The Pilot Blog: How I got into Rowing

I don’t know how to start a blog but being the blunt Northern Irish guy I am, I’ll get straight to it. I’m gonna attempt to relate to you guys on some meaningful level so you’ll hopefully come back to read the rest of my blogs. (Apologies, I was an avid English literature student in school).

Prior to university I never tried, watched, or expressed any interest in rowing. In fact the only exposure I had was watching The Social Network (great movie) where the Winklevoss twins rowed at Henley Royal Regatta.

Now I’ll segway into my metaphorical DeLorean to talk about my history of sport.

Growing up I wasn’t exactly athletically gifted. Having tried both of Northern Ireland’s staple sports: football and rugby; I spent Saturday mornings on the side-lines waiting to play the last 5 minutes - which is where the most crucial contribution to the game is given – so I believed. Shoutout to my fellow bench-warmers!

Failing to revive my football career in uni, I looked at other sports offered and found rowing! I emailed the club asking to join; to discover I actually emailed the women’s team. Eventually I made it to training with the correct gender team and it all started there!

Unlike most sports, you don’t need to be naturally gifted in order to take part and become a decent rower. Joining the novice team I was taught from scratch how to row and by the end of the year I had competed in several races, winning a medal and going to BUCS regatta in Nottingham! The results of that race however would be anticlimactic to this blog so we’ll just brush past that…

But to conclude, rowing can be for anyone! I’m no athlete but I learned quickly that if you train and put the effort in you will improve and you can compete at as high a level as you push yourself to! If that’s not motivating then I don’t know what is!