Broken Oars Podcast

Broken Oars, Episode 7: Broken Oars Fantasy Rowing Eight (or Would You Have Matthew Pinsent or Conan The Barbarian in Your Boat?)

 

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Thank You!

 

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Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, Broken Oars Podcast returns with Episode 7 – a Fosbury Flop of an effort to match the impossibly high bar set by our recent guests Sir Terence of Chipchase and Sir Peter of Brewer.

 

(You haven’t listened to Episodes Five and Six yet? Shame on you! Download them now! You know it makes sense. After all, those 3 x 6k’s will go far easier with some quality listening material in your headphones).

 

After the wonderful ramble through the highways and byways of rowing undertaken by Terence and the ‘guys, here’s how a grown adult talks: in complete, well-thought through paragraphs’ common-sense, inclusive vision of rowing as a sport for all offered by the inimitable Pete, we’ve reverted to type: your genial hosts, Lewin (posh, well-educated, southern) and Aaron (northern, dragged up, barely literate) saying stuff about the wonderful sport about rowing that might be considered libellous if anyone actually listened to us.

 

It starts well. For the first time in the podcast’s history, Lewin rather than Aaron suffers the now-traditional biweekly injury and in a controversial move the Broken Oars Podcast begins the campaign to rehabilitate Lance Armstrong back into polite society on the grounds that in a world gone mad (der), his complete and utter unrepentance and blunt acknowledgement that he would do it all again if given the chance offers a refreshing change to the cant, hypocrisy and fudging offered by most cheats and bullshit artists when they get caught.

 

Controversy nimbly provoked, we declare our keywords for the now-traditional Thames Tradesmen’s Broken Oars Podcast Drinking Game. Anyone with the words Frodo, Anduin, and Slaine the Avenger is in for a heavy night. Lock up the cat. Cancel all calls.

 

And then, housekeeping done, we get stuck into the main topic of discussion: who would make it into our fantasy rowing eight.

 

Now, if you know us, and you’ve listened to us before you know that we take this sort of thing incredibly seriously. Broken Oars Podcast’s Episode Four discussed Britain’s Coxless Fours triumphs through the ages in such forensic detail that British Rowing actually asked for a copy of the tape; and our comments on the relative merits of genuine giants of the sport split opinion to the point where oarsmen who won their Olympic gold medals in the same boat no longer speak to each other.

 

But being us, our calm, measured approach to a question deserving both rapidly descends into a welter of claims, counter-claims, questionable humour, a discussion of the cars in the Henley Royal Regatta carpark; why dyslexics rarely hang out together (we both are: we never see each other); rowing as a quest narrative; and what really, when you get right down to it, constitutes a fantasy rowing eight.

 

In the process, Aaron make claims for the necessity of opposable thumbs in a five-man; Lewin makes a case for why Anna Watkins should be in the boat with such passion that he calls her Anna Williams; we both ask whether singing ability is an accurate measure of rhythm and timing when it comes to rowing (hint: no); and ask the serious and pertinent central question: if James Cracknell makes the boat, will his seat have to be able to accommodate the camera crew and production company that will film the inevitable accompanying miniseries?

 

And does his hair deserve its own seat?

 

All of this?

 

And it’s out in time for the weekend?

 

Get some!

 

Front six rowing on, bow pair, out – of the boat, the crew and our lives. Swim home.

 

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Enjoyed this episode?

 

Buy us a coffee, download a training plan, and support us so we can carry on making Broken Oars Podcast, the best rowing podcast in the world.

 

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Broken Oars Thoughts Bonus Episode: Jurgengate, Trolls, and the Two Billy Goats Gruff

We discover that having launched a podcast, the world of social media has more trolls in it than the average folk tale, one particularly loathsome specimen having crawled out from under his rock to assert that GB's rowers were all dopers, because they had been trained by an East German Coach in the Mighty Jurgen Grobler - who had and had never hidden coming up through the old East German system, where doping was prevalent. After back-and-forths on Twitter which led to Sir MP DM'ing us to give us the very good advice not to bother with morons, we realised we had the perfect platform to discuss the issue with the pod. 

 

So we did. 

 

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As promised, Broken Oars Podcast returns on its week off to address the accusations levelled at Jurgen Grobler and British Rowing following the release of Episode Four.

 

If you haven't heard it yet (Why not? We're on Apple now - there's no excuse. Go and listen), Episode Four discussed Britain's Coxless Four Olympic Finals successes and performances. It dropped (as we believe the kids say to signify digital releases) on the same day that Jurgen Grobler stepped down as Head Coach of British Rowing after 29 years.

 

Barely had Episode Four hit the worldwide web before a very vocal group of trolls lumbered out from beneath their bridges and onto our Twitter feed, drawn by the trip-trapping sound of their trigger words: 'Jurgen Grobler', 'British Rowing' and 'Gold Medals.'

 

Although we tried to address the points raised by these individuals on Twitter, we realised that we'd stirred up something that needed addressing.

 

So here we are, addressing it. Never let it be said that the Broken Oars Podcast runs from a tough session. We have, after all, survived Runcorn in the rain and Green Lake in the first round at Henley Royal. 

 

Just.

 

In this episode, then, we resolve where Lionel Messi is going after Barcelona, we settle the 'Rule Britannia' Farageo, and we thank Thames Tradesmen for inventing the Broken Oars Podcast Drinking Game.

 

(WARNING: ANYONE WITH THE WORDS 'JURGEN', 'GDR', 'DOPING', AND 'TROLLS' ON THEIR CARD FOR THIS EPISODE IS IN FOR A HEAVY NIGHT).

 

Then, we address the comments, one-by-one and point-by-point.

 

We examine the subtext that a global, overarching conspiracy was launched from Henley-in-Thames to turn British Rowing into the dominant force in World Rowing (spoiler alert: it might not have been).

 

We discuss at Jurgen's appointment, his past in the GDR, and his subsequent stewardship of British Rowing, addressing how the narrative of his past has been presented and asking if it could have been more nuanced (hint - yes). We compare what is known now to what was known then, and assess the difficulties in clearly defining and apportioning blame and responsibility given the circumstances. 

 

We look at the evaluatory principles of 'beyond reasonable doubt' and 'on the balance of probability' that underpin all of our safeguarding institutions in the UK; and discuss the relevance of the rehabilitative principle in Jurgen's case before moving on to examine the UK's approach to doping testing, comparing British Rowing to its counterparts in the wider field of Team GB. In doing so, we talk about 'positive', 'negative' and 'negative but' testing in this context. 

 

Going on to look at the known impact of doping regimes on athlete performance, athlete welfare and the medal table, we look at British Rowing's performances since Jurgen Grobler's arrival, particularly in terms of the development of the men's and women's squads and our Olympic returns. We ask if there could be any other reason for Britain's steadily but not dramatically improving success on the rowing lake beyond doping (spoiler alert: it might have something to do with the creation of a World Class Start Programme and the arrival of funding and centralisation rather than little blue pills). 

 

We talk athlete physiology and the impact of doping on that, and note that British Rowing would be an entirely clean sport were it not for the antics of a couple of idiots from the Headington Road Young Offenders Institute Rowing Club (Hi, Oxford Brookes ...).

 

We discuss the importance of rowing culture vs. other sporting cultures and its significance in keeping doping in the sport at bay (we believe in doing the work, not shortcuts) and express a hope that it long continues (while acknowledging that we must not be complacent: it only takes two idiots to ruin the reputation of an entire sport).

 

Stern Four ... Drop Out. You're making Bow Four look bad.

 

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Enjoyed this episode?

 

Buy us a coffee, download a training plan, and support us so we can carry on making Broken Oars Podcast, the best rowing podcast in the world.

 

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Thank You!

 

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                                          www.instagram.com/brokenoarsindoors/

 

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Broken Oars Podcast: Episode 3: Di Binley

Released on August 7th 2020, Episode Three saw Broken Oars Podcast welcome its first ever guest - the incredible, inimitable Di Binley. For some reason neither of us can remember, Dr. Lewin Hynes, yet to be dubbed the Southern One, flew solo on this episode - and does a brilliant job, because, well, he's brilliant. 

 

Want the original episode notes? Here they are. 

 

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A coming-of-age for Broken Oars Podcast as one of us works out how to edit audio; another of us breaks a foot; and we welcome our first guest to the pod:

 

Former owner and driving force behind Rock the Boat, the shop all rowers have used at some point, and still a fount of general rowing awesomeness, Di Binley joins us.

 

We chat about Di's background in rowing, Rock the Boat's founding and development, the evolution of rowing during her time in it - highlighting the importance of community; volunteers; being nice and having fun to this wonderful sport that we all know and love.

 

We also give a big shout-out to Rebecca Caroe and open our arms to the worldwide rowing community (while maintaining our (possibly deluded) belief that we can probably take most of them on the line ...).

 

Get Some!

 

Ladies and Gentleman, full crew, from backstops ...

 

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Please follow us on:

 

Youtube: www.youtube.com/@brokenoarspodcast

 

Please order: 

 

A copy of our first book, Charlotte Jackson and the Magic Blanket: https://tinyurl.com/53674jbu

 

Please visit: 

 

Our Website: www.thelandingstage.net

 

It's turned into a toxic place, but we're also on Twitter: 

 

www.twitter.com/brokenoarspodc1

 

Broken Oars Podcast: Episode 2: Take Two!

Our second episode was published on July 24th 2020. We still hadn't really got to grips with the whole podcast format thing at this point. We never really did, to be honest. We were having too much fun catching up with each other and talking to our amazing guests. We wouldn't change anything apart from perhaps uploading our conversations to Youtube. We made a decision early on to stick to audio, largely because at the time we just couldn't fathom why people would want to tune in to watch people having a chat together. Still, there it is.

 

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In Episode Two, Dr. Lewin Hynes, who would soon come to be known as The Southern One, and Dr. Aaron Jackson, who would soon come to be known as The Northern One got together to welcome you to the second Broken Oars Podcast where we proudly proclaimed that we were for rowers everywhere who believe that rowing was better a ten to twelve years ago - regardless of what year it is. 

 

All rowers, in other words. 

 

In our sophomore effort, we make the necessary factual corrections from the first effort; ensure that no dictatorships were harmed in the making of the podcast; apologise for our 'indie' sound quality; discuss whether there's a certain lack of personality in the current GB rowing set up; provide some background to the rowing careers of both hosts; and address the welcoming nature of rowing clubs to outsiders (hint - could do better); and ask finally 'whither 2K? - should the gold standard distance actually be the gold standard?'

 

(First published July 24 2020)

 

Full crew, come forward to row ...

 

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Please follow us on:

 

Youtube: www.youtube.com/@brokenoarspodcast

 

Please order: 

 

A copy of our first book, Charlotte Jackson and the Magic Blanket: https://tinyurl.com/53674jbu

 

Please visit: 

 

Our Website: www.thelandingstage.net

 

It's turned into a toxic place, but we're also on Twitter: 

 

www.twitter.com/brokenoarspodc1

 

Broken Oars Podcast Episode 1: The Free Wheelin’ Broken Oars Podcast

(Deep gravelly voice): On this day five years ago, while the world languished in the depths of COVID, in a time when there were NO rowing podcasts (other than a few we've forgotten to mention), two men got together to change the world as we know it ... 

 

They were Dr. Lewin Hynes, who would come to be known as The Southern One, and Dr. Aaron Jackson, who would come to be known as The Northern One and they created the world's first, only and still best rowing podcast. 

 

And they called it Broken Oars Podcast. 

 

And rowers looked and listened and saw it was good. 

 

We retired after interviewing Sir Matthew Pinsent last April, weeping for we had no more words to conquer. Little did we realise that Finn Hamill would happen ... 

 

And so in the spirit of leveraging IP in the age of AI (no, we don't know what it means either) and coming from the land where there's never anything on but repeats on the BBC, we're rereleasing our Broken Oars Episodes in sequence - because they're full of rowing goodness. 

 

So, here goes. The first one was literally recorded down a 'phone line and boy does it show ... 

 

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Ladies and Gentlemen!

 

Welcome to the very first Broken Oars Podcast - the podcast for rowers everywhere and anywhere who believe that rowing was better ten to twelve years ago - regardless of what year it is.

 

Launched by Dr. Aaron Jackson and Dr. Lewin Hynes as a way to bust lockdown 1.0, and to give somewhere for their endless chats about rowing to go, in our first episode Broken Oars introduce the hosts, discusses their technical and renal inadequacies; addresses the reality that Redgrave couldn't have been that good because he never won Runcorn Head in the rain; how auctioning off GB National Squad rowers to provincial clubs for a racing season would make everyone love the sport more; and why no tears should be shed for the passing of lightweightism.

 

(First released 20/07/2020)

 

So it begins ...

 

Please follow us on:

 

Youtube: www.youtube.com/@brokenoarspodcast

 

Please order: 

 

A copy of our first book, Charlotte Jackson and the Magic Blanket: https://tinyurl.com/53674jbu

 

Please visit: 

 

Our Website: www.thelandingstage.net

 

It's turned into a toxic place, but we're also on Twitter: 

 

www.twitter.com/brokenoarspodc1

 

Broken Oars Podcast : Hadaway Harry

The Northern One reads Ed Waugh's classic life of the north-eastern legend, Harry Clasper.

 

 

Broken Oars Episode: The Night Before Christmas (For Rowers)

It's been a quiet year for Broken Oars Podcast in podcast terms. While life happened, we only managed to interview the world's best sports physiologist, the world's best sports psychologist, the man who created the on / off test for EPO and ...

 

 

SIR MATTHEW PINSENT!

 

 

And yet, it's the End of the Island that's been nominated for best rowing podcast - probably because we didn't get 'round to nominating ourselves. Go on Fergus! 

 

 

As we approach Christmas, we should understand that it can be a hard time of year for many (rowers). We get it. The summer regattas seem a long way away. The test regimen is currently brutal. The mileage is high. The weather and the water cold, and bow won't stop dragging their fxcking hands.

 

And in times like this it's always wise to remember the words of good St. Hodge.

 

And so with this in mind, the Northern One again reads The Night Before Christmas (for Rowers) - live from Kings.

 

Get some!

Better Erging through Chemistry

In our continued effort to bring you, the BrokenOars viewer and listener, valued information, the Southern on has spent the last five weeks mildly toxifying himself in pursuit of a faster ergo score.

There are numerous substances that promise a legal method to greater performance and in this video takes a wonder through a few of them and examines one rower's experience of trying them out.

But not creatine, that stuff is filth.

Better watched than listened to this one I am afraid. But give it a go.

https://youtu.be/eiL5tYGEdHc

Broken Oars Everything Changes and Technology Changes Everything Series: Turner and the Fighting Temeraire #1

Hullo,

 

Can't sleep?

 

Me neither.

 

The Northern One returns with a follow-up to last year's Summer Shorts series.

 

Inspired by a chat with a medical friend about the advances in technology in their career, your favourite Northern One takes a spin through representation in art. As everything in modern Britain is a footnote to the Victorians, in much the same way that Western Civilisation is a footnote to the Greeks, we go to the nineteenth century to look at how art changed in response to new technology and new social and economic realities.

 

Specifically, we look at how the invention of the daguerreotype changed the way that painting developed. Liberated from the religious strictures, from the Enlightenment on art had increasingly been about accurate representation and heightened representation - accurate representation meaning being able to accurately express a given scene / landscape / person; and heightened representation meaning being able to express an idea, emotion, or image in doing so.

 

With the camera increasingly rendering that irrelevant, art then became about the representation of art as a representation of an increasingly complex world.

 

We look at how that came about amid changing social, cultural and economic realities.

 

And if that sounds as dull as ditchwater, remember that this is the Northern One talking about this stuff. There's a joke or bad pun coming at any moment.

 

First - Turner. Now chocolate box, then ... revolutionary.

 

And determined to fail in order to succeed.

 

Listen on.

 

And buy us a coffee.

 

 

Broken Oars: Episode 5759. Robin Parisotto, the on / off test protocol, doping in sports, and the fallacy of testing regimens

Did you miss us?

Of course you did!

 

We're back with Robin Parisotto, the scientist behind the on / off EPO test to discuss the history of doping in sport, why testing regimens are set up to show there is a testing regimen rather than to create clean sports, and why clean sport will never happen in the current systems.

 

Apart from British rowers.

 

We're clean.

 

Get some!

 

Bowside? Do some work. Strokeside are fixing their mascara. Again.

Broken Oars Podcast: Episode 7896: Lewin and Aaron watch Olympic races and catch up

After the glory and the dream that was our crowing achievement (talking to Sir Matthew Pinsent), Aaron and Lewin return in typical Broken Oars fashion.

 

That's right.

 

We watch Olympic races and talk about them as they're happening and then post the episode after the Olympics has finished, but before the Para Games begins.

 

Oh, and it looks like Podbean took all of our episodes down and dumped them back on the stream so it looks like we were really busy on the 9th August. Apologies, but look at all of the goodness you've missed in the last four years!

The Sub7 IRC GenX Men’s Squad Support Group - Ian Wilde and Dylan Dragswiek.

To purchase a copy of 'Water's Gleaming Gold' with an exclusive Broken Oars Listener discount, please go to https://www.troubador.co.uk/bookshop/biography/waters-gleaming-gold-hb and quote " BROKENOARS " at the checkout page.

 

This discount code will allow you to buy the book at a 15% discount - and enjoy one of the great rowing stories! 

 

Enjoyed this episode?

 

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Enjoyed this episode?

 

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Two of the Big Beasts of the Sub 7 Indoor Rowing Club sit down with us for a good old Trans-Atlantic chinwag, about Indoor Rowing, Type II fun, Long Covid, the C2 Cross Team Challenge, trying (and failing) to bring others into the sport and why belonging to and indoor rowing club is good fun. Albeit Type II fun.

 

 

Buy us a coffee, download a training plan, and support us so we can carry on making Broken Oars Podcast, the best rowing podcast in the world: www.buymeacoffee.com/brokenoarsd

 

Twitter: www.twitter.com/brokenoarspodc1

 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/brokenoarsindoors/

 

Website: www.thelandingstage.net

The BrokenOars Guide to purchasing rowing coaching

To purchase a copy of 'Water's Gleaming Gold' with an exclusive Broken Oars Listener discount, please go to: 

 

https://www.troubador.co.uk/bookshop/biography/waters-gleaming-gold-hb

and quote " BROKENOARS " at the checkout page.

This discount code will allow you to buy the book at a 15% discount - and enjoy one of the great rowing stories! 

 

This is the audio version of the video we put up on YT some months ago about how to go about and what to look for in the purchasing of rowing coaching. 

The Posh Southern One looks at -

Why you should and shouldn't buy coaching.

• The Pete Plan
• The Concept 2 Interactive Training Guide
• RowAlong with John Steventon
• Dark Horse Rowing, YouTube
• Asensei Rowing

What types of coaching and programming you can purchase.

• https://www.rojabo.com/
• https://www.live2rowstudios.com/
• https://ucanrow2.com/
• https://www.aliciarclark.com/
• https://tonylarkman.com/indoor-rowing/
• https://edgerowing.com/
• https://fletchersportscience.com/
• https://www.canterbury.ac.uk/about-us/faculties-schools-and-departments/faculty-of-science-engineering-and-social-sciences/sportslab/services-for-teams-and-individuals
• https://www.erg.zone/

What your initial interaction with a coach should be like, and the basics of managing the coach athlete relationship.

Broken Oars Podcast: Episode 57: Hayfever, Small Regattas, Proper Henley, and Inventing a Whole New Regatta

To purchase a copy of 'Water's Gleaming Gold' with an exclusive Broken Oars Listener discount, please go to https://www.troubador.co.uk/bookshop/biography/waters-gleaming-gold-hb and quote " BROKENOARS " at the checkout page.

 

This discount code will allow you to buy the book at a 15% discount - and enjoy one of the great rowing stories! 

 

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Your genial hosts, Lewin (Southern, posh) and Aaron (Northern, illiterate) returns as warriors of old who have journeyed beyond the circle of firelight to gain the knowledge that men know not wot of and return with it for the general benefit and edification of the tribe ...

 

... and lo, the tribe turned around and said:

 

Where the hell have you two been? You've slid out of doing the washing-up again, we see ... ?

 

But we return with the secret that men ...

 

... and women ...

 

... and women, that men and women know not wot of and we ...

 

That's all very well, but no-one's done the floors, and there's nothing in the fridge for tea ...

 

... but we return with the secret that men ...

 

... and women ...

 

... that men and women know not wot of, and ...

 

Shush. Henley's on.

 

Ah.

 

Yes, we return just in time for Henley's weeks.

 

It's like we've got access to calendars and watches and diaries and the internet and stuff.

 

So, in this episode there is:

 

No poetry!

 

No dead authors!

 

A couple of living ones ...

 

And a brief discussion of killer hayfever; people trying to outfox the strict liability rule, the death of wonder in sports, the joy, absolute joy of small regattas, the wonder of Hexham (where Lewin asks why our Victorian forebears decided to take representative slices of Surrey and the better bits of the Upper Thames Valley and put them as Southern embassies in the North in the case of Durham and Hexham); racing while gypsies wash horses in the river next to you; Appleby; why the correct number of boats, horses and guitars is always 'one more ...'; and why Women's Henley could now be considered as 'proper' Henley now that Henley Royal has become a superslick paean to elite athletes and clubs ...

But because it's us, we don't leave it there, diving into the cyclical nature of success; the art of commentary (and why we both want to do more of it); why stockpiling elite athletes in HP programmes (Hi, OB ...) like America and Russia stockpiled Nazi scientists after WW2 does not lead to global armageddon but does cut down on the pathways to rowing at Uni that many of our best and brightest and stalwartest came through ... before we do something amazing:

 

We invent a whole new regatta.

 

And it's the regatta you've always wanted to do.

 

So, bow, you tell me that you have rhythm? And you also have music? And yet you still dare to ask for anything more ... ?

 

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Enjoyed this episode?

 

Buy us a coffee, download a training plan, and support us so we can carry on making Broken Oars Podcast, the best rowing podcast in the world: www.buymeacoffee.com/brokenoarsd

 

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Website: www.thelandingstage.net 

Broken Oars Episode 56: Talking Sensibly About Trans and Rowing

Dear Listener, thank you for your attention to our podcast, which, unlike many and most activities on the internet is not free to make. Should you be enjoying the podcast and wish to help us make more episode please consider buying us a coffee or purchasing one of our digital downloads at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/brokenoarsd. Thank you again for listening.

 

Having previously examined the science informing the debate around Trans inclusion in Women's categories in sport, Broken Oars Podcast returns with an updated look at what remains fast-moving, ongoing and highly-contentious issue.

 

During a recent conversation, Lewin and I turned again to discuss what had happened since our first discussion of these issues, particularly with regards to highly-contentious issue of natal-men being allowed to compete against natal-women in sport; the pressures faced by NGB's to promote a sport-for-all approach in the face of quite incendiary activism on the Trans side and pushback on the women's side; and the questions of fairness and inclusivity that must be at the heart of every discussion.

 

Upon reviewing our intiial conversation, we decided that, on occasion, we had been too flippant about what is a serious subject. You will know, as regular listeners, that we take very little seriously, including ourselves, and treat everyone as fair game, including ourselves.

 

On this occasion, however, we realised that given how inflammatory some of the rhetoric, language, case-making and arguments have been in the discussion to date, what was needed was a sober look at the facts and realities of Trans biology, inclusion, and the current policies of rowing's regulatory bodies - and what they mean for the current state of play.

 

So here it is ...

 

Full Crew. From backstops. The first movement is down and it doesn't have to be fast. You aren't grabbing the last sausage roll at the party. Attention ...