The first encounter

So here goes my first blog! I can honestly say that I never saw myself doing this, but then again I can say that about a lot of other things….. "I’ll never wear lycra”, “I’ll never own a pair of crocs”, “I never want to row, it’s so boring!”  Evidently people change.

My Dad and I racing together (both in sunnies).  

My first encounters with rowing do not bring happy memories.  In fact the best word I can use to describe how I remember it, is ‘wet’.  This may seem obvious as rowing is a water sport, however I spent the first couple of years of my ‘rowing life’ on the bank.  It was my brother who took to the sport first.  I was dragged each weekend, by my parents, to a different river bank to stand in the rain and watch the boys thrash past for a few seconds and disappear into the distance.  I never understood (and still don’t) the spectator appeal of a head race.  Evidently my parents were a little more enthusiastic, so much so that they decided to join in and join our local club, Tees RC.  This soon caught on with the other parents and by the summer, every weekend was like another sports day complete with the mothers and fathers race.  Meanwhile, muggins here was left on the bank making daisy chains. 

me and my bro

Eventually I began to feel left out that I was the only household member without a ‘lycra drawer’ and couldn’t join in the conversations about popping blisters and share the devastation of ‘catching a crab’.  I decided to bite the bullet and give it a go.  Luckily all the watching had paid off and I took to it pretty quickly.  In case you are wondering, yes, there has been a full family outing.  But no, there are no photos of it...the evidence has been burnt.

Myself (left), Hannah and Arthur (crouched)

At the beginning of 2003 I won my first race at the junior interregional regatta in a pair.  Later that year I moved to St. Peter’s School, York for my A-levels.  This is where I met Arthur.

Arthur was my first coach.  If I had to describe him in 3 words…..small, welsh, eccentric and welsh.  I have many Arthur stories and will probably refer back to him in future blogs.  But I will share one quick one now though, to illustrate why I think he was the key to my rowing successes....

Arthur was never one to claim he was a technical expert when it came to rowing.  However, he did know how to work us hard!  One afternoon whilst out on the river we were out doing some long race pieces.  Once up to speed, Arthur removed his favourite green fleece (see right) and tied it round the throttle on the launch so it wouldn't move.  He then told me he would keep the launch pointed at the stern of my boat.  I had no doubt he was being deadly serious, if I slowed down I would be crushed!

After leaving school I went on to study at Nottingham University where I rowed at Notts County RA, now known as Nottingham RC.

After one medal at the Junior World Championships and 3 at the U23 world Championships I was selected to be the reserve athlete at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.   I then went on to join the women’s eight at the 2009 World Championships where we finished 5^th. 

Unfortunately I had been suffering with back problems since I was 17 years old and at the end of 2009 they became so bad that I had to take 18 months away from the sport.  I enjoyed my time away from the sport but it wasn’t long before I realised that I was clinically insane.  I missed early mornings, cold weather and long ergos too much. 

I have been back in a boat a year now.  I started training at Leander Club and I have been shocked at how quickly I was able to get back to my old self.  Unfortunately it wasn’t soon enough for this Olympics but I am gunning for Rio, a gold medal and some fiestas!!

Now you know a little about me and where I’ve come from and where I’m hoping to go, I hope you will join me on the rest of my blogging journey!