The diary of a pint-sized rower
Posted in Uncategorized on Apr 16th, 2013
The more observant amongst you will have noticed that things have been a bit quiet lately over at Girl on the River. It’s not that I’ve abandoned my lovely readers; it’s just that I’ve been a bit busy with other stuff. Now, obviously rowing is important. Very important. And rarely more so than at the [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Mar 20th, 2013
So this weekend it’s finally happening: I shall be rowing the Tideway for the first time, at the Vesta Vets’ Head – four long miles of the Thames, following the Boat Race course downstream. Like everyone else, we’ve invested a fair bit of time and sweat into this event, and have a shiny new race [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Mar 13th, 2013
“Never give in, never give in – never, never, never, never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in.” This uncompromising quotation, from a wartime speech by Sir Winston Churchill, is pinned to the wall of our rowing club gym, and has kept me going through many a tough erg [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Feb 26th, 2013
It was one of those outings that made you wish you hadn’t got out of bed. A raw wind was whipping across the river, chilling us to the bone and reducing our hands to stiff, red claws. We were permanently down on strokeside. Our cox was getting grumpy. We couldn’t hear the coach – a [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Jan 22nd, 2013
My legs are shaking as my foot stamps ineffectually on the brake. The car slides another foot backwards. I’m right in the middle of the road on a sharp double bend on the most notorious hill in the county. The snow is falling thick and fast and even rugged 4x4s are sliding all over the [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Jan 17th, 2013
They make ‘em tough at Monmouth. We laugh in the face of the cold and let the rain run off our backs like ducks. Just look at the picture… And yet… we’re not stoopid. Even we occasionally have to nod in the direction of the dreaded health and safety. I wrote about this in the [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Jan 15th, 2013
So, after some squadlist shenanigans I finally made it back on to the river this weekend. This is what I learned (or rather, remembered again, having forgotten during my prolonged break). 1. The river is just as beautiful in grey, windy drizzle as it is on a fine day. 2. If you’re in the bow [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Jan 9th, 2013
Sometimes it feels as though the Gods of Rowing have got it in for me… or at least want to keep me off the river. First there was the injury. Then the flooding – our traditional Boxing Day Plum Pudding Races were replaced by a delightful session hosing down the loos after the flood water [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 15th, 2012
It must be bad enough going through your adult life sharing your name with a loud and uber-famous Hollywood actor – you spend your entire time explaining to people that you’re “not that Robin Williams”. A bit like happening to be called Tom Hanks or Brad Pitt but not beingthat Tom / Brad. But rowing [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Oct 11th, 2012
I have to confess to having a bit of a girl crush on cyclist Victoria Pendleton, having met her at a book event today. Witty, self-deprecating, engaging, glamorous, beautiful (and wearing extraordinary over-the-knee boots)… she’s TOTALLY my kind of athlete. Which is why it was so thrilling to hear her say that if she could try [...]
