I’ve never been a big subscriber to the claim that “it’s not the winning, it’s the taking part”. For someone as competitive as me, it’s always, always been about the winning. But heading out to the World Rowing Masters Regatta, for the first time ever, I really did feel that it was the taking part…
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There was a time when I would wear any old sunnies for rowing. As a forgetful, clumsy type prone to losing and sitting on my belongings, I figured the cheaper the better. Until, that is, I found myself rowing alongside an optometrist who told me, in no uncertain terms, that my penchant for bottom-of-the-range sunglasses…
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We’ve just officially had the hottest August Bank Holiday on record. I think the technical description is “scorchio”. And since we all know that August Bank Holiday means Ross Regatta, it meant I was racing in temperatures more appropriate for the average sauna. Not great for a fair-skinned Celt whose treatment has left her even…
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The draw is out for the World Rowing Masters Championships and I’m not gonna lie, I can feel the butterflies in my stomach. It’s all suddenly got a bit scarily real. But alongside the jitters I’m genuinely excited to see all the crews that I’m up against. Yes, for four minutes or so many of…
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Two months ago, racing at the Worlds seemed, if not exactly realistic, then at least doable. I was heading towards my final cancer treatment with every prospect of bouncing back afterwards. We had long months of training stretching ahead of us. The sun was shining. It was all good. By the beginning of this month,…
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Ever since I took delivery of my gorgeous new boat I’ve been itching to race in her. Unfortunately I had to pull out of Llandaff as I had a nasty cold, so Bewdley Regatta was the venue for the maiden voyage of Girl on the River (as a racing boat, at any rate). I was…
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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 first time, the chances are you’re feeling…
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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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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 it goes. Stage 1: the horror No. Oh, God, no, no, no…There…
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My experience of rowing as a student was, as I’ve admitted before, an unedifying one. Disgracefully unfit, often hung over and with an aversion to early mornings, I wasn’t cut out for anything remotely energetic. Small wonder that my foray into rowing was nasty, brutish and short. I do remember struggling to cycle to the…
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