Ask Me Anything! Girl on the River gets candid

Ep 6. In the final episode of 2020, you're the interviewer! Girl on the River answers questions sent in by listeners, turning her mind to issues such as her best moments of 2020 (and yes, there were some!) and how she'd spent £10,000 on the sport of rowing.

The rowing kit people I mention are Queen B Athletics - my all time favourite women's kit!

The rowing furniture maker I mention is Rob Thompson - check out his incredible repurposed boats!

The Love Rowing foundation is the charitable foundation of British Rowing whose aim is to promote accessible and inclusive rowing and has started some brilliant outreach programmes.

Running a podcast is unexpectedly expensive - I rack up monthly costs on hosting, recording and editing on top of all the equipment, so if you feel able to throw a few quid in the pot to help to keep the show on the road, you'll get early access to all episodes, plus bonus content and other fun perks. Link below:

Transcript

Patricia Carswell: 0:07

This is Girl on the River, the Podcast. Whole crew, come forward to row. Hello, and welcome to the final episode of 2020 of Girl on the River, the Podcast, and I know a lot of you really want to put this year behind you. This episode is just me - only it's not. It involves you guys as well, because I've been inviting listeners to ask me anything they liked, and today I'm answering the questions that have come in. So thank you to everyone who sent a question, though I have to say not one of the questions is going to be easy to answer. No one asked anything easy like what do you have for breakfast or what's your PB on the erg or anything like that, though I think it will make for a more interesting episode. Now, I've not prepared my answers. I've deliberately not thought about these questions since they came in so that you can get my honest, unprepared answers. So here goes. The first question has come in from Holly and she asked this - do you regret not pursuing rowing at Oxford? So the background to this is, I was at university in Oxford. And I kind of felt that rowing was one of those iconic things that you really had to do at some point. But I had absolutely no interest in anything particularly strenuous. I was really phenomenally unfit when I got to university, and I stayed that way throughout my three years there. So in my second year, I decided that the summer term was the term to do it. There wasn't too much pressure, I didn't have exams. And the weather was nice. So I signed up for rowing. And I was put in the women's second eight, which sounds quite impressive. This is just my college, obviously, not the university. But to put it in context, there were only 17 women in the whole of my year. So to have made the second eight really was not an impressive feat of athleticism. So it was just basically anyone who was prepared to turn up. And the deal was we didn't train particularly hard, literally never discovered what the erg was. I heard the first eight talking about it and had no idea and still less any interest. I never even asked them when they talked about it. And we never did early mornings. So it was a bit of a kind of just jolly paddle up and down the river. So anyway, the idea was that we would row in Eights Week in the bumps, and I was really looking forward to that, only we were so bad that we didn't even qualify for the whole week in itself. So I was so disappointed. I remember just feeling desperately disappointed in this. And I gave up after that. I didn't bother with it again. So that was the end of it. And I went back to my usual unsporting ways. So do I regret it? Well. The thing is, if I had carried on and actually got properly fit and seen myself as a sporty person, the whole of my young adult life might have been quite different because I very deliberately and consciously identified as an unsporty person all the way through my 20s and 30s. And I avoided anything active as much as possible - I would run for a bus, but that was about it. And it wasn't until I was in my 40s that I really got into physical activity. So perhaps the course of my adult life would have been happier, certainly healthier and fitter, and I might have viewed myself differently if I'd actually pursued sport properly at university. But that said, I made a conscious decision at the end of my second year to focus on my studies. I was really intent on getting a good degree and I did and I don't regret that so perhaps it was the right decision. Who knows? Now the next question's come in from Lewin who - oh, this is so difficult - he's asked which are you better at? Sweep, sculling or coxing and which do you like the best? Crikey. So which am I better at? Sweep, sculling or coxing? Probably, actually, I know the answer to this, this one - I'm better at boxing. I've been described before now very occasionally as a tidy little rower or a neat sculler. But I don't think anyone has ever suggested that I'm actually good. I don't have particularly amazing technique. I'm certainly not strong. Whereas with coxing, although I've got less experience of coxing, I think I probably do have potential to be quite good. I'm certainly the right size. And I've been told I'm improving, or at least I was before lockdown. So I'd say it probably is coxing. Which do I like the best? That's much harder. And I would say it probably depends on the weather, actually. I'm just thinking about if you were going out on a day, like today, when I'm when I'm recording this, where it's rainy, and cold and utterly miserable, I think that would only be bearable in a sweep boat, because you've got other people to share the pain. Although that said, in coxing, at least you can wear all the right kit to keep you warm and dry, which you can't really do in rowing,. There's nothing quite as lovely as being out in a single on a perfect summer's day. That's kind of serene and lovely. But I think after this last year, I probably miss crew rowing the most. I really, really miss that - I miss the, just the fun and the laughter and the communal experience. We haven't - I think the last time I wrote in a crew was probably back in January 2020 at Cardiff Head, because after that we had the catastrophic flooding, and then the lockdown. So it's been almost a year since I've been out in a crew boat, and I've missed it just so much. I cannot wait to get back to that. So I don't know the answer to that I really enjoy coxing as well. It's kind of fun, and it's a mental challenge. And so I don't really know the answer - bits of everything. But I think I really missed the crew rowing. And then he's gone on to answer a subsidiary question, which is why do you love rowing so much? And again, that's very difficult to answer. Interestingly, I think if you'd asked me this a year ago, I might have given a different answer. My stock answer to what do you love about rowing always used to be about the technical challenge, and the joy of being outside and the wildlife and the meditative nature of it and all that. But actually, at the end of 2020, looking back on what I've really, really missed, it's rowing with other people. It sounds really kind of David Brent to say it's all about the people but it it is. That's what I've missed. And when lockdown meant that we couldn't even go for walks together, which had been keeping us going as a squad, I felt really quite bereft. And what I've really loved about Zoomergos this year is that sense of community, it's actually seeing other people on the screen and getting to know them and having that sense of community. And that's been really special. So actually, I'm going to go for the David Brent answer and say it's the people. And I was saying this to Rebecca Caroe in her rowing podcast, that I've very rarely met a rower I didn't like, and I think there's something about the rowing character. We're all fairly kind of bloody-minded. And yeah, so I think it's rowing friends that I love most about rowing. Kath has asked a lovely question, she's asked what were my best moments of 2020? And I think that's such a nice question, because it's so easy just to focus on everything that's been horrible this year. And it's actually I think, quite important for your your state of mind to focus on what actually the good bits are. And there have been some good moments. The first day back in my single was just - that was after the first lockdown -that was magical. We chose a day where it was hot and sunny, and the river was like a millpond. And at that point, I, we were only allowed to go out just two of us. So I went with Helen, my rowing buddy, my double partner, and all round rowing best friend, and we paddled. We didn't put any pressure on, we just chatted and paddled, and chatted and paddled. And we didn't really need to keep looking round every two seconds because it was just us. And it was just heaven. So that was a big standout moment. I would say there have been some really great moments through Zoomergos as well, which I've already mentioned. The first session with Matthew Pinsent was really exciting. And Pete Reed - all of them. They've just been amazing. I've really loved Guin Batten's, castles and pyramids and all the different things that she's done. I've done some great steady state sessions with Jess Eddie - it's been fantastic. So yeah, those have been great moments. And then from a personal point of view, it's been a difficult year, I've spent an awful lot of the year worrying about various members of my family, and not being able to see them. And that's been tough. So I had a lovely trip, in the summer when we were allowed. to visit my sister. And that was a real high point - that was an absolute joy. And just before Christmas, my son and his girlfriend got engaged. So that's been a big joy as well. So those are my top moments of 2020. So it hasn't all been bad. Di has asked this. Di has asked me two fiendishly difficult questions. First of all, who is your dream podcast interviewee? And is there anything we can do to help that happen? Well, Di, that kind of depends on who's in your contact book. So obviously, there are some amazing rowers that I would love to interview. Dame Katherine Grainger would be phenomenal. Helen Glover, Heather Stanning, Anna Watkins, all of those people - there's just stacks and stacks of them. I also think Clare Balding would be really fun. I've heard her being interviewed before and she's funny and irreverent and quite sweary, and I think we'd probably get on. She also knows quite a lot about rowing, not because she is a rower, but through her Boat Race presenting she's done a lot of research, and I think there'd be lots of great stuff to talk about with her. I'd also really like to interview Chris Hoy, because I heard an interview with him when he was saying that he used to row at school and he's actually been out in a pair with Steve Redgrave. So I think he would be amazing. I do have some phenomenal people lined up for 2021. And so I'm really excited about some of those. And I think the other thing to say is that you don't always know who's going to be the most interesting interviewee This is something I've learned as a journalist as well. Often it's the unexpected people - the in inverted commas, less important people, the people who aren't household names, who have the most interesting experiences and and things to talk about. And as for what you can do to help - well, if you know any of the people on my list, then shout if you can put me in touch with anyone, I would be absolutely thrilled to bits. Di is also asked - if fate gave you the following sums of money to be spent on rowing for you or your club or the whole sport, how would you spend them? And the three sums in question are 100, 1000 and 10,000 ? Now with sums of money like this, I felt this was the one question that I really did need to give some thought to in advance. So I will confess that I have actually had some time to think about this one, because I didn't want to waste the sums of money. S o first of all, for myself, if I had those three sums of money to spend on myself - 100 is almost the easiest, in that I would first of all get an item of kit from Queen B Athletics because I haven't bought anything from them for a little while and it's all just beautiful and soft as butter and so comfortable to wear. Because they know all about rowing they really know how to make rowing kit. The second thing is I would quite like a tablet stand for my erg. I've seen these online and I've been experimenting with all sorts of solutions for where to put my screen. So sometimes I have a laptop kind of balancing precariously on a couple of boxes next to the machine. I've tried propping up my phone, I've used a tripod, but the problem with all of them is that they're, however carefully you position them they're always just slightly off to the side and I already feel this isn't doing my neck very much good. So I would like a Concept2 tablet stand please. 1000 - for me actually also quite easy. I don't know if you've come across a guy called Rob Thompson but he makes rowing furniture - look 10,000 I don't need, I already have a lovely little single, him up on Facebook and Twitter. He's @somersetlurcher on Twitter and he's Rob Thompson Furniture Maker or something on Facebook. And he makes this incredible furniture from boats, from wooden boats that are no longer used. And I know some people find it sacrilege but I think they're incredibly beautiful, and I think it's lovely to see them repurposed. And I don't know quite how much one of them costs, one of his coffee tables would cost, but it would definitely be well into the hundreds. So that's what my 1000 would go on which I got secondhand. And I don't feel my rowing justifies anything fancier than that. I've got some secondhand blades as well, ditto. So I'm actually going to pass that one on to my club. So for the club, 100 is easily allocated - we need a Zoom subscription for the club, because so many people are getting into Zoome ergos both through Zoomergos.com, and through sessions that we have led ourselves as a club, so we're getting a Zoom subscription. And that's what the 100 would go on. 1000 pounds - 1000 would go on stocking the bar for the incredible party that we're going to have when it's all over. So I mean, I think with all of us 1000 would not scratch the surface, but perhaps it ought to be the 10,000 for that. But anyway. 10,000 pounds for my club would be flood-proof gym equipment. We have suffered huge flooding and break-ins at our club in the last couple of years. And the gym is looking a little depleted and in a bit of a sorry state. So I think some nice shiny new equipment that withstands the floodwaters would be a really nice thing to have at the club. As for money for the sport in general, I think 100 and 1000 aren't going to make a significant difference, so we'll go straight to the 10,000. And I think that probably has to go to one of the clubs or organisations that are doing such amazing outreach work in deprived areas and working with people who might not discover the sport otherwise, so really helping with inclusivity. So something like Love Rowing would be a very worthy recipient of the money. And yeah, that's where I'm going to put it. Now Ryan has asked, quite directly, how's your cancer. So for those of you who don't know, three years ago, almost exactly, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Thankfully, it was primary breast cancer. And I had surgery and chemotherapy, and a year of Herceptin, which is an immunotherapy drug, which all took quite a lot out of me. I did row all the way through, which was amazing. But it obviously physically took a huge amount out of me and I've been building back over the last couple of years. My health is good, I'm happy to say. I get scanned once a year so my next screening is next month and hopefully that will all be good. But yeah, I'm building back up. I've spent lockdown doing as much exercise as I can - sometimes too much because I never know when to stop. And I haven't quite got my strength and stamina back to pre cancer levels, which is frustrating and I'm having to learn a level of acceptance that it may never actually be quite what it was, but I'm enjoying all the workouts that I've been doing and I feel pretty good. So thank you. And last but not least, Ben has asked - Lots of clubs see plenty of interest in Learn to Row but struggle to turn Learn to Row-ers into members. As someone who found rowing as a master what kept you in the sport? And what advice can you give clubs who find it hard to retain masters rowers? Now I didn't actually start through Learn to Row, I started at a club up the road at Ross Rowing Club and just did some social rowing. And then they put together a novice eight and I did a season in a novice eight but not an official course. So we did have a coach for that season but we weren't sort of formally learning. And then I moved to Monmouth. And we had a novice four very, very briefly. But it fell apart, we ended up just with two of us, and so we had to be assimilated into the main squad, which was brilliant for us, because nothing is as good for learning as being with better rowers, and so we came on, I think, relatively quickly. It was much harder, I imagine, for our crew mates who had to put up with us with our our novice ways, but it was kind of easy for me in that I was really brought into the squad and got to race quite early on. And I made friendships quite quickly that way as well. I think it's it is more difficult for people who come in via Learn to Row. They can feel a little isolated at the end of the course and you know, you do hear people talking about being cut adrift. And I think the key is almost less with stressing about the coaching, which seems to be a big issue for a lot of clubs because they can't afford a coach for the new rowers. But I think probably more important than that is making people just feel part of the gang. So having lots of socials, and getting people involved socially within the sport, I think is probably the most important thing that you can do to retain them. For me, what actually kept me hanging around often was having a blog because I started that after a year of rowing. And there were after that many times when I was quite tempted to give up, when I was just losing race after race after race and felt like I wasn't improving. And so I did get a bit frustrated at times. But I kind of felt that if I gave up then I'd have to stop the blog. And I was really enjoying that. So Girl on the River is probably the reason why I'm still rowing. So maybe that's the answer. If they start a blog, then they can't give up. So look, we've made it through 2020. And I think we should all give ourselves a massive pat on the back just for surviving. Thank you all. so so much for all your love and support this year, it's turned an otherwise incredibly stressful time into something quite special. If you're enjoying the show, especially if you listen on Apple, please do give me a rating and a review. And if you'd like early access to episodes as well as bonus content and other perks, or you just want to help me pay the bills, keep the show on the road with a little financial support because I have to pay for things like software and hosting, you can sign up for my Patreon scheme for as little as three pounds a month. And the details are in the show notes. Now I've got some really amazing guests lined up for 2021. And I'd also love to hear from you about who you would like to have on the show. So do let me know. I'm going into 2021 with hope in my heart. I really believe that things will get better next year, and I hope they do for you. Until then I'd like to wish you all a very happy new year. Next stroke, easy oar.