Neither of us remembered whose idea it was, but, before either of us came up with an excuse, our entry fee was in and we were committed.

Hodge had recently become World Champion, with his shock of blonde hair providing added excitement for the Japanese spectators as the 4- stormed to an impressive victory. For me Gifu had ended in tears of frustration only an hour earlier. So what better way to begin the season and blow away the cobwebs than by racing the pairs head with Hodge, a World Champion, in the stroke seat of a mixed double. What an opening to the 2006 season.

We were officially back into squad business after our annual 3 week holiday and asking Paul Thompson and Jurgen Grobler so soon for time away from our respective squad schedules was not something I was looking forward to. However, I was also concerned not to make any dents in Hodge’s year long winning streak. So, with the vital ingredient of success being practice, we all agreed that 3 sessions in the double would be enough to keep both coaches and athletes happy.

Convincing the coaches to let us race was one thing. Finding a boat big enough for us was another. The night before our first outing it seemed that the novice skiff at Thames was our only option, but, fortunately, Paul Willis loaned us a Filipi at the last minute. With the boat sorted, the next issue was the rig. Heavyweight men rarely race with women so it was suggested that Hodge rowed with blades of 291cm in length and I had 288. After the first outing Hodge found he was a bit tired so, despite comments from the bank that he was a “big girl”, we agreed to shorten his blades to 290. This allowed us to match up our angles despite the difference in size.

The race itself was great fun and we had loads of support down the course, which is the main reason racing in the UK is so enjoyable. Rowing in a mixed boat gave each of us an insight into how we individually move the boat. From my perspective rowing with someone so much more powerful was a great opportunity to practice being even more dynamic. I can admit that I laughed out loud in the first high rate burst we did. When the big man decided to pull… he is very strong… (I’m beginning to understand why mixed racing is so popular with my mum and her female veteran colleagues.) Although it took a bit of time for us to create our rhythm, by race day we were getting there and we enjoyed overtaking a number of all male crews on our way to eighth overall.
What next? We are now in the winter months and, although the thought of heading out into the cold for another 20km on the water in our singles is not appealing, I think all of the women’s team have their eyes on World Championship medals at Dorney. My plans are simple, avoid white vans [See note below] at all costs and train hard.

Editor’s note: Readers may recall that Elise was knocked off her bicycle a year ago in a collision with a white van – this severely handicapped her training during the last season.

Editorial by Elise Laverick