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Dorney Lake, near Windsor, will play host to Olympic rowing in 2012 - photo: Getty Images

For most British athletes, home competition is hardly a rarity. Britain is the regular host of many international sporting events as well as our 'traditional' events such as Wimbledon and the London Marathon, and therefore we all have a reasonable idea of what to expect.

Since I've been rowing internationally, I've raced on home water (on , near Eton) twice: a World Cup in 2005 and the .

In other sports, off the top of my head I can think of the , the in 2008, regular top athletics meets in Birmingham and Gateshead and the recent swimming as examples of home competition.

Most of those people involved in 2012 will have experience of competing at home, and I don't just mean athletes. This includes spectators, organizers and volunteers and all those whose lives will be affected by the Games.

We know what it will be like: similar to selling a house, when you have strangers wandering all over it making critical comments.

In 2012 we'll be waiting for planeloads and planeloads of competitors to arrive at Heathrow, and despite the fact we want them to love London like we love London, imperfections and all, we also want them to remember that it's our city.

I remember when the about the awarding of the Games to London. We were competing in Switzerland and the whole rowing team crowded around the television in our hotel.

The roar of triumph that erupted when Jacques Rogge said "London" shook the hotel to the ground. We won the bid. We beat the French. We will welcome the world to our country. Come to our rowing lake ... but remember that it's our rowing lake.

The thing to remember is that 2012 is not a surprise. We wanted the Games to come to London, that's why we bid for them, and we've been preparing ever since.

Our coach, , was in charge of the Australian team in 2000 in Sydney and his experience will be invaluable in ensuring we maximise our home Games.

Seeing how the Chinese responded to home pressure in 2008 when their most hotly tipped rowing crew for gold, the women's double, failed to even make the podium and their second-ranked crew, , will stand me in good stead in 2012.

The basic lesson to learn is that some crews will thrive, and some will be throttled: how can I make sure I am the one who steps up?

Remember that no athlete gets involved in elite sport for an easy life. We want the pressure, we thrive on it, it's our job. Steve Redgrave used to constantly remind us in the quad in 2008 that we should want to be the favourites, because the favourites usually win.

Yes, being the underdog might be easier to cope with mentally; but if you are serious about winning, you should want to be in the crosshairs of everyone else.

Of course, there are some who will choke on the pressure of a home Games. That's humans: we're fantastically unpredictable and prone to making mistakes. However, there will be many others who produce a performance out of their skins.

Annabel and her partner last year, Anna Watkins, train in Varese, Italy, ahead of this weekend's selection trials

Why did Tim Henman always get his best results by far at Wimbledon? Because he loved being the home favourite, he thrived on the pressure; it made him play better tennis than anywhere else in the world.

Conversely, another tennis player, Amelie Mauresmo, performed worse at the French Open, her home tournament, than at any other Grand Slam. Some are choked by home pressure, others thrive.

So let's not dwell on the anxiety of a home Games. Let's not talk about the potential for buckling under the weight of expectation.

British athletes are among the best prepared and best supported in the world, and we want a home Games.

I'll finish with a quote from one of the Polish double scull, who beat us to gold at the World Championships in Poland last year.

When asked about having the crowd behind her in the final, Julia Michalska, the stroke, replied: "It was really amazing. During the last 300m it felt as if we had a third person rowing in our boat. It was exactly as our coach had told us before the race: 'You only need to row 1700m. For the last bit, the crowd will carry you to the finish line."

In 2012 that extra person in the boat will be British.