Dryrobe – your new best friend for race day
There are people out there who, when it comes to race day, just fling an all-in-one in the car and consider themselves ready to go. I am not one of those people. I like to be super-prepared with a lengthy list of essential items to throw in my kit bag. I also need to...
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Rowing Together for Healthy Minds – what you can do to help
As Mental Health Awareness Week draws to a close, you're probably now fully aware that mental health problems can be a real challenge for a huge number of people. The press and social media have been full of tragic and worrying cases of people - especially young...
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The one where I end up in an ambulance…
It started with a grandiose plan, as so many things in my life do. In a sudden rush of blood to the head I signed up for the World Masters Championships in Hungary in September, not really thinking too hard about what that might involve. I knew I wasn't really worthy...
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What do Rowers Wear Under their AIO?
It was just a regular Thursday afternoon when I accidentally split the rowing community in two. All I did was tweet a fleeting thought that had passed through my mind, little imagining that the next 24 hours would be taken up in a flurry of intense notifications,...
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Wild swimming workshop – a river-lover’s dream
It was only a matter of time before Girl on the River became Girl IN the River. I'm not talking about capsizing here - though admittedly I've had the occasional dip that way as well - but actual, voluntary, full-body immersion in the river, by way of a wild swimming...
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A survivor’s guide to coxing the Tideway
Perhaps you were tricked into it. Maybe you're doing it for a dare. It might be a bucket list goal checked off or the next step in your coxing career or even a last-minute stand-in because nobody else was available. Whatever your reasons for coxing the Tideway for the...
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Back in the game – Girl on the River is back
When I last wrote, my chemo had just come to an end and I was about to embark on my first race in a single, at Ross Regatta. And somehow another six months have passed without me posting, so it's high time for a Girl on the River update. As you can see from the...
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Six months of cancer treatment later… an update!
Wow, what a lot can happen in six months... When I last posted, in early February, I was about to have surgery for primary breast cancer, and at the time I thought that would be it. After a few weeks of recovery I'd be back on the river and life would return to...
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The C word…
I’ve dithered for ages about whether to write this post and how much to say. But I figured this blog is about the ups AND downs of my rowing life, and this subject impacts pretty heavily on that subject, so here goes. The thing is, I have to go into hospital on Monday...
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The seven stages of an erg test
The erg test. It's a fact of life for most rowers but somehow that doesn't make it any easier. An erg test takes up disproportionate amounts of mental space, becoming a traumatic obsession and turning otherwise level-headed adults into irrational toddlers. Here's how...
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