Apologies for not writing before now but with training and competing it’s been busy, busy busy!!!!

After a period of time of being unwell and with the possible diagnosis of Glandular Fever hanging over my head I am so pleased that progress and improvement has been good.

Taking part in many regattas across the breadth of the UK there have been a few high level competitions.

Firstly, I must start with Women’s Head of the River Race which i competed back in March. This is one of the biggest head (long distance) races rowed on the River Thames travelling from Mortlake to Putney in London. Over 300 women crews, travelling from all parts of the country, competed in the event.

Each boat consisting of 8 Rowers and one Cox. The Cox directs and helps steer the crew making calls throughout the race. The Crew I was in consisted of 3 Girls from the North East, 4 Girls from Scotland and one from Bath, all of whom are on the Siemans Start Programme (formerly the World Class Start Programme).

The race itself is a brutal 7.5 kilometres (approx 4.7 miles) rowing as fast and as hard as you can. My position was at Stroke, this is the seat that everybody else has to follow. Therefore i had to create a strong but fast rhythm that we could all row together at. I rowed 33/34 strokes per minute with the race lasting 20minutes. That is an awful lot of strokes!!

As our crew composed of athletes from a number of clubs we are known as a composite crew and therefore had to start further back in the race, 238th. The category we raced in was Intermediate 3 of which there were many other crews racing in the same category. We had set out to win the Category but with this in mind we had to row extremely hard and in doing so hopefully overtake a few crews along the way.

We actually overtook 6 crew boats (an achievement in itself). At some points it was difficult as certain crews would not move over to let us past which meant that on occasions blades (oars) got entangled. As exciting as it is this can cause the crew to lose the momentum and put them off their stroke. We managed to maintain our stride and finished 33rd overall and Winning in our category. Exactly what we had set out to do.

As well as training hard (up to 3 sessions a day, with one day off) and competing in Regattas there are assessments and trials whereby the best individuals are chosen to represent Great Britain at International and World level.

Spring Assessments is the start of a series of trials and is one of the hardest set of trials Juniors have to go through. Held in Nottingham the first weekend in |April the trial consisted of a time trial race where i competed in my own boat as a single. Rowers taking part are timed over a certain distance rowing as fast as they can. The distance was supposed to be 2,000 metres but was shortened to 1,500 metres due to high winds making the water too ‘choppy’. Typical Nottingham!

Taking part were 20 girls of which only the top 18 got to stay. Thankfully i was one of those that stayed coming in a position of 4th.

Once the time trial was completed we headed off to our room. I was in a dormitory along with another 5 girls, the same room as the previous year. The previous year i wasn’t as lucky as when i climbed up onto the bunk bed I unfortunately dislocated my knee!! (a very painful experience I must add).

Following a short period of rest we were placed into doubles however this was the first of many races of which i competed in 6 in total. Each of which were again over a distance of 1,500 metres and had to be at a rowing rate of 32 strokes per minute. This was timed and then ranked against the other rowers of that race. In addition to the doubles being ranked so was the individual as to how fast they made a double go compared to others. I came 4th overall meaning i remained consistent with both my single and double result.

The following day which was the Sunday after all the double races were completed we then competed in Quads (no peace for the wicked!!). There were 4 quads(each consisting of 4 rowers) which would all race side by side for 1,500 metres at a rate of 32. After each race one person would be swapped position to compete with another crew, a process known as being seat raced. This is where the individual shows whether they are faster than the other person that they have taken the position of by the end result of that race.

As there are 4 people in each boat each and everyone has to work hards as part of a team otherwise results can be construed as unfair. You don’t actually know what crew you will next row with nor which seat position you will be in so therefore each race should be treat as if it is your last.

It’s a gruelling and hard process over 3 days and in total i took part in 30 × 1,500 metre races. However the outcome was not brilliant.
At the end of the 3 days there was a debrief with everyone in attendance listening to the Head Great Britain Coach and his summing up of the past 3 days. He announced that the trialling process had gone well despite the weather conditions and that he had come to a decision that he would be sending a group of indiviuals to compete at an International Regatta in Munich in May. You can imagine the anxiety and the nerves i had waiting for those names to be read out. I was one of the lucky ones and was to be one of 6 Junior scullers and 4 Junior Sweep girls and also 24 boys. The feeling of being one of the chosen few is indescribable.

Alas, there was no time for celebrations though as following these 3 days i then travelled onto Hazewinkle in Belgium for a week training camp. I was to train in my single and actually completed 200,000 metres over the duration of the week not forgetting the 3 weight sessions a day. It was mentally and physically tough, however, this allowed for my fitness to improve ready for the Racing season.

Last but not least , for now anyway, is my most recent experience and accomplishment.

On 7th/8th May I took part in the Munich Regatta. This was my first International competition. It all started with a flight on Friday morning from Heathrow to Munich. Upon arrival we checked into the hotel and there was no time to waste as it was straight onto the lake. It was all Go Go Go!

The lake was beautiful, the water was so clear and the Olympic Grandstand was massive and very impressive. There were already International crews training on the lake when we arrived, many were dressed in different colourful and unusual looking lycras (the all in one outfits worn by rowers). It was so exciting and yet nerve wracking at the same time.

We then prepared to row ourselves this was to make sure that boats were set up correctly ready for Saturday morning racing. My first race on the Saturday was in a double and therefore i trained with my doubles partneron the Friday. It was following this training session that it suddenly hit me that i was actually representing Great Britain and this was confirmed further when we were issued with our kit with the GB logo on. It was a dream come true.

Once back at the hotel it was an early night for us all as we needed as much rest as possible.

Saturday morning soon came round and i had a mixture of feelings of excitement and nreves. I was in one of 3 GB Women Doubles all of which were in different heats. I competed against crews from Brazil and Germany and came 2nd in my heat meaning that we qualified for the B final. To everyones surprise all 3 GB doubles were in the B final.

This race was three hours after our heat giving us enough time to rest and refuel. All crews were extremely nervous and the atmosphere was relatively quiet. But once the race started we were all each others enemies. The race was extremely tough and resulted in GB teams being placed at 3rd, 4th and 5th. This was a brilliant achievement as there was only 12 seconds between all three crews meaning it was a very close finish for us all. This was the completion of the doubles race but there was one more to come………….. the Quad.

The Quad consisted of 4 girls consisting of myself and 3 others. We paddled up to the top of the lake in preparation for the start and nerves were showing although we all felt strong. It was a straight final against 2 German crews, Poland, Ireland, and Switzerland . The race began and we were last off from the start. However, we settled into a strong rhythm and powered our way through. We were now sitting in 3rd place at 1,000 metres when we pushed ourselves further to bring us into 2nd place. The Polish team were sitting at first position by a relatively big margin. With 500 metres to go we were 3 seconds down but we could feel oursleves edging closer to the Polish team and with 250 metres to go we were level. The excitement to the onlooker must have been overwhelming. We made one more push and just went for it resulting in overhauling the Polish to win by 3 seconds. It was unbelievable – we had Won!! – 1ST – We had got Gold.

The feeling at the end of the race just cancelled out how much that race hurt. It was unbelievable. Such a close race, yet we won. There were tears, laughter and joy amongst the crew and it took a while to sink in but we soon came back down to earth as there was another day to come.

Sunday brought the double where we competed in a heat with German crews. They were fast and first off the start. It was a tough race but we respectively cam in 4th position.

The whole weekend was an amazing experience and one i will never forget. I have learnt and taken a lot from Rowing at an International level and am determined that i will represent Great Britain again.