence.

"And that would be..."

Cue alarming noise.

"...disaster for British Rowing."

The reaction tells you why Gröbler has supervised so much victorious activity in his main personal role coaching men's openweight rowers.

"I always think the other medals are looking a bit better if you have also top medals," he adds. "If you have a collection of non-winning medals it is not the same. It is important to have at least one gold medal."

Gröbler, now 67, has managed to maintain his gold standard for an extraordinarily long time. When Triggs Hodge and Reed joined Alex Gregory and Tom James to win in London it was the fourth successive gold in the Olympic four for Britain's men.

Andy Triggs Hodge (left) and Pete Reed at the 2012 British trials, after which they were drafted into the four, where they earned a second Olympic gold each ©Getty Images

It was also the tenth Olympic gold for crews under Gröbler's personal direction, a run which began during the 20 years he spent as a coach with the all-conquering East German team before taking up his current position with British rowing ahead of the Barcelona 1992 Games.

Not surprisingly, Gröbler encountered a bumpy ride over his role in a country which was eventually revealed to have operated an effective mandatory state doping regime for its sportsmen and women.

"I have to live with what went on in East Germany," Gröbler said in 1998, when new evidence of the East German methods came to light. "I was born in the wrong place. It was not possible to walk away."

Gröbler was vigorously defended by his British rowers, not least Sir Steve Redgrave, who was then a couple of years away from securing his fifth and final Olympic gold at the Sydney 2000 Games.

The award of BBC Coach of the Year in the wake of that Sydney win, followed by an Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2006, confirmed, if any doubted it, Gröbler's standing in his adopted country.

The golden Olympic run with Britain he began in 1992 - when Sir Steve and Sir Matthew Pinsent won the coxless pair - has been maintained at the 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 and of course 2012 Games. Under Gröbler's watch, Sir Steve took his Olympic title count from two to five, and Sir Matthew won four golds. There have been two golds, also, for James Cracknell, Steve Williams, James, Triggs Hodge and Reed.

Now there is another Olympic target, Rio 2016, and Gröbler has already made a bold early move by switching the three remaining gold medallists from the 2012 four - following James' retirement - into the eight. They blended with a unit of other less established talents last summer to earn Britain's first ever world title in that discipline, defeating Germany's Olympic champions.

Gröbler, however, acknowledges that it is not getting any easier trying to maintain Britain's traditional position at the forefront of the men's sport.

The annexing of gold medals by the big battalions in rowing has become less certain, the mix of winners more volatile and widely spread, as the statistics bear out. At the London 2012 Olympics, for instance, there were only two successful defences across the entire men's and women's rowing - by the British men's openweight four, and the United States women's eight.

At last summer's World Championships in South Korea, only Murray and Bond were successful in the men's openweight division in retaining their title. For Gröbler, these Championships in particular represented a significant marker.

"I think there is no question," he says, "that - with Britain - Germany, Australia and New Zealand are the lead markers in men's rowing, with the United States a little bit up and down, but always with potential and a tradition of winning gold. New Zealand were very strong in the last Olympics, with three golds.

Eric Murray (left) and Hamish Bond, New Zealand's Olympic pairs champions, celebrate after retaining their world title in 2013 ©Getty Images

"Of course the Poles have done well, and the French and Italians, and the Dutch - OK, they are around. So there is quite a mix in the leading nations. Always they have their potential to win gold medals.

"Then there is a lower group - strong rowing nations who still have potential to reach the medal podium. It is not the same nations, but other nations. Norway have won two golds at the Worlds. It has been quite a big change. Quite a turnover, which makes you think 'What can we expect in the future?'

"You can see some countries were making big preparations in 2013. Sometimes people say the year after the Olympics, maybe people are a little bit asleep, and maybe losers train harder. But at these World Championships in 2013 there were really good performances and a lot of countries made a big, big jump."

He offers up a rueful chuckle, before adding: "You can see now there is never a break. If you are not really sharp you will not win. With all these other nations coming out and challenging us, defending four British medals at the Rio Olympics will be difficult - a tough call. But of course we will be more than ready for the challenge."

As Jean-Christophe Rolland - President-elect of the International Rowing Federation (FISA) - recently told insidethegames, the sport is working hard to extend participation worldwide. When the man who is about to step down from the President's role, Denis Oswald, took over in 1989 there were 66 national federations affiliated to FISA; he leaves with that total at 142. Of those, Benin, Botswana, Mali, Saudi Arabia and St Vincent and the Grenadines were added in 2013, and 101 of these members took part in the qualification process for the London 2012 Games.

Jean-Christophe Rolland, President-elect of the International Rowing Federation, pictured (right) with Michel Andrieux after winning Olympic pairs gold in 2000 ©Getty Images

"It will take time, but already there are signs of what is happening," says Gröbler. "Azerbaijan have come through and competed well [Azerbaijan's single sculler, Aleksandar Aleksandrov, was fifth at London 2012]. There is a good single sculler in the under-23s from Iran. Maybe it will not happen soon in the eights, but in the smaller boats we will see some people who will come through.

"The efforts FISA has made to make rowing worldwide will take time. But the quota system in qualification will mean that rowers from Asia and South America will be able to come through for a chance of competing at the Olympics, even if not straight away.

"In London 2012 we had a guy from Tunisia taking part - he took a bit longer to cover 2,000 metres, but if other nations can see the opportunity of racing and have a chance to qualify, things will grow up with them.

Aleksandar Aleksandrov celebrates his performance in the single sculls at the London 2012 Olympics ©Getty Images

"But at the same time we are aware of the challenge here - rowing is a traditional sport in Britain, and we are training very hard to make sure we maintain our success. But the challenge will be there, no question.

"You can't buy a medal. You must find talent, young rowers to challenge the older ones, young coaches to challenge the older coaches. That is what British Rowing wants, and that is what FISA wants. If you are worried about Great Britain - you don't need to worry."

While defending champions Mark Hunter and Zac Purchase earned silver in the lightweight double at London 2012, and Britain's lightweight four also finished second, the record in the men's openweight section - Gröbler's primary responsibility - was of one gold - in the men's four - and three bronzes, contributed by Alan Campbell in the single sculls, Nash and Satch in the pair, and the men's eight, who eschewed the possibility of a safe silver as they sought to overhaul the German world champions and paid a price.

In Rio, Gröbler is looking at improving the colour of some of those medals. "I think we should look at medals in at least half of the six events," he says. "We should have expectations of having at least three medals of the best possible colour.

"We always start by looking to defend our gold, but we can look to win more than one gold in Rio. We did it in Barcelona in 1992, and in Sydney in 2000. Why not again?

"In 2008 we won gold, silver and bronze. There is increasing competition in world rowing. But I think this should be our target."

Asked if he had felt a particular twinge when Britain deposed the German eight last summer, he responds with another chuckle. "No. I am British. Winning the eight at last year's World Championships was part of a strategy. We never had the strategy to have the eight as the number one boat - our aim is to develop a successful team. We work and train to develop a good team atmosphere - it is not a case of having one top boat and killing everything around it.

"But winning at the World Championships last year was very special. Always you are looking towards Rio. But you can never be certain of what will happen in four years.

Eight rowers and a cox react with exhaustion and joy after earning Britain's first world title in the eight last summer ©Getty Images

"There is a huge tradition in the eight in Britain. Men's rowing without an eight would be like a body without a head. Last year we could have kept Triggs Hodge, Reed and Gregory in the four with another person and they would have been successful again.

"But then we have a lot of other talented young rowers like Mo Sbihi, Daniel Ritchie and Tom Ransley who can make a breakthrough in the eight and learn how to win gold.

"Of course it is a big risk trying something new. Germany have done an outstanding job in the eight in the last few years. It was a big decision to make, but it was made possible because our four Olympic champions from 2012 bought into the project.

"If you have guys like this saying 'We want to do it' it improves your chances of success. It will be tough to do it again at this year's World Championships, but teaching those young guys how to win big races strengthens the atmosphere within the team."

Gröbler's immediate concern, in a year where another World Championships will soon be upon him, is to start making his usual patterns with people.

For this head coach, April is the cruellest month. "The hardest time for me is in spring," he says. "Because there are always a lot of things to think about. It is not just a question of saying someone is half-a-second faster than another in seat racing, it is a matter of getting people into the right boats and the right positions.

"It is hard for the guys. At training camps, maybe you are at breakfast, and they come up and ask you about the boats, and you tell them they are making good progress. But there are only four, or eight, or two seats in the boat...

"In 2003, when Matthew [Pinsent] and James [Cracknell] were fourth in the pair at the World Championships, it was the first time they didn't win a medal. So we made the decision to put them in a new four for the 2004 Olympics.

"That was big, big pressure, because when you do that of course you change the four you have, and the coach who has been looking after them. But we managed it, and I am still working with the same coaches. It was not easy for them in Athens - they had to beat Canada. If you remember that race..."

I do. Britain won it by eight hundredths of a second.

That victorious crew in Athens included Ed Coode, who had been drafted into the four five years earlier when Tim Foster was injured, only to be replaced for the Sydney Olympics when the technically brilliant Foster recovered. Coode eventually rowed at Sydney in the pair with Greg Searle, missing out on a medal by twelve hundredths of a second.

That is another of the big decisions which gives Gröbler pause even today.

"Ed had been in the boat the year before Sydney when they had won at the World Championships, and he did a really good job. I knew the four of them were really happy with him. In the end the decision was on a very, very small margin. It could have gone either way.

"I must say that Ed could have been in the eight, who also won a gold in Sydney, but he decided to go in the pair with Greg. So four years later in Athens I was very happy to see Ed take a gold in the four, as well as Steve Williams, who had been a spare at the Sydney Games."

The question of Foster or Coode was not the only one faced by Gröbler in the run-up to the Sydney Games. As was painfully evident in the BBC documentary Gold Fever, which followed the crew's preparations for the 2000 Olympics, the bigger question was: would Sir Steve, beset by diabetes and a return of the colitis which had clouded his 1992 Olympic preparations, be fit enough to take part Down Under?

Gröbler recalls how he had to deal with the first sign that Britain's golden wonderboy was an unwell mortal.

"In 1992, Steve first came up with colitis, and he couldn't race at the pre-Olympic regatta in Lucerne," Gröbler says. "He had been pre-selected for the Barcelona Olympics in the pair with Matthew [Pinsent], and in my mind I could see that he could recover, that he was a man of great qualities.

"But there was also a problem with Matthew, because Steve had already won two Olympic golds by then, and for Matthew it was his first Olympics, so it was a little bit difficult - 'Coach? What is going on here? This is my first Olympics. What are we doing? What is plan B, plan C?' Matthew was nervous. It was very challenging.

Sir Matthew Pinsent is overcome with emotion after winning his fourth Olympic gold in the four at the Athens 2004 Games - his teammate Ed Coode, who had missed out four years earlier, stands alongside him ©Getty Images

"In 2000 it was the same - Steve's colitis came back, he had diabetes since 1997, there was always something. But as a coach you have to demonstrate faith in athletes. For an outstanding athlete like Steve it was just a question of how much time can you give him. It is not easy, but it also has a meaning for all the athletes, it builds their confidence if they know you can have faith in them."

When I ask him to compare his work with East German and British athletes, he responds after a significant pause: "Basically I think it's the same, a question of human motivation. If you go for something competitive, where you are being measured and where you need to be the first to cross a line, I think the motivation is always the same.

"But the idea of winning for your nation - I don't think that is right. We should have free will to do our highest performance. If you win, we win first for yourself, and as a result you are also winning for your nation.

Jürgen Gröbler congratulates Sir Steve Redgrave at the Sydney 2000 Games after he had won his fifth Olympic gold ©Getty Images

"In Germany everything was really more...ja...the coaching it was like in the Army. You have to do it. Here you have to make a little more good discussion, bring the athletes in. You could not just say 'turn left' and they turn left.

"That is a difference. But champions make their own pressure. You can't buy that. You have to do the training, you have to do everything, you have to have the technique.

"Athletes are not machines. Even the great performers have times when they are down. You have to know how to help them to come back. When you have won something, to do it again with the same athletes is always my biggest challenge. To get Steve to come back to win a third, fourth, fifth gold. To get Matthew to come back for a fourth gold. I have worked with the British team for many years, but the number of athletes has been only a few.

"Sometimes other coaches ask me 'what is your motivation?' My motivation in sport is working with young people. It is OK talking about history, but I never go on about Steve or Matthew to the guys now because things are different. They would be bored if I told them everything. They don't want to hear it.

"I am looking forward to achieving things with these new guys. The next big goal is Rio. I still feel hungry, motivated always for the challenge of winning."

And after Rio 2016 - by which time he will have turned 70? Don't even think about asking about retirement.

"I still enjoy it, no question," he says. "I have the feeling I can work again with these young guys if they are still respecting me. They see that my hands do not always shake."

Mike Rowbottom, one of Britain's most talented sportswriters, covered the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics as chief feature writer for insidethegames, having covered the previous five summer Games, and four winter Games, for The Independent. He has worked for the Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, The Sunday Correspondent and The Guardian. His latest book Foul Play – the Dark Arts of Cheating in Sport (Bloomsbury £12.99) is available at the insidethegames.biz shop. To follow him on Twitter click here.