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 their work. So step forward Lawrence Farquarson. Lawrence has been a coach at LYR since 2012. In this interview we talk about: How Lawrence got involved in LYR NJIRC (National Junior Indoor Rowing Championships) and why they're so great What LYR does A day in the life Why avoiding rowi ..read more

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 Napoleon Griffin agreed to come on the show. As both a rower and a male breast cancer survivor, Napoleon and I had LOADS to talk about. You can find Napoleon on Instagram here We talked about: Coming to rowing later in life Background as a track and field athlete Discovering he had breast cancer The importance of ge ..read more

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 Action UK, to find out what's wrong with our rivers and what we can do about it. How Charles went from PR boss to environmental campaigner What's wrong with the River Wye The elephant in the room dressed as a chicken Three solutions  What you can do  How much time we have left  Resources ..read more

Ep. 18 In the final episode of Season 1, I'm delighted to bring you the umpires of this year's Boat Races. It's a particularly historic year for the Boat Races, for two reasons. First of all, it's not being held on the Thames, as it usually is, but instead in Ely on the Great Ouse (partly for covid reasons and partly because Hammersmith Bridge is shut for repair). The second reason brings me to my guests - for the first time in the history of the event, there will be women umpires for both the men's and women's races - Olympian and umpire, Sarah Winckless MBE, umpiring the men's race, and Worl ..read more

Ep.16 It's very apt that I should have the amazing Pete Reed on the show this week, as things are really ramping up for the Race the Thames challenge which starts on 22nd March. Pete is front and centre of the fundraising, alongside his former crewmate Andy Triggs Hodge (who I interviewed a few weeks ago here) with his Paravengers team. For those who don't know him, Pete is a three-time Olympic rowing champion (and multiple World Champion), as well as a Commander in the Royal Navy. In 2019 he suffered a spinal stroke, out of the blue, which paralysed him from the waist down, and since then he ..read more

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 taken to it with an enthusiasm that can't fail to be infectious. Kate and I talk about: How and when she lost her sight Life in work and society as a blind person Roller disco! How she discovered rowing How her other senses come into play in rowing The sounds of rowing Single sculling and working with a co ..read more

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 guest - Wendy Martinson, OBE - who is the lead nutritionist for the GB Rowing Team.  Having started her career in the NHS, Wendy soon moved into sports nutrition and has worked with athletes across a number of disciplines including gymnastics, hockey and ballet. At the time of recording, Wendy ..read more

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 university, where she was President of her university boat club, she stopped rowing regularly and moved over into coaching. Camilla fell into commentating, but soon found herself in demand. In 2018 she won World Rowing’s first ever commentating competition and achieved a spot commentating at the World Cu ..read more

Ep 15. One of the things I miss most about rowing is the post-rowing chat over coffee, where we just shoot the breeze about rowing, interspersed with plenty of gossip, a bit of serious discussion and a lot of silliness. Which is exactly what this episode is all about. Rachel Freedman and Tara Morgan are passionate rowers and rowing coaches. They're also the founders of Steady State Network - a superb rowing podcast as well as a movement, a magazine-in-waiting and a network. "Rowing for the rest of us" is how they describe it, and it's just as brilliantly blazer-free as they promise. In our c ..read more

This year is a year like no other, and for the first time in its history, the Women's Head of the River Race, or WEHoRR, is being held over Zoom, on rowing machines, spin bikes and other variations on the theme. In this bite-sized episode I explain everything you need to know about how it's going to work and how to get involved #NotWehorr2021 If you're inspired to sign up yourself (do!), you can do that here. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/girlontheriver ..read more