British rowing at the Olympics used to be all about the men’s coxless four who maintained an incredible winning streak across five Olympics over two decades. That chain was broken painfully at Tokyo in 2021. At the time, some interpreted this as symptomatic of a crisis in the British rowing team that won just two medals: one silver, one bronze. Yet just three years later that break seems to have liberated the team from a legacy that had become more of a burden than advantage and kickstarted some overdue modernisation. This summer, it’s genuinely difficult to say which is our “top boat” because there is a broader spread of talent across boat classes than there has ever been.
There are reigning world champions in the women’s quadruple sculls, the men’s eight and men’s coxless four (old habits die hard). The lightweight women’s double sculls of Imogen Grant and Emily Craig have an incredible unbeaten record since their race in Tokyo where they finished fourth in a blanket finish that saw them miss out on a medal by one-hundredth of a second. They have displayed remarkable levels of technical proficiency to dominate an event for three years where all the athletes weigh the same.
During this season’s racing that included the European championship and World Cup regattas, two crews have an unbeaten record: the men’s pair of Tom George and Ollie Wynne-Griffith and the reconfigured women’s coxless four with Rebecca Shorten, Sam Redgrave, Esme Booth and the double Olympic champion Helen Glover. The women’s eight have a neat turn of speed too.
Despite the prophets of doom, the Tokyo squad still notched up six fourth places in 2021 following huge challenges from Covid in a sport heavily impacted by a lack of time on the water in crews due to UK lockdown restrictions. While catastrophic from a narrow medal table perspective, it was clear that the squad weren’t far off and close attention to key details in preparation, technique and selection would likely restore results. Plus the “Paris-in-waiting” squad of rapidly improving development athletes who had been training in a different location (due to Covid restrictions) were waiting in the wings to join the senior team. The shorter Olympiad to Paris seems to have suited many in this team.
Rowing is a sport where margins can be wincingly tight. The mantra of needing to be on the “right side of tight” keeps everyone focused on the detail. What could make that crucial difference? Is it psychological, physical or cultural?
Might it be mental toughness that counts most in ensuring no let-up as lungs burn, lactic acid overflows and searing pain dominates every rower’s mind coming into the finish line? The women’s coach Andrew Randell tells his athletes to “expect to feel desperate” with 250m (about 40 seconds) to go and the point when even greater effort in the final sprint is required.
Or might it be physiological robustness that makes the difference? Miles of daily training at specific heart rate levels over many years is designed to enable the body to transport sufficient oxygen to the muscles to enable the rower to hang on to their peak power output despite a mounting oxygen deficit during the race. Or might it be the spirit of togetherness, forged through tough winter training side by side on the water, and in the gym, and built on candid conversations that have created bonds of trust and shared endeavour to create an extra surge of energy when it matters most?
It’s hard to prove for sure, so all those areas and more will have been honed right up to the last stroke of the warmup before the Olympic final. Everyone remains aware of the reality of the UK system where fractions of seconds determine millions of pounds of lottery funding. And there will always be the uncontrollables that play their part: lane draws, weather quirks, last-minute injuries and Lady Luck.
Talents, contribution and progress matter off the water too. Although training demands are tougher than ever, many are committed to giving back to sport and causes beyond. Rowan McKellar from the women’s eight and Redgrave are mentors to young athletes in other sports in the True Athlete Project (Tap) Global Mentoring programme. McKellar and Grant have been part of UK Sport’s “Powered by Purpose” programme run by Tap, supporting athletes to contribute to causes they care about. Grant finished her medical qualifications and is developing her voice as an advocate for sustainability and ambassador for the Rivers Trust, fighting for cleaner rivers.
Hannah Scott from the quadruple sculls crew participated in a vital research project with the UK Sports Institute and Manchester Metropolitan University to improve support for the health and performance of female rowers. Her susceptibility to rib injuries was connected to hormone levels, underfuelling and Red-S (relative energy deficiency in sport), contributing to improved sports science research for female athletes. (Until recently, just 3% of sports science included women.) There are two mothers on the team, Glover and Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne, another signal of a major cultural shift in a sport characterised by long hours and little flexibility.
The coaching team looks different after Jürgen Grobler, the former head coach, left in 2020, with an incredible record of winning crews at every Games with Great Britain over three decades following 20 years of success with East Germany. Inspiring, intimidating and irreplaceable, there has been an opportunity to develop a healthy coaching team with no single coach dominating, led by Louise Kingsley, who was the only female performance director across the Olympic system when appointed after Tokyo.
Margins will be tight for sure. The Dutch have been on scorching form all season, the gaps will continue to close in every event. Our crews will need their racing wits about them. The racing programme spreads out the finals over several days through the first week and, if the early crews can excel, that provides a huge boost for those to follow. As an athlete, you want to do yourself justice, step up to enable the crew to perform, raise the bar across the wider rowing team and then ensure rowing plays its part in inspiring broader Team GB success. When deeply connected and moving in beautiful synchronicity, that powerful sense of identity can create a final extra factor to help our rowers end up on the “right side of tight” in Paris.
