In high school rowing seemed daunting and inaccessible. Only ever picked as a goalie in netball for my height, I had decided that team sports, and sport in general, wasn’t for me by age 13 or 14. When the opportunity came around to try for the rowing squad, I went because my friends were going, and I had nothing better to do that lunchtime. From that day, I trained on and off the water almost every day until I left school and later relocated to Australia. I went off and tried some other things, including many ill-fated surfing attempts (why is it so hard to stand up??), climbing and hiking, but I missed having a structure to my training, and a community to support me.
I rediscovered rowing at Richmond RC via my uni three years ago, using it as relief from my hectic degree. At first I took it pretty easy, training a few times a week at most, not attending competitions. Over time I gained more strength and fitness which coincided with a new wave of students joining the club. Unfortunately, covid locked us all indoors, during which time I trained daily. Yes, I was definitely one of those people doing bicep curls with 2L bottles of milk – my family ended up drinking a lot of milk! When we emerged from our houses at the end of 2020, I was raring to go, jumping straight into a fast-paced preparation for the regatta season which our coaches guided us through, and ended with my first ever competition medal.
Rowing coaching at TopRow London: ‘We were pioneers’
Last summer in London, TopRow opened a rowing centre near the river Thames. Amsterdam based coaches Willem Crul and Caitlin Smith were given the important task of setting up the first rowing lessons. A big undertaking for the young students. "We took a leap of faith...