Commonwealth Rowing Championships 2014

After training for weeks for the biggest event to date, it was suddenly upon me and 7^th August saw me travelling to Glasgow. I caught a lift with the trailer so it was a long and steady journey up north to Scotland which took 6 hours! When we eventually arrived at Strathclyde Country Park we were met by the rest of the England team. The trailer was quickly unloaded and boats all rigged and before I knew it I was out for a paddle in the double getting used to the lake and surrounding areas.  Later that day we went to check in at our hotel: The Hilton, it was a pleasant hotel and a lovely room so I knew I wouldn’t mind resting and spending time in there…once I figured out the wifi code I was all set up watching episode after episode of Gossip Girl (my new found addiction)!

Friday morning we were all up and off for a day of light training at the lake…seeming as though we hadn’t yet gone out in the quad this was the time to set it all up and have a paddle together before the race on Saturday. The day went fairly quickly and before we knew it we had to attend the opening ceremony. One slight problem – the team England kit had yet to arrive…after numerous searches for it, we got provided with a basic tracksuit so we could at least look like a team. The ceremony was short and sweet with lots of bagpipes and kilts. In total there were 14 countries competing across 22 events.

 

 

 

Race day number one arrived. Everyone seemed to be in the zone and prepared to create England domination at the CRC this time. Last time England finished 4^th in the medals table so everyone wanted to improve on this. After an early start, we all headed down to the lake to pre-paddle in our race boat. We did a quick loop of the lake in the quad with a few bursts so that we felt ready to race. As the women’s quad event required two lightweights to be in the boat, me and my doubles partner, Nikki Spencer, went to weigh in two hours before the start of the race. Luckily for this race we didn’t need to have a crew weight average and it was the upper lightweight boundary of 59kg so we were safe! Race time was 11:50am and before I knew it I was on the start line waiting for the green light…we had a solid race down and were pushed by Wales the entire 1500m beating them through the finish line in 3^rd position. It was a close call though and as three of us hit a buoy and came out of sync, we did exceptionally well to keep Wales off! My first international medal had been achieved; I was beyond happy and standing on the podium with the England flag was on hell of an experience that I will never forget J  The first England medal had been won. The day saw a success with every boat, medalling in nearly every event…team England domination had begun!

 

Sunday saw the lightweight double event…the one I had been training in and the one that meant the most to me and my partner. We were desperate to medal and race well after all the hard work we had put into this boat, we wanted to see some recognition for getting up early for weeks and training on our own no matter what! Our race was at 10am so weigh in was at 8am and we wanted a pre-race paddle beforehand. The weather was wet but all wind was gone so good race conditions awaited. We had a very good pre paddle and this got us focused and ready for the toughest 1500m I was about to encounter. After drying off we went to weigh in and needed to average 57kg – we managed this safely so quickly disappeared and ate. The two hours before this race were one of the most nerve wracking I have ever experienced at a rowing event, even though there was a relaxed atmosphere I knew I was representing my country and wanted a positive result. After listening to music I was all fired up and just wanted to get out there and race. When we boated we had some very good starts and bursts so felt confident within ourselves that this was going to be a good race even though there was some tough competition. If we stuck to our plan we knew we would do well. So the race began and we stayed with everyone off the start, we powered through keeping in our rhythm and squeezed through everyone but Canada…as we got closer and closer to the finish line we were catching them but they just beat us to first place! I was over the moon with a silver medal and felt we had a fantastic race that went to plan. The hard work had paid off J If I thought Saturdays medal ceremony felt special this was something different. I felt so proud to be achieving my silver medal and with Nikki. She was a great partner to train and race with and I loved every minute of the double. My first international event was a success – bring on many more in the future!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Team England had a great championships and finished 2^nd in the medals table…2 places higher than the previous time. We all went home with lots of medals hanging around our necks and big cheesy grins J

 

So after one hell of a year I finish it on one massive high. I am now having a few weeks rest of rowing, need it both physically and mentally, before I start training again for next season and who knows what that will bring…