Broken Oars, Episode 19: Martin Cross - Gentleman, Teacher, Olympic Champion

 

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Occasionally, when we are in the presence of greatness, Broken Oars Podcast has announced a new episode by simply saying:

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

[Insert name here].

 

And leaving it at that.

 

Given that our guest this week is Martin Cross, we would be well-justified in doing the same, but we can’t.

 

Simply put, we know that you all out there have reached peak Pod in these years of pandemic lockdown and isolation. Podcasts have sprouted up like mushrooms after a damp night. They’re literally everywhere now, covering every niche and fighting for your attention. Poodle-faker – the podcast for people who poodle-fake. Are you a competitive pigeon-sexer? We talk with Tobias Grimethorpe, eighteen-times South Barnsley regional champion …

 

We get it.

 

You’re tired.

 

Your ears are tired.

 

You’re looking forward to restrictions easing so you can get out into the fresh air and sunshine and crack on. You’ve listened to enough podcasts to float a battleship … and, in the words of HG Wells so memorably intoned by Sir Richard of Burton, still they come …

 

(Dah dah dah … Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds, anyone? Just us? Ok …).  

 

The last thing you need is another podcast.

 

Except if you're a rower you do need to listen to this one.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Martin Cross, chatting about everything from his early days in the sport; his route to international representation; old-school training; the importance of mentors and passing on the torch; competing against known dopers; why being politically-active and taking ownership of your ambitions benefits sportsmen and women; juggling being a full-time athlete with a full-time job; the politicking and shenanigans that went into constructing the LA Coxed Four; where British Rowing was, what it’s grown into and what might happen in the post-Jurgen era.

 

We at Broken Oars Podcast are no strangers to flippancy, sarcasm and the teasing of some of British Rowing’s sacred cows - but we've always come away from each interview feeling lucky to have had the conversations we’ve had with our guests.

 

In talking to Martin Cross we met an Olympic champion and a well-known public face and voice of the sport whom we also discovered to be a kind, thoughtful man with a lot to say about rowing past and present and a huge amount still to offer the sport he clearly still loves and is passionate about.

 

After a week in which Broken Oars Podcast tangled with Bikey Twitter (we said female athletes deserve equal pay … and sweaty blokes in Lycra piled on) and a professional cycling writer called Fergus McKay called us children for suggesting that being concerned about athlete welfare wasn’t guff, it was the best way to welcome in the weekend!

 

This is one to listen to, enjoy the conversation and stories, and dip back into for the nuggets of wisdom and insight.

 

Get some!

 

Bow Pair? Hang on. Some bloke called Steve is sitting in at stroke today …

 

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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.

 

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/brokenoarsd.

 

Thank You!

 

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