Life of a Rower Part 2

So, Life of a Rower is my most read post, probably because to most people rowing is weird (actually it is a bit weird to me too). It's not like football or rugby and is on TV every day, it's a distant sport which is little known about in the 'normal world'. 

For me personally I literally cannot remember a life without rowing and what it felt like NOT to be a rower or to be known as 'the rower'. But I definitely would not have it any other way. Rowing is who I am and is what I do, without it I would definitely be the most boring person ever (I'd also be so fat because I love food too much).

We like to eat 

Now I am coming to the end of my school rowing career I'm so sad. The past two years of rowing especially have been the best years of my life so far. I've met the best people, made friends with people I'd never even meet (Amy) if it wasn't for the power of the internet and the rowing community and I've learnt more about myself every day (wow that was a bit deep sorry!). Don't get me wrong, university is going to be amazing (hopefully) and I'm going to meet even more new people and my rowing will be able to improve so much because I'll be training more and more. But I'm so content in this little bubble of school rowing with the best coaches and crew members that I'm really not ready for this bubble to pop yet.

Admittedly, we're not quite at the end of the season yet, Women's Henley is yet to come as well as other regattas and (hopefully) Home Countries. But with the speed this year has flown by I'm certain the next few weeks will pass by instantly and it makes me so sad.

This season has been a mix of emotions, I won my first single race in September as well as another win in a pair with one of my best friends. Hampton Head was amazing and so surprising to come out with a win in our coxed four which we also won in at Monmouth Winter Head. .Then came Seville Training Camp in April which was amazing and so much fun but again time flew by. Not long after Seville I had a boat names after me. That's right.....AN ENTIRE BOAT. It was a huge honour and complete surprise to have a boat named after me and I'm so thankful for that. But there were also times, such as doing 6x500m on the ergo when my legs were burning, I was close to puking and blacking out when I wondered if it was all worth it. Or when we'd have bad outings in the 8 I'd wonder if some people wanted to win as badly as I did and do (emphasis on wonder, I know everyone was committed!) 

An actual boat named after me!!!

With my (not so)  baby brother

But then came National Schools. The event we'd been training for since September, the 6am wake up calls, blisters, burning legs, exhaustion and fatigue filled days all for two days of racing. I was entered into two events, Championship Girls 8s on Saturday and Championship Girls Coxless fours on Sunday. The time trial and semi final for the 8 both went well but in the final we just didn't deliver, the other boats moved ahead and we didn't go with them which meant we came in 5th. We'd placed 3rd in time trials, third in the semis but when it came to the final we just didn't perform but it did fuel me more for Sunday. My coach often says 'You're only as good as your last race and there was no way I was going to end on that race.

At least the weather was nice....

The next day our time trial didn't go brilliantly and I wasn't filled with a lot of confidence, we were messy and didn't get into the best rhythm but we still qualified and were even given a good lane for our semi final (we must've done something right as we placed 4th!). This then gave us much more confidence and we raced the semi well to get a good lane for the final. This was where the real fight began. We didn't get off to the best start but we stayed calm and didn't panic. This time we did get into a good rhythm and soon we were catching the other crews. For the middle 1km we were in third place and it felt good until the last 500m. The crew next to us pulled back and it was a race to the finish line and unfortunately it was not meant to be. We came 4th by 0.56 seconds. I can hardly put into words how disappointed and distraught we were. I cried and cried and cried (and I definitely should have worn waterproof mascara). The coaches were proud of us, and in hindsight I am too, but in that moment, with other crews cheering around us and showing off their medals the last thing I felt was proud. 

Racing in our time trial, we actually look better than it felt

As we carried the boat back to the trailer we got a lot of strange looks from parents and spectators as I continued to bawl my eyes out in public over what..... a rowing race (come on Charlotte get a grip). But I guess they just did not understand how much rowing means to me/us. When you put so much work into training, missing social events, being constantly tired, pushing yourself to such limits to not get anything to show for it is so unbelievably hard. 

I think this picture sums up my feelings at the finish line 

As we all began to calm down we looked back on the race and our training and in hindsight (oh what a wonderful thing it is) we had done pretty well. Firstly, until that day we'd never raced coxless before which is a big adjustment because coxed and coxless boats are actually very different (coxless boats are very sensitive to every movement you make). We'd also had very few outings coxless as we'd had so many in the 8, we hadn't even been in the four in Seville. To be placed fourth in the country really isn't too shabby. After refuelling with lots of pasta and cake we had some crew pictures and it struck me just how much love and appreciation I have for my crew members. I know each one gave 110% in that final race and I know how upset we all were because we worked so hard but felt we had nothing to show for it. 

The best crew out there

That final race has taught me a lot about myself, how far my body can go when I want something enough, how much rowing means to me, how much harder I'm willing to work to win, how much I love my friends and how lucky I am to be surrounded by so many amazing and lovely people. Racing experience is invaluable in itself and I've learnt a hell of a lot from the past weekend (including wearing sun cream even when it's not that sunny because my body seems to burn ridiculously easy and burnt lips are not what anyone needs in their life). 

I hope by September I am ready to head off to the big wide world of university rowing but until then I'm going to savour every single minute at the boathouse with my favourite people in the world (minus Harry Styles because unfortunately he will not be there).

I hope you enjoyed this post, if you have any questions about rowing please ask me and I'll answer as best as I can!

Thank you so much for reading!

Charlotte 

XO

A little quote from Hannah Maggs' and Stef Michalak's vlog which I really believe in