Girl on the River
Patricia Carswell, aka Girl on the River, loves to row and loves to talk, so it makes sense that in her podcast she'll be chatting to guests from all around the rowing and sporting world about anything and everything to do with rowing. Always informal, occasionally silly, sometimes serious, often informative, she delves into questions such as how athletes become champions, how to promote diversity in sport, the secret to staying alive on an ocean, how to improve your erg score and what to do to keep your body and mind in one piece. Her guests include Olympians, health experts, Atlantic rowers, kit companies, indoor rowers, TV presenters - in short, anyone with something to say about rowing and its place in the world. The podcast isn't just about Girl on the River and her guests, though. Community is everything in rowing, so you, the listener, are an important part of the show. There'll be regular Q&As and listener debates, and if you have suggestions for fantastic guests, she's all ears. Patricia can be contacted at girlontheriverpodcast@gmail.com or on social media at @girlontheriver on all channels - come and have a chat .And until then... next stroke, easy oar.
Girl on the River
Adrian Ellison, Olympic coxswain, on Redgrave, Cross, the '84 Olympics and how to be a great cox
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Patricia Carswell
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Season 2
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Episode 1
S2 Ep.1 Welcome back to Girl on the River for Season 2 – it’s so good to be back!
I’m absolutely thrilled to bring you the first episode in my new season – an interview with Adrian Ellison, who coxed the 4+ to a gold medal at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles (the first of five gold medals for crew member Steve Redgrave).
Adrian is a brilliant fount of knowledge, and what he doesn’t know about coxing isn’t worth knowing. We had a tremendous chat (the uncut version of which is available to Girl on the River patrons – you can sign up for the Girl Squad at www.patreon.com/girlontheriver).
Here’s what we talked about:
- Adrian’s route into coxing and how he ended up in GB Rowing Team
- What a coxed pair is like
- The best crew Adrian ever coxed (it might not be the one you’d expect)
- Coxing a bowloader
- Being coached as a cox
- The 1984 Olympics 4+ - how it was put together and what the dynamics were
- Getting the most out of a crew during a race
- The decision to retire from the GB Rowing Team
- Weight loss and the effects on Adrian’s health
- Why the coxswain’s weight makes little difference to boat speed except at the very highest level
- What makes a good cox
- Adrian’s style of coxing
- Has Adrian’s coxing improved since being on the GB Rowing Team?
- Whether international teams should consider using older coxes
- How to get better at coxing
- Mistakes Adrian has made
- What to do when a crew gets carried away in a race
- How to handle a sassy crew
- Lessons from Zoom Ergos and the quest for the perfect stroke
If you fancy joining one of Adrian’s Zoom Ergos sessions you can sign up at www.zoomergos.com.