Processing triumphantly along the Grand Canal in Venice, greeted by enthusiastic applause from the banks, saluted by a magnificent figure splendidly dressed as the Doge, accompanied by music and surrounded by glorious Venetian architecture, I felt as though I’d reached the pinnacle of my rowing career. It was my first time rowing the Vogalonga, and…
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Let me start by saying I probably owe you an apology – or at least an explanation. My last blog post, almost five years ago, hubristically proclaimed that I was here to stay, both as a rower and as a rowing blogger / podcaster. So that worked out well, right? In the following months I…
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S3 Ep.4 If you heard my interview with Andy Triggs Hodge last year you may remember him talking about the brilliant charity, London Youth Rowing, which does fantastic work changing young people's lives through rowing. I was keen to get one of their coaches on the podcast to talk in a bit more detail about…
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S3, Ep 3. As many of you know, I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2018, and had a mastectomy, chemo and immunotherapy, and since then I've been on a bit of a mission to inform people about things they might need to know about the condition. Which is why I was so thrilled when…
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S3, Ep.2 It would have been lovely not to need to do this interview, but sadly our rivers – and the River Wye in particular – are in crisis, and as rowers and river-lovers you ought to know what's going on. So today I'm talking to Charles Watson, founder of charity and campaigning group, River…
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S3, Ep.1 A very warm welcome back to the podcast for season 3. I'm really delighted to introduce you to Kate Lindgren, my latest guest, who is a member of Peterborough Rowing Club and a passionate sculler. Having lost her sight as a young woman, she only came to rowing later in life but has…
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Ten years ago I pressed “publish” on my very first Girl on the River post, and I don’t think it’s overdramatic to say that in that moment, my life changed. In August 2011, I was very new to the sport. My rowing was extremely scrappy. My kit was extremely shiny. I was a novice in…
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S2, Ep. 6 In all the excitement of the Tokyo Olympics, it's easy to forget about the team supporting the athletes. Behind every medal and record and personal best, there's a huge network of people making sure the athlete performs at their best. Which is why I was so delighted to talk to this week's…
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If you watched last night’s powerful, live documentary, Rivercide, about the crisis in our rivers, the chances are you’re feeling angry, shocked, depressed and desperate to do something to help (by the way, you can still watch it here – it is brilliant and essential viewing). I’ve already blogged here about things you can do…
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S2 Episode 5 Camilla Hadland has a voice that many of you will recognise. Having started rowing as a junior at a small club, she won a place in the U23 Women’s 8 and competed at the World Junior Championships in 2010, where they won Britain's first ever women’s gold medal at that event. After…
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